10 Seedy WWE Stories Vince McMahon Wants You To Forget

9. The Post-Badd Blood Monday Night Raw

The hideousness of Vince McMahon's interview with Melanie Pillman is hard to avoid when remembering the hugely controversial edition of Monday Night Raw that followed October 1997's Badd Blood: In Your House.

Taking place a night removed from Brian Pillman's passing, McMahon's cynical grilling of the 'Loose Cannon's widow was designed to take some potential heat off his organisation for the extraneous factors that contributed to Pillman's heart attack. Positioned in the show to grab ratings, it was one of the more disgusting moments in the history of the broadcast, but not the only regrettable back-and-forth on the show.

Just minutes removed from the ten bell salute to Pillman, D-Generation X bullied Michael Cole on television in a rank old representation of what all of the industry used to look like, before Shawn Michaels engaged in a spectacular rant that sounded like he was willing to fight an entire locker room he knew hated him, all to tease out Bret Hart who himself took on the quartet in the ring with a slew of homophobic slurs.

It's all very early-Attitude Era, but unlike just about every other clip from the time, is not one the company willfully lets the world see without a bit of a search.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. 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