10 Times WWE Legends Got Squashed

Everything wrong with modern WWE in one seven-second squash.

Kofi Kingston was the most over male babyface in WWE since the glory days of Daniel Bryan. (Check out the crowd's ecstatic reaction to his victory over Bryan himself at WrestleMania). And while WWE did a better-than-expected job booking his title reign, portraying him as a fighting champion unafraid to take on anyone, the way they ended it was absolutely awful.

Everything about Kofi's burial (and the subsequent angle involving Lesnar & Cain Velasquez) highlighted the flaws of contemporary WWE booking. Curbing a popular superstars' momentum to push an office favourite? Check. Making a fan favourite look ineffectual? Check. Sacrificing a full-time roster member to a part-timer? Check. Throwing aside all logic in favour of a throwaway match at one of WWE's deeply troubling Saudi Arabia PPVs? Check. Bloody. Check.

In Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, Thompson described Nixon's America as a place where the guiding principle was "Grab all you can and f**k the other guy". That's certainly been McMahon's mantra as a businessman, and this match was a brutal encapsulation of his ethos. F**k the fans and f**k their favourites - WWE is playing to an audience of one, and he always gets what he wants.