10 Wrestling Promos That Were Inadvertently Infamous

6. Kings & Queens

Frightening hatred flew down the lens from the eyes of Jerry Lawler into the souls of the WWE audience as he ripped into Goldust ahead of a King Of The Ring 1997 qualifier on Monday Night Raw. Superlative performer Lawler was hopefully just entering god-level performance territory - it's rather heartbreaking to consider an alternative.

Referring to 'The Bizarre One' first as "our sissy friend", he moved up the gears so fast he drove his Batmobile into a stonewall, referring to Goldust as a "flaming f*g" and his wife Terri Runnels as "the biggest gold-digger in Georgia". He wasn't done, dishing out a scathing closing line on the pair's only daughter - "[Dakota] should have been called Target, because I heard everybody in Atlanta had a shot at it".

Goldust's babyface turn had opened the door up for heels such as Lawler to grasp at the low hanging fruit of the gimmick, but it makes shocking viewing on the WWE Network today considering the company's careful public relations management. It remains one of the most caustic promos in the show's history, with the language regrettable then, let alone over 20 years later.

Contributor
Contributor

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