12 Times WWE Buried Itself

9. Edge Beats Up A Laptop

Vince McMahon Roman Reigns
WWE.com

The symbolism of a wrestler smashing a machine/inanimate object in exasperation and desperation wasn't lost on the discerning fans that actually remained with WWE during some of the leanest creative years in company history.

Edge's destruction of the laptop Michael Cole would read aloud from during the chronic "anonymous Raw General Manager" era of the flagship show was designed as catharsis for a character getting wound up by the mysterious boss' decisions, particularly those weighted against him.

This wasn't a GM Vs Babyface storyline (more on those elsewhere) though, because Edge was a heel and the general manager wasn't real. Not really real, anyway. By this point a disembodied hackneyed robot voice, the "GM" seemed mostly intent on winding up the 'Rated-R Superstar' to the point of derangement. The reasons why were never explained, much in the same way most of the decisions weren't until the company pissed away the conclusion with another Hornswoggle payoff.

Edge was asked to do some of his best angry actTING just half a year after making a heroic return from injury to win the Royal Rumble and begin enacting revenge on former tag team partner Chris Jericho. Based on what we've come to learn about Adam Copeland's pro wrestling preferences post-2020 return, he probably enjoyed flexing his range, at least. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett