10 Wrestling Matches That Inadvertently Became Infamous
6. Booker T Vs Buff Bagwell (WWE Raw)
As WWE's picks to test the waters with a rebranded WCW production, Buff Bagwell and Booker T were effectively fed to the wolves as they disastrously closed a 2001 Monday Night Raw broadcast.
As existing World Heavyweight Champion and a well-known workhorse inexorably linked to the Atlanta organisation, Booker was a salient choice to represent the re-badged outfit as WWE figured out how best to implement the brand.
Bagwell was a stranger selection, but his entire hiring appeared justified by a crowd reaction experiment conducted by Vince McMahon on the night he acquired his struggling rival. Engaging in a rather convoluted thumbs up/thumbs down straw poll with his audience, 'The Stuff' drew an inexplicably loud response.
The volume was still turned up when he made his in-ring debut alongside the former Harlem Heat member in July, but the Tacoma, Washington crowd were ruthless in their flat rejection of the contest.
It was a self-fulfilling prophecy for the company. WWE had spent years brainwashing their core audience to disavow anything remotely associated with WCW, and it had worked remarkably well. The abrupt request to accept the branding, the stars or even the commentators fell on deaf ears and loud dismissal.
Both were mercifully booed, and noticeably flailed under the pressure. A not-very-good match gradually got worse, before company heels Steve Austin and Kurt Angle ran in and decked 'babyface' Booker to a deafening pop.
Bagwell joined them, but took a kicking of his own after helping the real stars literally throw the Champion out of the building.