WWE's Biggest Booking DISASTER Every Year (1986-2026)
Hyper-analysing the biggest booking busts across 40 years of WWE television.
We respect you, booker man!
Nowadays, we have full on creative teams rather than bookers, but wrestling fans will never stop referring to "the booking". After all, creative teams and others with fancy titles like Triple H's 'Chief Content Officer' label do indulge in the art of booking. They book matches, gimmick changes, alignment switches, swerves, title wins/losses and more on a weekly basis.
That'll never change - someone will always be responsible for who's doing what on any given show. Traditions run strong in the biz when it comes to booking, but there have been some alarming disasters in the WWF/WWE stretching right back to the 1980s. That's the focus here: Those plots and ideas that went awry in an instant.
Thrashing out which was the worst from every single year of WWE product between 1986-2026 isn't as straightforward as it may appear.
After all, there are often multiple examples fighting for the dubious prize from years like 1993 (Giant Gonzales would like a word), 2019 (The Undertaker and Goldberg almost killed one another) and 2007 (Vince McMahon's ECW Title reign spat in the faces of those who adored Paul Heyman's legacy promotion), but we've whittled things down to just one per year.
When flicking through, you'll see the ways in which WWE booking has evolved. You'll also see which pesky tropes have remained pretty much the same despite time marching on. That's worth noting when you've got a known student of the game (ahem) and traditionalist like Hunter in charge of things today.
Let the disastrous revisits commence.
41. Fake Boxing Headlines WrestleMania (1986)
Technically, it was Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy inside the old blue-barred steel cage that headlined WrestleMania 2, but here's a quick refresher on some frankly wild plans. Vince McMahon beamed his 'Mania sequel from 3 distinct locations: New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Those "lucky" hardcores in NY's Nassau Coliseum were "treated" to a fake boxing match pitting Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T. It was as thrilling as it sounds. Sure, seeing 'Hot Rod' and the A-Team/Rocky TV/movie star square off did have box office appeal in 1986, but the whole exercise felt painfully drawn out at over 13 minutes.
If given the choice, surely most in attendance would've plumped for The British Bulldogs vs. Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine or the aforementioned Hogan vs. Bundy cage effort instead. At least those were title matches which fit within the WWF context. Piper vs. T did not, not even amidst the sports entertainment hysteria of WrestleMania.
In essence, sticking Roddy and Mr. T out there to go longer than either subsequent main event on the other 2 legs was...a choice. There honestly isn't a lot to be sour on from '86, largely because the fed's pay-per-view model hadn't kicked into high gear yet, but this wannabe Rocky Balboa vs. Clubber Lang exhibition sucked.
It wasn't even something Piper was particularly into. He'd sound off on T even being involved in the WWF at all, and it's pretty obvious the pair didn't see eye to eye before, during or after this duffer of a "fight".