WWE's 12 Fails Of Christmas

3. Trouble In Paradise - Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2009

Paul Heyman December to Dismember Facepalm
wwe.com

It's unclear yet how history will review WWE's 2000-2010 era. The company moved to monolithic stadiums for Wrestlemanias, took Raw around the world, and set the wheels in motion for a revolutionary Network that would completely reinvent the wheel on their business model.

But for those who maintained a close eye on the product week-to-week, there will probably also be a series of niggles and gripes labelled 'Missed Opportunities'. At the top of that pile would have to be the inexplicable de-push of Kofi Kingston.

Receiving a monster push at the tail-end of 2009, the popular Jamaican/Ghanaian had worthily shone in his new spotlight.

Racing up the card with a series of big wins and an engaging feud with top heel Randy Orton, Kofi was the sole survivor as Team Kingston got by Team Orton at November's Survivor Series, and memorably put Orton through a table buried in the middle of a rabid Madison Square Garden crowd.

As a result, Kofi's clean loss to an Orton RKO at TLC '09 was massively deflating, and took so much steam out of a character still in need of a big singles win.

Before The New Day came along and saved three careers at once, such a crushing defeat here left Kofi struggling to find his way back to similar heights for the better part of five years.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett