All Elite Wrestling decided to fight back against the tirade from paid-off podcasters, bots, online bullies, and louts, including its serial one-man internet narrative, CM Punk.
Punk spilled his own version of the All In brawl on fanboy Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour podcast last week. Tony Khan’s mismanagement of Punk and the controversies surrounding him have derailed AEW creatively, namely, in how Punk is always used as a hammer to bludgeon the company.
AEW has its problems, but it also faces a constant barrage from former wrestling personalities on Legends contracts or angry and jealous old-timers who feel Khan owes them a job. Wrestlers make more than they ever have once they reach the top levels. It wasn’t long ago that a regular talent on Raw would make $60,000 a year depending on who they were and the contract they signed. Still, WWE’s payroll makes up way less than 10% of its total expenses, a number that in most companies is around 50% or more.
Under this environment, AEW owner Tony Khan decided to fight back by airing backstage footage of CM Punk’s confrontation and choking of Jack Perry during the Wembley All In PPV. Most notable was that Punk’s story was largely straightforward, and while Punk was really angry at Khan and was dragged off by Chris Hero and Jerry Lynn, Khan’s life didn’t appear to be in danger in the footage he chose to air.
Some have taken aim at Perry for not defending himself more forcefully and getting tossed around by Punk, but considering he was standing right in front of the owner of the company when this happened, that criticism doesn’t hold much water.
People are seeing this through the eyes they choose—whether they like Punk or not and how they view workplace confrontations. What I know is, most people would be fired for what Punk did, whether it was backstage at a wrestling company or somewhere else.
The Young Bucks, who were tasked with using this incident to fuel their fourth matchup with FTR, seemed to sum it up best as a “high school scrap.” When they attacked PAC later in the show, they were met with a CM Punk chant. After spending nearly two years trying to distance themselves from the fog of All Out, including reinventing themselves and staking a claim to being the best heel act in wrestling, that had to sting.
The Bucks and FTR deserve better. So does everyone else backstage, and that’s not limited to the wrestlers.
Viewership data hasn’t been released for the ratings stunt as of this writing, but is there a number that would justify this decision? CM Punk is the one who reopened this wound and shone a light back on the backstage dysfunction AEW has tried so desperately to move on from since last summer.
Tony Khan still has the power to command attention and shift the industry’s attention back to his company. However, it’s not in a way that draws money or improves the company’s perception with fans.
All that said, longtime viewers have seen far worse. Here are 10 incidents that may have seemed like a good idea to somebody at the time, but backfired spectacularly.
10. WCW Spoil’s Mick Foley’s WWF title win
Mick Foley, who wrestled as Cactus Jack in WCW for years, was always a reliable and hated heel, even as the company struggled during the early ’90s. Foley was versatile; he could wrestle, brawl, and he sacrificed countless cartilage, blood, and even an ear for the company.
By 1999, Foley had joined the WWF, which had finally rebounded after being dominated by WCW for two years. Steve Austin and The Rock emerged as historic draws, with Foley right behind them as a massive, drawing babyface. Vince McMahon initially didn’t see Foley as much of a factor, but his Mankind character was creepy and fit well within the WWF, especially in matches against the Undertaker and other top babyfaces.
Recognizing their need for greater star power, the WWF began presenting Foley differently, portraying his journey into wrestling with a more three-dimensional character development. This led to a feud with The Rock and a World title match on Raw that was pre-taped.
On orders from Eric Bischoff, who couldn’t believe fans would accept Foley as a credible champion, Bischoff repeated a tactic WCW had used before.
“That’ll put butts in the seats,” Tony Schiavone said sarcastically, relaying Raw’s spoilers on Bischoff’s directive. When 9 p.m. arrived and Raw aired during Nitro’s second hour, hundreds of thousands of Nitro viewers switched to Raw to witness Foley winning the WWF title.
Despite its steady decline, Nitro was still a ratings, buys, and crowds powerhouse in 1999. The spoiler reveal demonstrated that Bischoff and WCW were out of touch and perceived as mean-spirited.
9. Dusty Rhodes bloody angle with the Road Warriors
By 1988, Crockett Promotions was floundering. Magnum TA’s career had abruptly ended two years earlier, and emerging talents like Lex Luger and Sting hadn’t yet reached the stature needed to assume top babyface roles within the company.
In a desperate move, Dusty Rhodes resorted to a strategy that had previously served him well—creating a formidable heel group by having them brutally attack him. This time, it involved the Road Warriors, one of the world’s most popular tag teams. They betrayed their six-man tag team partner, Dusty Rhodes, by using a spike from their shoulder pads to jab into Rhodes’ eye. The footage was blurred on TBS, which only made the incident appear more gruesome, and this controversial angle—which violated several TBS guidelines—resulted in Rhodes being dismissed as the booker. It was intended to be more than just a ratings stunt, yet that’s essentially what it became. After a feud with the Midnight Express and capturing the NWA tag titles for the first time, the Warriors’ newfound infamy couldn’t deter the fans’ adoration, rendering the whole effort futile.
8. Road Warrior Hawk pushed off the Titan Tron
Fans who grew up in the late ’90s often remember the Attitude Era fondly, despite it being rife with ratings stunts designed to boost Raw in its weekly competition against Nitro. Many of these stunts were in poor taste and would be unthinkable for today’s broadcasts.
The Road Warriors returned to WWE in 1996 after leaving WCW. Vince McMahon attempted to recreate or modernize the Legion of Doom (LOD) with different appearances and names. For a time, Sunny managed them, and Darren “Puke” Drozdov was added as a third member. It seemed McMahon was more focused on undermining the Road Warriors’ legacy than leveraging their draw power. This was evident in various gimmicks, such as assigning them a doll as a manager during their earlier stint in the company or exploiting Hawk’s real-life struggles with alcoholism in a storyline.
A particularly disturbing storyline featured Hawk climbing to the top of the TitanTron, threatening to jump off, only to be pushed by his envious partner, Drozdov. While some WWF fans defended the angle, long-time supporters of the Road Warriors were appalled by their treatment, and wrestling journalists expressed their disgust. Unfortunately, this was just a glimpse of the extreme measures taken during this era.
7. Jerry Lawler gets ran over with a car
Memphis wrestling was notorious for its wild angles, eccentric characters, and sometimes stretching the bounds of believability to their limits.
In a particularly controversial episode, the program crossed a line with the Memphis Police Department during a feud involving Jerry Lawler and Eddie and Doug Gilbert. The Gilberts, in a storyline, spotted Lawler in the parking lot outside the studio and ran him over with a car. This episode aired live, including the shocking angle, leading to dozens of phone calls to the police from concerned viewers reporting the Gilberts’ actions and complaints directed at the TV studio.
As a result of the uproar and police involvement, a remorseful Lawler was compelled to appear on television to assure the audience that he was, in fa
ct, unharmed and not as severely injured as the storyline suggested.
6. The 1st time Stephanie McMahon was forcibly married on Raw
Stephanie McMahon entered her early 20s and began to feature regularly on WWF TV. Initially portrayed as a damsel in distress, her character evolved following a heel turn, where her screechy, unnerving voice and tendency to overshadow anyone she shared the screen with became her defining traits.
Her storyline involvement with Test, her first on-air boyfriend, was fraught with difficulties. Notably, they encountered the Undertaker and his group of lower-card wrestlers, along with a “symbol” that resembled a cross. This symbol, previously used in a storyline to crucify Steve Austin, became a prop in a plot to tie Stephanie to it and force her into a marriage with the Undertaker inside the ring.
The narrative reached a climax when, after numerous babyfaces attempted to save Stephanie, Steve Austin made a dramatic entrance. He incapacitated several of the Undertaker’s minions with chair shots before ultimately confronting the Undertaker himself and rescuing Stephanie. This act marked one of Austin’s first definitive babyface moments on Raw TV. Despite the problematic elements of forced marriage, misogyny, religious insensitivity, and overall moral degradation, this storyline inadvertently served to further elevate Austin’s popularity in 1998—a time when his character was already experiencing significant momentum.
5. The 2nd Time Stephanie McMahon was forcibly married on Raw
During the peak of the Attitude Era, WWE intensified its edgy content with moments like women flashing crowds and cameras—antics often orchestrated by DX members Shawn Michaels and Triple H. Despite the influx of fitness models on its roster, Stephanie McMahon, being the boss’s daughter, remained the focal female character.
Her storyline saw a second coerced marriage while she was “engaged” to Test, even as Triple H was publicly in a relationship with Joanie ‘Chyna” Laurer. In a plot twist that took place in Vegas, Triple H, leading the heel faction DX at the time, took an unconscious Stephanie through a drive-thru chapel in Vegas, marrying her by mimicking her voice for consent.
It was later revealed that Stephanie was complicit in the entire scheme, having turned heel as part of her nefarious plan. Around this period, Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Stephanie began their real-life relationship, even as Triple H was still involved with Chyna.
This storyline marked a controversial point in WWE programming, initiating the era of the McMahon family as prominent figures on WWF TV. Stephanie, despite often being sexualized in storylines, typically emerged victorious, regardless of her character’s moral alignment. Her personal decisions, such as getting breast implants or participating in sexually humiliating angles, were purportedly leveraged against other female talents, suggesting that if Stephanie was willing to engage in such storylines, they had no ground to refuse. These two forced marriage angles signaled the start of a problematic period for women in WWE, reflecting broader issues within the industry’s portrayal of female characters.
4. Katie Vick
Why resort to actual wrestling to fuel a feud when you can opt for a tasteless alternative? This was the approach taken during Triple H’s feud with Kane, the masked storyline brother of the Undertaker.
The storyline took a macabre turn when it was disclosed that Kane had a childhood girlfriend named Katie Vick, who had tragically died. WWE produced a particularly distasteful pre-taped segment set in a funeral home, where Triple H simulated sex with Vick, represented by a mannequin, inside a coffin. The depiction of Triple H’s actions was so graphic that it culminated in the mannequin’s “brains” spilling out.
This angle was hyped as a significant reveal, yet it ultimately left fans feeling bewildered and repulsed. It is frequently cited as one of the most deplorable storylines in wrestling history, emblematic of a stunt and tease that devolved into utter folly.
3. Pillman’s Got a Gun
Brian Pillman’s career took a dramatic turn after a car accident severely damaged his leg, nearly costing him his life. Despite a challenging recovery following painful ankle surgery, Pillman’s “Loose Cannon” persona garnered widespread interest, ultimately leading him to sign a lucrative contract with the WWF.
As Pillman’s ankle struggled to heal, necessitating further surgery, the WWF creatively paired him with the rising star Steve Austin to maintain his on-screen presence. In a storyline developed to accommodate Pillman’s need for time off, Austin was scripted to re-injure Pillman’s ankle with a chair attack.
The storyline escalated with Austin vowing to confront Pillman at his home in Walton, Kentucky. In a highly controversial segment, Pillman was shown waiting for Austin with a 9mm handgun, threatening to shoot Austin should he show up.
When “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did appear, attacking two Heartland Wrestling Association wrestlers outside Pillman’s home as part of the staged angle, the situation inside the house reached a boiling point. As Austin broke through the door, scattering glass, the broadcast cut to Pillman’s wife screaming and a furious Pillman firing shots.
The storyline was met with widespread criticism for its disturbing content and lack of taste. The disbelief that Austin would actually be shot, coupled with the angle’s poor reception, led the USA Network to demand an on-air apology from Vince McMahon the following week.
2. WWE’s Live Sex Celebration
Long before he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Edge (Adam Copeland) sought out to establish himself as a prominent heel known as the ‘Rated R Superstar’ was on the With Amy “Lita” Dumas by his side as a top women’s wrestler and manager. Their on-screen partnership was intertwined with real-life drama, notably Lita’s relationship issues with Matt Hardy, which WWE exploited for storyline purposes. This approach led to severe crowd backlash against Lita, fueling heat for both her and Edge. Their storyline reached a controversial peak at the 2006 Elimination Chamber, where Edge, having promised live sex in the ring on Raw if he won the WWE title, emerged victorious.
Following through, the next night on Raw featured the couple undressing to near nudity under a bed cover in the ring, an act that was interrupted before its conclusion. The segment was widely criticized for its explicit nature and discomforting implications.
Years after the event, Dumas shared on her Twitch stream that she had been coerced into participating in the angle by Vince McMahon. Despite the segment being presented as a tease meant to be interrupted, Lita was deeply uncomfortable with the extent of what was planned. When she expressed her reluctance, she was threatened with termination if she did not comply. This situation also upset Edge and John Cena, both of whom voiced concerns to McMahon about forcing Dumas into an angle she was uncomfortable with.
Despite these objections, McMahon insisted on proceeding with the segment. Dumas, feeling compelled, participated in the angle but left the company several months later. In a final act of disparagement, WWE had a character auction off her “leftover belongings” on-air, a move seen as an attempt to shame her character further. This episode remains a stark example of the wrestling industry’s past mishandling of personal boundaries and consent.
1. The Melanie Pillman Raw interview
The WWF disclosed the tragic news that Brian Pillman had been found dead in his Minnesota hotel room before a PPV in October 1997. In an immediate follow-up, the next night on Raw featured an on-air interview with Melanie Pillman, who was visibly in shock and grieving over the sudden loss of her husband. Vince McMahon conducted the interview, during which the TV crew insinuated it might be an elaborate hoax in the vein of an Andy Kaufman-esque stunt, supposedly masterminded by Pillman
.
Melanie Pillman, overwhelmed by her husband’s death, was portrayed as a deeply distraught and emotional widow. Given her state, it’s plausible she wasn’t in the best position to make a decision about appearing on TV. Nevertheless, McMahon, recognizing an opportunity, chose to use the death of Pillman as a ratings ploy. This incident starkly revealed McMahon’s mentality and the WWF’s operational ethos, casting a harsh light on the company’s regard for its personnel.
