41 Most Disgusting Promotional Tactics In Wrestling History RANKED

24. 2008 - WWE Teases The Overdose And Death Of Jeff Hardy

The worst thing about the 2008 winner is that it was both truly disgusting and actually quite clever.

The basic gist here is that, ahead of that year’s Survivor Series pay-per-view, WWE uploaded a story to its official website, alerting readers to the “fact” that Hardy “was found unconscious in a stairwell at his hotel in Boston”, and had been “rushed to the nearest emergency room.” WWE refused, for “security reasons”, to name the “hospital”.

As far as vile, exploitative, cheap storytelling goes, this was…not unsophisticated. It was rotten, to make that absolutely clear. It was, increasingly, a very plausible scenario. Jeff was deeply troubled, everybody knew that, and WWE knew it, too. They made you fear for a man’s life, and what’s worse, they got every grim detail right.

The copy in the article was conspicuously low on WWE’s preferred alternate verbiage. The phrase “local medical facility” was not used - because that, and WWE knew it, would have given the game away. Using the internet was savvy, too; it would have been contrived, had a similar angle played out on the go-home episode of Monday Night Raw.

The location was also an inspired choice. Again: absolutely abhorrent stuff, but halfway inspired. Far too many wrestlers had perished, at a frighteningly young age, in a lonely motel room.

This all too easily could have haunted WWE - but it wouldn't have mattered. They’d have either monetised Jeff via tribute show or distanced themselves from it, depending on whether he was still working there.