10 Wrestling Bookers Who Damaged Their Own Promotions

Where does one even begin?

Is it the hundred-odd swerves every show? It goes without saying that a swerve loses its value when it's overused into oblivion week in and week out. Seriously, how many people can unexpectedly hit their supposed friend with a steel chair and it still be a surprise every week?

If a viewer somehow, someway had no idea wrestling was a work, Russo's WCW would burst the bubble pretty quickly. With everyone harping on about backstage politics and using insider terms, kayfabe very quickly died, never to return. Of course, shattering the illusion was just the tip of the iceberg for the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion.

Look no further than the fact that he was just called a former WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Despite possessing literally zero athleticism, Russo got his crummy mitts on the big gold belt in 2000. Shockingly, it did not lead to a ratings spike. Quite the opposite in fact.

The matches themselves frequently failed to deliver as well thanks to a lack of time and, worse still, some truly ludicrous stipulations. Something was always going up on a pole in WCW at this point. Failing that, a forklift would be brought in so poor Buff Bagwell could fight for his mother or something.

Like a cross between a Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker parody of wrestling and a Tommy Wiseau crack at it, Russo's catastrophic work just about murdered the promotion. Even Hulk Hogan, a career politicker, was disgusted, burying Russo for real at Bash at the Beach 2000 and later suing him over his on-screen rebuttal.