10 Worst Years To Be A WWE Fan
6. 2010
Frustrating on rewatch because attempts are clearly being made to mine diamonds from the countless lumps of coal signed during the John Laurinaitis era of talent development, WWE couldn't help itself when the time came to take a few gambles.
NXT was birthed and immediately dropped on its head with a talent show/obstacle course format that actively worked against the talent that had been plucked from FCW like the aliens from Toy Story they knew they were. WrestleMania saw off Shawn Michaels and with it went one of the only in-ring bankers the company had left. His trainee Daniel Bryan was right there of course, but have a wait on after being buried right out of the gate.
Amidst flashes of inspiration (CM Punk was great as usual in the face of obvious internal opposition and The Miz spoke like a main eventer even if his eventual title reign suggested his best acting wasn't saved for those made-for-DVD movies) the year was to live or die by the success of The Nexus.
The group literally tore the show up on arrival having survived the aforementioned original NXT, were given a sustained period of dominance over the summer months to shake the foundations of the SummerSlam go-home Raw, then lost and lost and lost and lost.
This wasn't just a common-or-garden WWE wrestler burial. This heaped just as much soil on many fans that still had hope.