10 Wrestling Storylines That Were Much Darker Than You Think

5. The Exploitation Of Eddie Guerrero

Rob Van Dam Steve Austin
WWE.com

'Eddiesploitation' was of course reprehensible enough in itself: WWE, seemingly upset that Eddie went and died on them, for Christ's sake, booked Rey Mysterio to be his proxy to capitalise on the very real fan emotion.

He was still alive in the heart of Rey, who, avenging Randy Orton's unconscionable cheap heat schtick, won the Royal Rumble match - and subsequently, the World Heavyweight title - at WrestleMania 22.

Designed to "pay tribute" to Eddie's legacy, the whole thing was grim, exploitative fare that sought to disassociate fans from the awful industry machinations that led to his tragic, untimely demise. He lived on through the characters!

Except he didn't - he was deceased - and the grim underbelly of a bleak industry played a not inconsiderable role.

Rey's unbelievably terrible form after WrestleMania darkened the whole thing yet further. He was a terrible World champion in the fiction, doing jobs in six minutes to Finlay on random editions of SmackDown. It was if Vince completely forgot what the grim point of the run was, and realised to his disgust that Mysterio was tiny.

Rey Mysterio was booked to carry on Eddie's legacy - and as a failure - at the exact same time.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!