50 Worst Wrestling Moments Of The 2020s (So Far)

37. The Nightmare Collective

Nightmare Collective
AEW

Brandi Rhodes did some good for AEW…backstage. Genuinely, her initiative to make AEW shows sensory inclusive was well overdue, and the Heels fan group was a very positive step, if you’ve ever spent more than four seconds on Twitter.

She wasn’t very good creatively.

The early omens were worrying. Before Dynamite premiered, Brandi on the Road to Double Or Nothing YouTube series riffed on Stephanie McMahon by pretending to favour each of the women set to wrestle in a four-way. This was a WWE parody for the sake of it, and was quickly abandoned. This would become a recurring theme.

Brandi then installed herself as the leader of the aptly-named Nightmare Collective. This was both cringeworthy and, insanely, almost identical to another supernatural-leaning cult that attempted to recruit members week-to-week: the Dark Order.

If you're going to copy somebody else’s homework, you don’t steal from the idiot going-nowhere burn-out. You borrow something, you know, good.

While this dismal Nightmare Collective business technically unfolded in 2019, the worst was yet to come in 2020, when Luther was unveiled as a member on January 8. A guy who could barely wrestle anymore was brought in to look scary - his idea of which was to swirl his tongue around - because he was Chris Jericho’s mate.

What next? Getting the Big Show to do commentary on Dark: Elevation for a few months?

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Contributor
Contributor

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!