10 Times WWE Booked The Wrong Guy To Win

1. Fandango Beats Chris Jericho - WrestleMania 29

Cena Bloody Mouth
WWE.com

WrestleMania 29 is considered by many to be the weakest entry in the supershow's stadium era canon - and with good reason. It played host to lacklustre rematches and bewildering match results - not least of which was the fourth match on the card.

Chris Jericho should be admired for his willingness to lose to an array of up and coming talent. So many in his position as a vaunted veteran who'd done it all have been much too reluctant to relinquish their status. An entire, billionaire-funded wrestling company in WCW was dissolved in part because this culture was ingrained in its DNA.

That said, Fandango was, even then, a one-note comedy character who with all respect - Dirty Curty's NXT: Redemption run was an absolute riot - didn't possess the superior in-ring game to transcend its limitations.

Accordingly, this result did him no favours - and only served to diminish Jericho's starmaker appeal. If a creepy ballroom dancer could beat him, anybody could. His subsequent programmes with CM Punk, Bray Wyatt et al. were directly rendered painfully obvious as a result.

WWE may have had grander plans for Fandango after the bout, but the post-'Manis RAW Izod Centre crowd, in their drunken belligerence, put paid to them. His subsequent, desperate pseudo-face turn was received with pitiable apathy from an audience who despaired at WWE's try-hard transparency.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!