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Hi. Welcome back. Yesterday i posted 5 shocking controversies in pro wrestling. Today the list continues…. co-source(wrestlingkliq)
I assume when a person takes a job like league commissioner or
General
Manager, the first thing they prepare for is something going wrong and
making their life miserable. Anything that can go wrong, and create some
sort of controversy, will come up out of nowhere and make taking that
job seem like a horrible idea. From star players being caught hitting a
spouse on camera or a team owner saying he does not want people of a
certain race at his team’s games, controversy is never really beneficial
to a sports league. Like any sport in the mainstream consciousness, pro
wrestling has had its share of controversies. From harassment suits to
steroid abuse, there is a long laundry list of things that have left a
dark mark on the history of pro wrestling. There is no rhyme or reason
as to why something happens to create a controversy, it just happens and
the only thing to do is try and weather the storm and push through it.
This list is here to take a look at some of those controversies that
will remain in the minds of wrestling fans. They could be funny or
horrifying, but for whatever reason, they now have their place in the
history books and are used as examples for what not to do in a given
situation.
15 Awesome Kong vs. Bubba the Love Sponge
As a driving force behind the success of TNA’s Knockouts Division,
Awesome Kong was not your typical female wrestler. Big and powerful
rather than petite and demure, Kong was a mainstay of the division,
playing the monster heel role for years. Yet in 2010, after Hulk Hogan
and Eric Bischoff were brought in to add new elements to the TNA
product, Kong would soon find herself at odds with Hogan hanger-on and
shock jock, Bubba the Love Sponge. The two would eventually get in a
fight backstage after Bubba made disparaging remarks about Haiti, which
Kong took offense to as she was pushing hard trying to get donations
sent to the hurricane ravaged country. After back and forth fighting,
including Bubba verbally attacking Kong on his radio show and other
radio shows, Kong was granted her release from the promotion, in what
was just another horrible management decision made during the
Hogan/Bischoff reign of terror within TNA.
14. ECW and WCW’s Fight over Mike Awesome
As the WWE was pulling away from WCW in the Monday Night Wars, Eric
Bischoff was looking for anyone who could add life to the dying
promotion. But since the WWE had basically all of its stars signed to
ironclad contracts, he looked to a promotion he had pillaged before,
ECW. He would eventually decide on offering a contract to current ECW
World Champion Mike Awesome, similar to what he did with Bret Hart years
prior. Awesome accepted the deal, but before anything could happen,
Paul Heyman declared the deal impossible as he had a contract with
Awesome’s name on it.
The two promotions went back and forth
before it was decided that Awesome would appear on WCW TV to promote an
upcoming ECW show where he was scheduled to lose the world title.
Unfortunately the segment went against what was agreed upon, so it took a
six-figure settlement for Heyman to release Awesome. Awesome would then
lose his title at a house show against then current WWE wrestler ,
Tazz, a match setup that Heyman thought was brilliant by having a WCW
guy lose the ECW World Title to a WWE guy. Awesome would then flounder
in the WCW midcard with such characters as “That 70’s Guy” and “The Fat
Chick Thriller.”
13. WWE’s Scandal in 1992
Sexual harassment in pro wrestling seems to be a constant issue.
Seriously, this list could have been made up of only these harassment
suits. Yet, one that really stood out was one involving Bob Orton, ring
boy Tom Cole, and announcer Murray Hodgson and their allegations of
harassment at the hands of Terry Garvin and Pat Patterson. The claims
ran the gamut of “personal” favors requested of the men, with Orton and
Cole claiming that Cole was fired because he would not give into
Garvin’s requests. Patterson and Garvin would be let go along with ring
announcer Mel Phillips who was also named in the suit, and even Orton
who Vince felt caused the whole issue to blow up by answering questions
on this issue on the road. Patterson would eventually find himself
working again in the WWE, this time as the on-screen lackey of Vince.
12. WWE Steroid Scandal of 1994
Before the various controversies brought upon by the Attitude Era, the
WWE faced a much bigger issue in a federal investigation involving
steroid abuse and distribution within the WWE. In 1994, Vince McMahon
was put on trial for allegations of distributing steroids to his
wrestlers. The trial featured numerous wrestlers called to testify,
including Hulk Hogan and Vince himself. Hogan was meant to be the star
witness for the prosecution but would ultimately admit that he had never
seen Vince give wrestlers any steroids to take. Vince would be found
not guilty on all charges but the damage was done and the WWE would go
in a slump for the next few years as the company tried to recuperate
from the long trial.
11. The Rob Feinstein Incident
In 2004, wrestling promotions TNA and Ring of Honor had a talent-sharing
agreement that allowed for wrestlers in either promotion to work for
both. Unfortunately, ROH founder Rob Feinstein would be caught in an
internet sting when he was unlawfully speaking with an underage boy
who turned out to be an undercover adult. In the fallout, Feinstein
resigned from the promotion and sold his company stake to Doug Gentry.
Upon hearing the news of the allegations, TNA cut all ties with ROH and
cancelled all ROH dates that were set for their contracted wrestlers,
including AJ Styles and Daniels. Wrestlers would then be forced to
choose which promotion they would remain with, which caused some bad
blood between wrestlers who had chosen one promotion or the other.
10. Sting vs. Jeff Hardy at Victory Road
In 2011, TNA was building up towards its Victory Road PPV, set to be
headlined by World Champion Sting defending his title against Jeff
Hardy. The problem was that TNA was getting some unwanted attention by
having Hardy on the payroll, as he was currently facing charges of drug
trafficking in his home state. The day of the event, Hardy was not
around until a couple hours before the show and was not in proper shape
to wrestle that night once he had arrived. As the entrances started and
Hardy made his way to the ring, everyone could see that there was
something not right with Hardy, as he appeared high out of his mind.
Eric Bischoff would then come to the ring and make the match a no
disqualification match before whispering to both wrestlers. As the match
began, Hardy was holding onto the ring ropes and walking around,
feigning that he was going to throw his t-shirt to the crowd for the
better part of a minute. Finally, Sting got a hold of him and hit him
with his finisher the Scorpion Deathdrop and forcibly pinned Hardy only
88 seconds into the match. Fans screamed in anger, with Sting even
audibly yelling that he agreed with them, and shortly after Hardy was
sent home for a few months.
List Continues Tomorrow On The Most Shocking Controversies In Pro Wrestling History….
