41 Most Disgusting Promotional Tactics In Wrestling History RANKED

38. 1993 - Cactus Jack Gets Amnesia

Big Van Vader Cactus Jack Halloween HAvoc 1992
WWE

“I can excuse racism, but I draw the line at a bad wrestling angle.”

Again, not a joke. That is not a joke. You might think the popular ‘Community’ meme template has been borrowed here, but you’d be wrong.

In 1993, in WCW, the promotion attempted to capitalise on the masochistic dedication of Mick ‘Cactus Jack’ Foley. He had suffered a legitimate concussion when Vader blasted him with a powerbomb on exposed concrete. WCW depicted him in comedy vignettes in which he’d lost his mind and memory. They were incredibly naff, but this was 1993 WCW. The promotion simply didn’t know any better, God love it.

This wasn’t even voted as Most Disgusting Tactic out of disgust for WCW trivialising a head injury. No, this was just hardcore wrestling fans upset that a very talented guy they really liked had been lumbered with poor material.

Meanwhile, over in the WWF, the newly-turned babyface Lex Luger decided to defend the United States of America from the “blood-sucking leech” Yokozuna. Before heroically body-slamming the sumo aboard the USS Intrepid, Luger referred to him as an “overstuffed, sushi-eatin’, rice-chompin’ wrestler”. Bloody hell. Given that Luger spent most of the summer on a bus, you could argue that he worked harder at being racist than at being a wrestler.

In defence of the Observer readership, 37 of them did vote for the WWF doing xenophobia. Some also voted for the WWF giving Hogan another run with the World title, as opposed to the man himself calling Yokozuna a slur at WrestleMania IX.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!