10 Worst WWE Moments Of 2004

Think of 2004 and you'll instantly be transported back to the highs of WrestleMania XX. John Cena opened the night by beating Big Show to win the United States Title, there was a memorable Chris Jericho, Christian and Trish Stratus angle, The Undertaker returned as a supernatural gimmick, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero celebrated to close out the show. Everything seemed rosy.

Obviously, events afterwards would forever change public opinion on Benoit, but he did produce several of 2004's best moments. Of course, 'Mania XX also had some some of the dirt worst to offer too, and all of that is included here. WWE brought the pain via Diva Search monotony, cement crypts, miscarriage angles so foul they should never have happened, and Kurt Angle even had a bloody dart gun at one point.

Yep, the company was running out of ideas. They were struggling to push on from the 'Attitude Era' and properly find their footing without mega-stars like The Rock and Steve Austin as full-timers. Then, both Brock Lesnar and Goldberg bolted from a thinning roster, so it's perhaps no wonder Vince McMahon and his staff went into panic mode.

That anxiety doesn't excuse some of their decision-making though. If you thought Katie Vick in 2002 and the race baiting of 2003 would act as lessons WWE might learn from, then think again. By 2004, the company used sexual assault, more race-fuelled characterisation and even implied murder on pay-per-view as tools to draw ratings/buys.

Here's the worst of what '04 had to offer. Not even Rock's TV comeback could save the day. That's when you know it's bad!

The fourth season of faux-reality show Tough Enough was still ongoing when rookie Daniel Puder took Olympic gold winner Kurt Angle down and almost broke his arm on the 4 November 2004 SmackDown. WWE had tasked the cast with running steps at Savvis Center in St. Louis for most of the day before the show was taped, and they'd also been put through their paces with regular in-ring training too.

None of that mattered when Puder got the eye of the tiger and accepted Kurt's challenge to enter the ring in a bid to take the WWE stalwart down. Dan took Angle to the mat with a Kimura Lock, and he might've snapped the pro's arm like a twig had officials not thought to quickly count Puder's shoulders for a 3 count. This was a legitimate bit of shooting from the rookie, one that likely didn't sit well behind the scenes.

On camera, a visibly embarrassed Kurt warned Daniel not to be "stupid", then grabbed the mic and chewed the rest of the Tough Enough entrants out anyway. This was supposed to be easy pickings for Angle. He was working, but Puder certainly wasn't. Whilst fascinating to viewers at home, it'd be hard to call this anything but one of 2004's worst moments in execution.

After all, things weren't supposed to play out that way, and it wasn't a great look for an ex-WWE Champ when he was almost tapped out by Puder. Kurt knew he couldn't tap/submit though, because that would've looked even worse for him and WWE.

To top it all off, fans around ringside chanted "UFC! UFC! UFC!" throughout. That wouldn't bother TKO now, but the landscape was different 21 years ago.