10 Screw Ups That Led To Huge WWE Moments

8. Buff Bagwell Changes Everything

Buff Bagwell Vince McMahon
WWE

The Screw Up: Watch Booker T vs. Buff Bagwell back on the WWE Network now and you'll realise that neither man's performance was actually that bad. It wasn't top-tier stuff, no, but it was hardly the car crash revisionist history has painted it as.

Still, owing to the tepid crowd reaction, Vince McMahon thought otherwise, and his word is law. The 2 July 2001 match ended up being Bagwell's last in the promotion.

The Moment: The knock-on effect of this first ever WCW main event on WWF programming was that McMahon cooled his interest in running his old competition as a standalone entity. How could they be trusted to survive if that was how audiences received them? That was Vince's thinking back in '01.

Suddenly, all plans to go with WCW as a separate brand were scrapped. Instead, McMahon motored along with a desperately lacklustre 'Invasion' and totally killed off the WCW idea come Survivor Series. It shouldn't be forgotten that the inter-promotional battle came down to two WWF stars (Steve Austin and The Rock) either.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.