50 Absolute Worst Things WWE Has Done In The 21st Century

It seemed WWE would never tie up a loose end once the Anonymous Raw GM gimmick died out in July 2011. The concept faded without some epic reveal about exactly who was behind those emails Michael Cole kept reading out. Then, in the summer of 2012, the promotion brought the mysterious laptop idea back for one night only on the 9 July edition of Raw.

That's when Jerry Lawler and Santino Marella (who was playing detective on the whole thing) outed none other than Hornswoggle as the one behind it all. This was inarguably the single worst choice WWE's writers could've made, and it neutered the Anonymous GM deal instantly. Somehow, that didn't stop them from bringing it back in late-2014. 

Again, the Anonymous flagship authority figure vanished without a proper explanation. It was infuriating.

Swoggle being revealed as the man behind the emails Cole was reading out was even more annoying. It was a total cop out, and a clear sign that WWE's creative team hadn't actually mapped out a satisfying conclusion to the story when they put it on television for the first time. Nope, they just winged it and hoped something would come up later on. When it didn't, they pinned the thing on Hornswoggle and moved on.

Fans groaned collectively as Lawler and Marella's announcement began sinking in. All hopes that this would usher in some drastic change for the authority figure trope were dashed, it became a WWE innovation nobody wanted, and things returned to normal. Even Swoggle had to know this was guff. It didn't even do anything for his career!