10 Worst Years To Be A WWE Fan

7. 2009

Goldberg Universal Champion
WWE Network

Eesh.

A year that ushered in the guest host era of Monday Night Raw thanks to Donald Trump "buying" the show in a vapid ratings grab by his billionaire buddy Vince McMahon, 2009 was also what most assumed the nadir of the John Cena era before 2010 offered even more of the same.

'The Champ' went to war with Randy Orton in a feud WWE dared to suggest was the generation's Rock/Steve Austin equivalent. It speaks to the sh*tty decline of the product that they were arguably right, but even a generous comparison to the legendary pair wouldn't have justified them competing against each other on five consecutive pay-per-views.

It's not all on Cena, of course. Orton absolutely f*cking sucked. So too did Legacy. As did their feud with D-Generation X, because Triple H f*cking sucked too. As did the booking of a women's division that fed off toxic locker room culture and dated paradigms. WrestleMania f*cking sucked hardest of all because it was plagued with so many of these corrosive elements all for the satisfaction of the company's audience of one.

It was impossible to present a year as awful at the dawn of a new decade, but WWE were going to go big in their efforts to try...

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett