10 Times WWE Tried (And Failed) To Be Edgy
Some controversial/shocking WWE ideas were good. These ones... weren't!
WWE (and pro wrestling in general) has been hellbent on looking cool, hip and happening since the dawn of time. Mainstream media outlets rarely report on anything to do with the biz if they can help it, but when they do it's very much a 'look at what these cretins have been up to' sort of deal.
The heralded heights of 'Attitude' did manage to make the then-WWF a hot topic in pop culture, granted. Unfortunately, successes there tricked the company into chasing that controversial reaction for good, and there are few things worse than wrestling trying then failing to be edgy.
It's actually rather embarrassing when this happens.
Throughout the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and even into the 2020's (it's enough to make one gag that it's the 20s again), WWE has produced content it thinks will capture casual imaginations or make headlines. Sometimes, it does, albeit for the wrong reasons.
Meanwhile, poor hardcore rasslin' fans are left wondering who thought any of this was a good idea in the first place? After all, why watch great wrestling when you can see someone mimic the Jackass/Dirty Sanchez boom, eh?
10. Brawl For All Is Real Fighting, Man!
The only good thing to come out of 'Brawl For All' was that killer tune the WWF used for it. In 1998, Vince Russo convinced Vince McMahon that having his stars punch one another in the face for real was a great use of valuable TV time on Raw. Word to the wise: It was not.
In fact, it was horrible.
There were several things wrong with trying to latch onto the shoot-fighting train. Firstly, announcers looked like goons for selling matches/angles elsewhere whilst having to repeat that 'Brawl For All' was "real". How stupid is that? If it's the only real segment on shows, does...that mean everyone else is just playing?
Secondly, numerous workers got very-real injuries because they were legitimately getting smacked around in real boxing fights. These 'Toughman' contests were a blight on programming, got several guys hurt, bored fans to death and failed to draw in the shoot-fight crowd anyway.
What a waste of time.