10 Wrestling Storylines Totally Different To How You Remember

1. The Peak Of The Hurt Business

Undertaker Bones Thumb
WWE

How you remember it:

A serious main event proposition that elevated a rotten, synthetic landscape. They highlighted the grim, farcical lows of the early pandemic. Just look at them; embodying big fight legitimacy, technical artistry, dazzling workrate and world-class promo skills between each component, they held all the gold and hoisted the belts over expensive, chic suits. They looked the absolute b*llocks.

They *looked* the absolute b*llocks...

What it was actually like:

The Hurt Business could have been a great stable. They were only a great stable on paper. A great stable beats the sh*t out of babyfaces, cut killer promos over the corpses, assist in elevating babyfaces, and act as vehicle with which to push new stars. Sadly, none of these things happened. They worked matches with Apollo Crews for three consecutive months. That is no exaggeration. The feud was redundant even by WWE standards. Then, they turned face for a bit and feuded with RETRIBUTION.

It doesn't matter how great Lashley looked in a suit. Lashley evolved into a headline attraction despite the Hurt Business. This is quite literally true; the one time they could have functioned effectively as a stable - when Drew McIntyre challenged Lashley's supremacy ahead of WrestleMania 37 - Lashley fired them, out of nowhere, because he didn't need their help.

He subsequently offered a bounty to the 24/7 Title geeks, stipulating that whomever took Drew out would get a shot at his WWE Title at a later date.

Isn't...isn't that what a stable is for?

Not when the stable wasn't any good.

Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, in Lashley's mind and in WWE canon, were considered more useless than Akira Tozawa.

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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!