10 WWE Wrestlers That Were Thrown Off By The Crowd
The Rock, CM Punk, Charlotte Flair and others find themselves on the wrong end of some rowdy fans...
It was very like pro wrestling to render the pandemic done and dusted in July 2021.
As new variants tackled vaccines and differing statistics told stories of further uncertainty, the industry's brusk no-selling of reality and the new normal bordered on impressive. AEW were first out of the blocks and out of Daily's Place to get Dynamite on the road, whilst WWE's return to venues has been in service of a monster SummerSlam card that will host upwards of 40,000 people in Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium.
Hypocrite klaxon here though, because that's not to say a return to venues hasn't been mostly fantastic. Wrestling is a performance art first and foremost, and the lack of full crowds made for an anaemic atmosphere we all got far too used to during the global b*stard's darkest days.
It's why the biggest companies in North America wanted to roar back into life as soon as possible. For the presentation of their products, and for the good of the performers themselves. Several wrestlers were particularly empowered by the sheer noise, let alone the real human energy they were able to tap into again.
Happy days are here again, and nothing bad could possibly come from any of this...
10. Shawn Michaels
It had already been a night fraught with frustration for the WWE Champion and the rest of the company when inclement weather knocked the power out inside the North Carolina's Florence Civic Centre as well as killing the feed for pay-per-view punters at home.
As the organisation's top stars and planned headliners for the night, Shawn Michaels and Davey Boy Smith had added pressures when things powered up just enough for them to get their contest in the ring. But discord between 'HBK' and some of the ringside fans became apparent midway through, the point where the frustrated Champion completely stopped selling mid-hold to jaw-jack with the particularly rambunctious ringsider.
The match was subsequently one of their weakest, ending with a whimper as a disputed finish called for a rematch the following month. On a night where everything that could go wrong did, Michaels' flailing temperament and indifferent in-ring offering only contributed to the controversy.