10 Times WWE SmackDown Went Too Far
9. John B*stard Layfield...
...was the sound many made as they switched off SmackDown and WWE forever when the former APA man became WWE Champion in 2004. And it somehow got even worse before it got better.
We should have expected it to turn out this way. His instant repackaging as a Mr McMahon avatar was a major clue of things to come after all. We shouldn't have expected him to literally (and giddily) boot Mexicans over the US border to build heat with Eddie Guerrero. At some point, this sh*t's on the company rather than us.
Built into an angle that feasted on old school heat and low-hanging fruit, the big Texan was also made responsible for 'Latino Heat's mother having a heart attack in the ring before bludgeoning the Champion in their first bout for the belt.
It really was as much about content as delivery - 'The Wrestling God' just looked so f*cking happy to be himself. Brilliant if what you're doing doesn't reek of the type of jingoistic terror that divides nations. Less so if your outspoken political and personal views seem to skew in that direction too.