50 Absolute Worst Things WWE Has Done In The 21st Century
45. JR & Michael Cole’s Rap Battle (2011)
Generally, pro wrestling has struggled to maintain a cool edge in pop culture. Advents like the nWo over in WCW, Steve Austin's rise as a beer-drinking badass, the entire 'Attitude Era' and others have changed that here or there, but the biz is pretty much a niche loved by hardcore fans and tolerated by some depending on the time of year. That's why so many folks return for Royal Rumble-WrestleMania season, or part of the reason at least.
Imagine the horrified glances between industry-adoring hardcores when Jim Ross and Michael Cole had a rap battle on the 12 December 2011 Raw then. Keep in mind that this was the same year that CM Punk's "Pipebomb Promo' made wrestling seem edgy all over again. That was June. By December, WWE had Cole laughing at JR for forgetting his rhymes as increasingly-agitated fans wondered why they'd bought a ticket for the flagship that evening at all.
WWE wouldn't be able to charge today's prices for this kind of rotten content, that's for sure!
The whole exercise appeared to be the latest chapter in an imaginary book penned by Vince McMahon called: 'How To Humiliate Jim Ross In 3,467 Easy Steps'. Why else would such a segment exist? To entertain the fans? Yeah, everyone flocked to arenas to see JR become the next Snoop Dogg. Come on now.
Painful doesn't even begin to cover it. This would've been agonising to sit through even if Ross suddenly channelled the spirit of Eminem and laid down one of the best verses in history on Cole's heel character.