10 Times WWE Attempted To Use A Real Life Situation To Their Advantage (And Failed)

Eddie Guerrero’s death is a loss still felt by the business today. Had he lived, his in-ring days would likely be over, but he might be a trainer now, or a manager, or anything he wanted to be. After his passing, WWE did a lot right, helping out his widow and putting Rey Mysterio over as a tribute. Other things, though, they did very wrong indeed.

Mysterio’s rise to the main event was given extra sizzle by having Randy Orton consistently disrespect the legacy of the recently deceased Guerrero. Most famously, he cut a promo in which he gleefully declared that Eddie was now in hell.

Orton’s heel work was strong as ever, but this was beyond distasteful. Guerrero had been gone for less than six months; this was a real person, with family still in the company. What’s more, the crass build didn’t even generate much heat for Rey Mysterio, with the Chicago crowd firmly behind Kurt Angle in the title bout that Rey eventually won.

WWE’s exploitation of the dead has often been grubby (see: Bearer, Paul), but it has rarely gone this far while simultaneously being so unsuccessful.