10 Times WWE Got Its Ass Kicked

2. The Benoit Tragedy

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WWE

The tragic events of a June 2007 weekend remain one of the darkest days in the history of professional wrestling.

Of course, WWE had zero direct influence over the deaths of Chris Benoit, Nancy Benoit, and Daniel Benoit. But still, that didn't stop a very public spotlight being shone on WWE and the professional wrestling business as a whole.

At that time, news outlets and talk shows went after WWE hard. Names such as Nancy Grace and Larry King were quick to jump on this story and lead the outcry against McMahon's organisation, and they were just two of many who had WWE in their sights. Steroid abuse was the go-to line for many outlets at that point, and WWE's murky history of steroid use meant that the company was having the finger of blame pointed their way by some. The issue of CTE, and the knotty enablement of and willingness to take such life-altering bumps, continued the furore.

It's fair to say that WWE has always been able to do more when it comes to monitoring the use of banned substances by talents, yet the sad truth of the matter is that only one person was responsible for the heinous acts of that June '07 weekend.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.