10 Weirdest WWE Odd Couples
4. Booker T & Goldust
2002 f*cking sucked.
There are those that still consider it morbidly entertaining because of the sheer volume of angles so intentionally bad it was as if WWE were attempting to sabotage itself in the name of entertainment. There are those that equate presence of stars - no matter how misused - with presence of entertainment. There are those that dare to suggest the year was still somehow classed as The Attitude Era.
They are all wrong. 2002 f*cking sucked.
It sucked because shock doesn't shock when it 'shocks' every week. It sucked because Vince McMahon still couldn't book ex-WCW guys even after the stench of his practice botch a year prior had began to drift away. It sucked because necrophilia f*cking sucks.
It also sucked because it was the year the company embraced a trope that has stuck around to this day - unashamed misery-making.
Fans quickly grew to love Brock Lesnar because his push was one of the lone highlights that year, so his undefeated streak collapsed against The Big Show in 4:18. Audiences were wowed by the 'SmackDown Six' matches, so Vince ramped up segments featuring Dawn Marie shagging Al Wilson to death instead.
And people loved Booker T and Goldust. They were funny, believable friends and, vitally, actually over when so few other tandems were. They were rarely winners though, and the deprivation of that high was all too in keeping with the company's sea change. Less than a year into their run they were split in order for Booker T to commence the worst WrestleMania programme ever and Goldust to contract a disorder that effectively made fun of people with Tourette's Syndrome.
2002 f*cking sucked.