10 WWE Angles That Backfired Spectacularly

These days, WWE is pretty good on LGBT sensitivity (by 'these days', exclude 'three weeks ago'), but you don't have to go back very far for an example of a time they were getting things horribly wrong.

In 2002, the company introduced tacitly gay characters in the shape of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo. Deeply in love with one another, the pair became engaged and were slated to get married on an episode of SmackDown.

Then, at the ceremony itself, they revealed that they were actually just taking us all for a ride. They weren't gay at all, but rather they had decided to pretend to be for a bit of a laugh. The company dropped the storyline and shortly after dissolved the tag team altogether.

Apart from being a complete waste of time, this angle also drew heavy criticism from many viewers, not least of all the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who suggested that they were lied to when consulted on the angle a few months earlier. Not a good look.