10 Worst Wrestling Publicity Stunts
6. 'The Lakers' Vs. 'The Nuggets'
In 2009, the NBA playoffs left Vince McMahon dribbling with rage.
With the Denver Nuggets set for the fourth in their series against the LA Lakers, an unfortunate scheduling conflict arose which would see WWE evicted from the Pepsi Centre to make way for the game. Despite the fact Monday Night Raw had been penciled in months in advance, arena owner Stan Kroenke - who also happened to own the Nuggets - stepped in to boot Vince and co. from the venue.
WWE were perhaps justifiably peeved by the discourtesy (a basketball pun there), but their response was unnecessarily petty. And uncharacteristically.
Shifted to Los Angeles' Staples Center - not, coincidentally, the home of the Lakers - WWE spent the entire broadcast deriding the Nuggets. The show even culminated with a match pitting a group of faces bedecked in Lakers livery kicking the paint off their Denver counterparts.
It was all a bit pathetic, but it certainly got the mainstream sports media talking - a fact Kroenke claimed was more important to Vince than his fans. Vince himself had the ultimate rebuttal, however:
Even though the Denver Nuggets had a strong team this year and were projected to make the playoffs, obviously Nuggets and Pepsi Center owner Stan Kroenke did not have enough faith in his own team to hold the May 25 date for a potential playoff game.
Slam-dunk!