10 Real-Life Dramas That Made It To Wrestling TV

4. Basket Case

Daniel Bryan
WWE

Vince McMahon's pettiness reached farcical levels in 2009, thanks to an enforced venue-switch due to the Denver Nuggets requiring their home arena for Game Four of the NBA play-offs they weren't expected to even be competing in.

McMahon tried to force the game elsewhere, but lost that battle and had to scramble to find a replacement venue for the flagship show at short notice.

Thus, Raw was switched to the Staples Center in Los Angeles with little impact, but it didn't stop Vince from airing his grievances about the whole situation with a typical lack of tact.

Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke was the main butt of the jokes, with an impersonator losing a faux match to McMahon after cutting a promo at the expense of the company and its fans.

Taking an angelic babyface role, McMahon pandered to his live audience for Kroenke's apparent misgivings, suggesting that 'When you push the WWE Universe, they push back!'

To hammer the point home, the main event featured a ten-man tag team match, with heels in Nuggets jerseys against babyfaces sporting LA Lakers gear to suck up to the partisan crowd.

Completing the needless and unfunny night-long hatchet job, the 'Lakers' won easily.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett