10 Tragedies of WWF/WWE

published September 22, 2009

Wrasslin! It's the modern day ballet or opera. There's drama, excitement, and ongoing plotlines. The results and matches are staged, but the pain is real. The elegant dance is replaced by two muscular men pummeling each other with creative maneuvers. The characters and storylines evolve and change over time, sometimes due to real life events. With such a large cast of muscle bound, roid infested performers - tragedy is inevitable. These are the 10 specific ones that I remember well.

#10 - The Death of Andre the Giant - Andre was such a beloved figure in his heyday, that his slow and painful downfall was an absolute tragedy to behold. In his famous match with Hulk Hogan in Wrestlemania III, he was in terrible pain as a result of his acromegaly. Even when filming "The Princess Bride," he nearly dropped Robin Wright in the scene where he catches her because of back pain.

Quite possibly the manliest photo ever!

 

#9 - The Rockers Split Up - I remember this moment vividly as a child watching WWF. The act of cutting oneself to bleed had not happened in the WWF. But Shawn Michaels turned on his long time partner and threw Marty Jannetty through a pane of glass causing immense bleeding. I was shocked as a young child and as a result stopped watching wrasslin until the beginning of the Stone Cold Steve Austin era. Behind the scenes, Marty Jannetty had some sort of contract dispute and wanted to leave, while Shawn Michaels could not wait for singles wrestling. So while Shawn Michaels was portrayed as the jerk, Marty Jannetty was the real jerk! Shawn Michaels has only gone on to have one of the most successful wrestling careers of all time.

Shawn Michaels quote: "Why don't you ask your mothers and your sisters how gay Shawn Michaels really is?" in response to "Shawn is gay chant."

 

#8 - Bret Screwed Bret - Dubbed "The Montreal Screwjob," it is easily the most controversial match in WWE history. First of all Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels legitimately hated each other. They had a long back stage feud, which went back all the way to the Rockers vs. Hart Foundation days, and continued with personal insults in speeches and back stage fights. The match itself was very strange, ending suddenly when VInce McMahon came out and signaled the bell to be rung. Bret had lost the match after being promsied to win. Not only that, it was a loss against a guy he hated. The saga continues and the full story of this match can be found here.

Bret getting the loss despite never tapping out.

 

#7 - Death of Brian Pillman - Pillman did not get the acclaim he deserved because he was always the bad guy. He was one of the first white wrestlers to bring the high flying lucha libre aspect to wrestling. In the 24 hours before his pay per view match against Mick Foley's Dude Love alterego, he was found dead with a heart condition. He can also be partially credited with the new era in WWF where shock value and bad behavior really started to skyrocket. WIth it, came enormous ratings.

RIP - The Loose Cannon

 

#6 - WWF takes over ECW - Before it was Spike TV, it was TNN (The Nashville Network). It's highest rated show was ECW, and it was amazing. Not all the stars were muscle bound roid ragers, but all of them could give and take punishment like no other. ECW was in my opinion, far and away the best wrestling brand on TV. The Mike Awesome era was epic and every single match was better than any match you'd ever seen on WWF or WCW. Despite their good ratings, they had no sponsors and eventually went bankrupt. WWE bought it up and tried to resurrect the brand but it just wasn't the same. To their credit, they had a pay per view event called "One Night Stand" which brought back the ECW stars we loved and turned out to be one of the best pay per views the WWE had ever offered.

Sabu - in my opinion the best wrestler of all time.

 

#5 - Droz vs. D-Lo Brown - Droz was a NFL player for the Jets and the Broncos and would often puke at will during games. This led to a signing to the WWE. Droz was entertaining, and definitely had the pootential for a promsiing career. That all came to a halt in 1999. In a standard match with D-Lo Brown, a powerbomb off the top rope was botched and left Droz a quadriplegic. D-Lo Brown was also a promising wrestler destined for a great career, but it is said that Droz's loose shirt prevented a good grip, resulting in the injury. A standard match, and two careers ruined. Tragic.

 

#4 - WWF acquires WCW - To me this was the death of wrestling. No longer could I watch the debacle that WWE turned itself. WCW had gotten really crappy with about 35 members of the NWO faction. There was barely anyone in WCW I could stand to watch, except maybe Goldberg. Many careers were ended that moment, and many viewers like myself stopped watching. Maybe it was just my time to stop watching as the college days were coming to an end, and this was the catalyst for it.

Dean "The Iceman" Malenko - the best WCW had to offer!

 

#3 - The Life and Death of Eddie Guerrero - It just seemed like Eddie was plagued by misfortune after misfortune. He was one of the greatest bad guys of all time, but after a car accident in 1999, became addicted to pain killers and eventually alcohol. He was also good friends with #1 on this list. He, like Pillman was found with a heart condition, quite probably a direct result fo steroid abuse.

Latino Heat!

 

#2 - The Death of Owen Hart - In May 23, 1999, Owen Hart died a grisly death in front of thousands of people. He was to be lowered from the rafters, when suddenly he fell and landed headfirst on the corner of the ring and his body settled in the middle of the ring. The show continued with a blood stain on the mat. Conspiracy theories were rampant as this happened just after the Bret Hart incident (#8), but it is believed that Owen accidentally hit a quick release button on the harness while trying to undo his cape.

Owen Hart - not a nugget.

 

#1 - The Benoit Suicide/Murders - On June 25, police uncovered a grisly scene. Chris Benoit, his wife and son were found dead at their home. His wife and son were choked to death and had bibles near their bodies, and Chris himself had hung himself. An autopsy revealed damage to Benoit's brain as a result from way too many concussions. Steroids once again probably had a hand in this whole ordeal, but perhaps his finished move - a headbutt from the top rope, was the real reason for all his concussions.

Obligatory tastless picture.

* * * * *