10 Times WWE Failed At Forced Emotion

6. Rey Mysterio's First World Title Win

Triple H Crying
WWE.com

The reaction to WWE's treatment of Eddie Guerrero's death was pleasingly karmic.

In scripting Randy Orton to intone that he was "in hell" and attempting to transfer his posthumous popularity to Rey Mysterio, they did not exactly cover themselves in glory. Fans registered their disgust at the tasteless booking by rejecting the Masked Man's title reign - which was doomed well before creative jobbed him out all over the place.

Strictly speaking, the emotion wasn't forced - Mysterio was very close to Guerrero, and was probably happy to have his own moment defined by the spectre of his tragically-departed friend - rather it was elongated, subverted and monetised to the whim of the cash-hungry corporation.

The memorial specials can often veer uncomfortably into exploitative territory - but the Guerrero business was stretched out in ghastly fashion. Wheeling out his "memorial low rider" was uncomfortable. Randy Orton's subsequent claim that there was more chance of Eddie Guerrero "coming back to life" than there was of Mysterio beating him was abhorrent - only just shading Mark Henry's "If your uncle Eddie was alive, I'd spit on him" line as the height of tastelessness.

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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!