10 Times WWE Directly Insulted Your Intelligence
6. Billionaire Ted's Wrasslin' Warroom
Vince McMahon hadn't yet definitively "lost" anything of huge note against WCW at the start of 1996, but the fatalistic Billionaire Ted skits early in the year betrayed the typically brash confidence of WWE's head honcho.
The infamous series of skits pitching Ted Turner, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Mean Gene Okerlund as carny fossils were designed to remind WWE fans that they were watching the right show by undermining things happening on the other side. Simply watching that other side would have done it - a babyface Hulk Hogan was every bit as cheesy as McMahon's parody, but the mere acknowledgement of their existence reminded viewers that they were a pressing concern. This was the first of many mini-backfires.
From the jump, the critiques of the opposition were flawed. The first edition saw a WCW staff meeting watching WWE for inspiration because they were apparently so cool and cutting edge. How was this illustrated? The Razor's Edge, The Pearl River Plunge and The Jackknife. Three powerbombs. Could one of them fly off the top rope like Shawn Michaels perhaps? Of course they could - Randy Savage was still dropping elbows and proving Vince McMahon's assessment of his aging workrate bang wrong.
It was missing the mark from the off and never found it. Within a year of the segments airing, Ted Turner's juggernaut promotion had made them look even more foolish than when they'd initially aired.