10 Wrestlers Punished For Trying To Steal The Limelight

9. Fandango

Vader Jim Cornette Jerry Lawler
WWE.com

Destroyed by the company's clueless efforts to actually try and maintain his momentum, Fandango's novelty appeal following a shocking WrestleMania 29 victory over Chris Jericho was strangled to death by WWE's tone-deaf follow-through.

New Jersey fans on the post-WrestleMania Raw caused the initial song-and-dance, humming his chintzy entrance theme alongside a finger-jig during his moribund match with Kofi Kingston. Stumbling on their meme of the weekend, the crowd went all-in on it throughout the rest of the broadcast. WWE's YouTube channel uploaded footage of fans continuing to sing as they left the building, moved as they were to take advantage of the unlikely interest in the character.

Over the following week, videos went viral of mass groups 'Fandangoing' whilst the song itself shot up iTunes charts and came within a whisker of cracking the UK Top 40. The company toasted the notoriety by having the ancient Jerry Lawler beat audiences over the heads with the craze the next week, then have Fandango himself lose a Jericho rematch at the very next pay-per-view.

Appeal quashed and credibility squashed, he'd gone from the outhouse to the penthouse and back in little over a month.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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