From matches years in the making to companies that should have stayed dead and buried. This is 5 times that wrestling fans got what they wanted, and hated it.
5) Shane Douglas Vs Ric Flair
During the end of WCW many things were falling apart at the seams in storylines, and most of the angles were mostly, if not completely, based on some element of reality. This was a strategy that proved to be akin to shooting yourself in the foot long term, but it did provide an instance of fans getting something they never thought they would and had been pining for, for almost a decade. The two had hated each other since the companies inception and Douglas felt that Flair was to blame for having his push shut down, and Flair just found Douglas to be an intolerable young upstart who didn’t have any respect. The two would bury each other any change they got publicly, In the world of wrestling, the fans wanted to see this one just because of how long it had been coming. To the surprise of many the man who would get them to work together was none other than Vince Russo. Vince Russo, receives a lot of flack, but he was able to book and get these two to do the match. Douglas and Flair had a short bout on “Slamboree 2001″, We won’t spoil finishes but the fact that these two were actually in a ring together should have been enough to be a classic, but fans were just not receptive to anything from WCW at this point and frequent run ins and no kind of real rules in place did little to help this. Ultimately it goes down as one of the not so greatest ends to a rivalry that we would have just been better off letting be a war of words.
4) Rob Van Dam Vs. Shawn Michaels
In the post invasion era WWE, there were so many dream matchups to make that it seemed you would have to be actively trying to mess it up as the stories wrote themselves. This period of time ended up being a disappointment to most because of how it was handled. A fine example of this is on an edition of RAW, Rob Van Dam was to face Shawn Michaels for the World championship. Michaels had recently won it in the elimination chamber putting the cherry on top of his recent comeback and a bout with Rob Van Dam was just the thing to get fans jacked. Rob Van Dam had adopted the moniker of being “The Whole F’n show” in response to Shawn Michaels using the moniker of being the “Show stealer”, and comparisons between the two went on for years. Properly booked this match could have headlined any major PPV card, but it was given to us on RAW, and boy was it lackluster. The high drama fight that many expected was nothing more than a throw away match in the never ending feud between Shawn and Triple H at the time and RVD was little more than an afterthought at the end of the bout.
3) Goldberg Vs Brock Lesnar
Throughout Brock Lesnar’s first run in the WWE, fans were always wanting to see him face another monster that could compare. Brock had ran through legends, giants, and young lions alike and they needed someone who could compare to have an end all battle where brock would face someone who was equal to him. Brock is such a rare specimen that this was next to impossible to have a person with both the physically imposing features, scary athleticism, and resume to make this count. Except it wasn’t impossible and was right there on their own roster. Bill Goldberg came over shortly after the invasion was finished and had been one of the few WCW creations that still had credibility with the fans at this point. Goldberg had torn through the WCW roster and became their biggest player in their last years, and did it convincingly. When he came to WWE he had a reign with the world championship, and was established as a top guy. With these two set to face off most expected one of the best and most hard hitting bouts ever. What we got was something that can only be described as “disappointing”. Both men weren’t into the match, the crowd turned on the match because they knew that it was both men’s final bout with the company, and the injection of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as referee did little to calm the crowds frustration. Most people just block this entire bout out of their memories as not too many things have ever been such a letdown.
2) The rise of Roman Reigns
in the year 2014, there were few people more over with the fans than Roman Reigns. He was in the most popular group in the WWE, had a big impact moveset, and his silent demeanor made him the most dangerous seeming of the trio. Fast forward to the 2015 “Royal Rumble” build up and it was a whole new story. Fans seem to want anything other than him and blame it on everything from him being handed his spot, to him being bad on the mic, to even going as far to say that he is now being pushed just because he is “pretty”. No matter the reasoning, it just seems that the fans either didn’t know what they wanted, or the WWE struck too long after the iron had cooled off.
1) Bring Back ECW!
The brand known as ECW had some of the most rabid fans and most loyal of fans in all of pro wrestling. Even though they were a much smaller group than most, their fanbase had managed to grow even after they had been shut down for several years as you would hear “ECW! ECW! ECW!” chants anytime someone wen through a table or took a chair shot. The WWE noticed this and released some ECW nostalgia DVDs, and the sales were insane. Fans were begging for more ECW, and WWE was going to deliver. The first step was a PPV entitled “One Night Stand” where ECW stars from the past came and put on several matches with no story or buildup and they knocked it out of the park with it being one of the best selling PPVs of that entire year. The WWE took note and set up for one more PPV the next year to kick off a brand new weekly TV show for the Brand. It was originally going to air on WWE.com, but when they found out that the Sci-Fi channel would pay for it, they were willing to let them air it. The second PPV was a fine kickoff for the brand as Rob Van Dam would win the WWE championship and become the first ECW champion. The show kicked off and what we got was probably the worst bastardization of a franchise or license the wrestling world had ever seen. Wrestling Zombies, Vampires, and an unrecognizable feel from the original led fans to turn on the show and begin calling it the worst thing in wrestling at the time. This is still easily seen today as you will NEVER hear fans chanting those three letters at events anymore.
