The WORST Wrestling Moment Every Year (1989 - 2025)

35. 1991 | The Finish Of Horrors

Terri Runnels
WWE

1991 was a bleak time for pro wrestling stateside. 

The WWF’s output was uneven, peaking with some legitimately unsettling major heat angles, but the year will always be remembered for its commercial decline and ghastly exploitation. Extreme Championship Wrestling was still Eastern. The territories were dead. About 99% of the people who have watched the Jerry Lynn Vs. Lightning Kid hidden gem early indie series did so after the fact. It was also a spectacularly bad year for WCW. The prophecy of the Ding Dongs was realised; WCW had become a total mess of cartoonish gimmickry. WCW’s wider philosophy reached a nadir at Halloween Havoc. Sting, El Gigante and the Steiner Brothers defeated Abdullah the Butcher, the Diamond Studd, Cactus Jack, and Vader. 

There was some talent in the field, if you discount Gigante, and even a very limited Abdullah, if nothing else, knew his way around some plunder. An uncomplicated cage match involving all eight men might have kicked ass, but that wasn’t WCW’s style. 

The match was legendarily awful. It was mostly an indistinguishable mess of brawling broken up by awful plunder spots, executed between the ring and the cage walls, involving straight-to-video horror props. Inexplicably, WCW launched a “ref cam” feature during this match. 

Watch the action through the lens of the guy whose deliberately flawed POV you’re meant to ignore!

Capital idea. 

The objective of the match was to electrocute one member of the opposing team. This happened when Cactus Jack confused Abdullah for Scott Steiner, and flipped a switch that had already - to no effect - fallen into place accidentally. 

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!