10 Worst WWE Pay-Per-View Names Ever

2. Capitol Punishment

Capitol Punishment Postet
WWE.com

For those unaware, the term 'capital punishment' refers to the government-sanctioned practice of executing an individual as punishment for a crime - otherwise known as the death penalty. The term 'capital' on this case derives from the Latin 'capitalis' meaning 'of the head', a clear reference to the use of beheading as a means of execution.

WWE, being the witty sons of guns that they are, decided that a play on words was the way to go for their June 2011 pay-per-view in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States of America. The show was called Capitol Punishment, and while no one received the death penalty as a result of the booking of the show, it did come with a particularly miserable poster and card.

The show was headlined by R-Truth, of all people, who received a shot at John Cena's WWE Championship on the night that Ezekiel Jackson defeated Wade Barrett to win the Intercontinental Championship. The show posted a better buyrate than the Fatal 4-Way debacle that preceded it in 2010, but by 2012, it had been replaced by the returning No Mercy.

WWE got into further trouble over the name and promotion of Capitol Punishment. A promo video for the pay-per-view spliced footage of former US President Barack Obama with WWE actors asking questions, to give the impression of Obama being interview about the show. The video caused a lot of controversy at the time and certainly didn't help Capitol Punishment's cause a year later. It was missing from the calendar.

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Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.