WWE's Biggest Booking DISASTER Every Year (1986-2026)

At her height, Shayna Baszler was a no-frills fighting machine perfect for the era of NXT she existed in. Then, having been called up to the main roster as an apparent vampire in 2020, WWE softened on that approach and shunted Shayna into a tag-team with Nia Jax.

Concurrent booking saw Alexa Bliss turn darker and lean on her childhood doll Lilly to gain a supernatural advantage over her foes. When Baszler rubbished the doll and laughed at Bliss for playing mind games, Lilly fought back and stalked the former MMA badass.

The bulk of this storytelling occurred during the 7 June 2021 Raw, and the broadcast actually ended with the insinuation that Lilly had caught up with Shayna. Mercifully, but somewhat shockingly given the barminess of the era, WWE resisted the urge to script a cinematic match that saw Baszler putting the doll in various submission holds.

Lilly avenging Alexa and hunting down Shayna was the kind of TV that wrestling fans shielded from the industry's harshest critics though. There was no way anyone wanted to be caught watching this. Televisions, laptops, iPads and phones alike would've been smashed to bits instead of revealing the truth.

Baszler's aura had been dimmed since her second week on the main touring crew, but this was next level bad and made her look like a moron. If fans had been allowed in arenas at that point in 2021, then there surely would've been a sign reading: 'SHE'S FEUDING WITH A DOLL'.

Even that wouldn't have shamed WWE into scrapping the whole thing.