10 WWE PPVs That Were Doomed From The Start

In 1991, Ric Flair and WCW gaffer Jim Herd had a bust-up that finally sent 'The Nature Boy' styling and profiling off to Vince McMahon with the company's Heavyweight Title in tow.

Beyond losing their biggest star to the opposition, the fallout completely butchered the company's Great American Bash pay-per-view. Traditionally one of the biggest shows of the year, the July showpiece was hijacked by a livid crowd. 'We Want Flair' rang out throughout the evening from an informed audience aware that their product had lost its single biggest attraction.

The former Pizza Hut boss never had his finger on the collective pulse in Atlanta, and completely misread how badly things would go with Flair chased out of town. A replacement main event with a replacement title between Lex Luger and Barry Windham was mercilessly booed out of the building. The hatred had transcended pro wrestling - a corporation was under fire for it's supposed insolence.

Ironically, 'Slick Ric' had remained loyal to the NWA and later WCW in the 1980s when WWE came calling with the hope of giving audiences the all-star dream match of the time. Hogan/Flair was a blockbuster of epic proportions once upon a time, but when McMahon actually got his hands on the match...

...he didn't really fancy it.

Much changed in late-1991 and early-1992 that drastically altered the layout of WrestleMania VIII and the trajectory of the company going forward, but even without the scandal engulfing Hulk Hogan and WWE at the time, a dream match between 'The Hulkster' and Ric Flair was already off the table.

The organisation - as was normal practice - sent the match on the house show loop shortly after Flair's debut in order for the two to feel each other out as opponents and test box office response to the combination. The response didn't dazzle Vince McMahon, unlike Sid Justice's vascular frame and grisly intensity.

With the untelevised events earning less-than-perfect reports, McMahon cooled on the concept as a WrestleMania headliner and began programming Hogan against his latest turncoat rival. In that time, the aforementioned troubles saw Hulk needing a quick exit from the spotlight. WWE were forced to promote this first-time meeting as his potential last match ever, undercutting the other half of a double main event featuring Flair's Championship match with Randy Savage.

Both matches were riddled with bullet holes as a result, with the papered Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis the last time the company would look quite so vast in the United States for nearly five years.