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While some WWE Superstars have enjoyed doing controversial storylines, others did not.
Over the past few decades, WWE writers have pitched several controversial storyline ideas. While some of these ideas never made it to television, others did. Some superstars later revealed that they hated doing some of these angles and wished they did not.
Meanwhile, other WWE Superstars have enjoyed participating in some of the most controversial storylines in WWE history. A WWE Hall of Famer recently disclosed that she was excited about doing a controversial segment where she got extremely humiliated inside the ring.
Here are three controversial storylines WWE Superstars enjoyed doing and two they hated.
#5. Mark Henry enjoyed participating in his controversial storyline with Mae Young
WWE made its bread with controversial storylines during the Attitude Era. One of these saw Mark Henry get into a romantic relationship with WWE Hall of Famer Mae Young.
Young then revealed that she was pregnant with Henry's child as part of the controversial angle. She later gave birth to a hand in one of the most shocking segments in WWE history.
Over the past few years, several reports have ranked the Mae Young-Mark Henry angle as one of the worst in WWE history. Nevertheless, the former World Heavyweight Champion revealed that he enjoyed working on that storyline.
In an interview with The Mirror, Henry stated that he and Young gave life to each other's characters:
"I enjoyed my time working with Mae Young, she was one of the coolest, most respected people that I ever met in the industry. We both gave each other's characters life and that is something that is hard for people to understand. There are thousands of wrestlers and there are thousands of really good ones, but to be able to join somebody that kind of fell off the map and both of you rise to the top of the card because of chemistry, and that last for not a week or two, but for a year, and here we are 16 years later still talking about it, it's impressive. It's unbelievable," he said (H/T: Cageside Seats)
Mae Young sadly passed away in January 2014. Meanwhile, Mark Henry is currently working in non-wrestling roles in AEW.
#4. Mickie James hated working on the "Piggy James" storyline
In 2009, Mickie James feuded with LayCool. Their rivalry, however, took a controversial turn when Layla and Michelle McCool started referring to the six-time Women's Champion as "Piggy James" and calling her fat.
Over the years, many have criticized the controversial angle. In an interview with The Kurt Angle Show, James disclosed that she hated working on that storyline:
"I didn't love the piggy James angle. I really didn't. I hated it because I felt like it was like ribbing on a square. It was meant to get real heat for Michelle and Layla. I kind of felt like it was cheap heat and it was a different way to go. In the moment, I was very torn. But I'm also of the mindset of like, 'Okay, they're going to give me this thing that I felt in my heart at the moment, they're gonna give me this crappy storyline about calling me fat and all this stuff,'" she said. (H/T: Still Real To Us)
In the same interview, the six-time Women's Champion revealed that McCool and Layla were not big fans of the storyline either. However, James stated that the angle achieved its purpose in the end.
"I had several conversations with the girls too. It wasn't like the girls were over the moon about doing the storyline, either. I think they were heavy in their hearts about it as well, and I'm just going to try to make it gold and try to get these girls over as monster heels because that’s obviously the end result of what we want is the girls need to get over as monster heels, and they weren't at that time. But they were by the end of it, especially with Vickie Guerrero involved and all of the things. I felt like it did achieve that purpose," she added.
Layla and McCool are currently retired. Meanwhile, James is still an active competitor in IMPACT Wrestling.
#3. Lana enjoyed her controversial storyline with Bobby Lashley
In late 2019, Lana was involved in a love triangle storyline with Miro (FKA Rusev) and Bobby Lashley. The controversial angle saw the 37-year-old leave her real-life husband, Miro, for Lashley. She also had a few intimate scenes with The Almighty, in which they kissed and appeared together in Miro's bed.
While Lashley later disclosed that he was not entirely comfortable during the storyline, Lana seems to have enjoyed doing it. She even revealed that she considered herself lucky for being able to take part in the angle:
"I think I push the envelope in everything I do, in all the storyline I've been in, in WWE. I feel like I'm very lucky to do some form of soap opera story. I just feel like soap opera stories, in general, are very relatable and everyone can connect to heartache. Everyone can connect with either being cheated on or know someone that's cheating or know someone that has lied in a relationship or know someone that's gotten a divorce. (...) I think those stories are very compelling. I've been very blessed to be in stories like that, that have to do with issues of the heart," she told Sportskeeda.
Miro and Lana are no longer with WWE. Meanwhile, Lashley is still an active wrestler on Monday Night RAW.
#2. Edge hated his love triangle storyline with Lita and Matt Hardy
After dating for nearly six years, Matt Hardy and Lita split in 2005 after Hardy discovered that Lita was having an affair with Edge. Later that same year, WWE turned the real-life drama into a love triangle storyline.
Although all three superstars were professionals while working on the controversial angle, Lita revealed in an interview with Oral Sessions that she almost quit during the storyline.
Edge was not a big fan of the controversial storyline either. In an interview with The Kurt Angle Show, he disclosed that he hated doing it:
"I think when everything with Matt [Hardy] and [Lita], I didn't enjoy any of that, that was hard. It was a position that I put myself in and thought okay, I made my bed, I just got to deal with this. Then I thought okay, we’re here now, how can we pull a positive? Let’s make some money. That's what we did. This is the situation, now let's try and get something good out of this pretty lousy scenario. The matches were [good] though because I loved working with Matt," he said [H/T: The Sportsrush]
While Edge is now the leader of The Judgment Day on Monday Night RAW, Matt Hardy is currently active in AEW. Meanwhile, Lita is now retired from professional wrestling.
#1. Trish Stratus enjoyed her controversial storyline with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon
In early 2001, Trish Stratus had an on-screen affair with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. The controversial storyline also saw The Diva of the Decade feud with McMahon's daughter Stephanie.
McMahon later teamed up with Stratus to face Stephanie and William Regal in a match. During the bout, The Chairman turned on his on-screen lover. A week later, he forced Stratus to strip to her bra and panties inside the ring and bark like a dog in one of the most controversial segments in WWE history.
While many might have thought that Stratus might not have enjoyed participating in that segment, she recently revealed that she did. At the "For The Love Of Wrestling" convention, The Diva of the Decade spoke about the controversial storyline, disclosing that she was excited when McMahon pitched it to her:
"Vince pitched the angle to me like this — 'so we're going to have this angle where you are barking like a dog and get really humiliated, and basically hit rock bottom.' And I was like, 'amazing!' Because I knew a couple of weeks later, I would be getting my comeuppance on him and I would be slapping him on the grandest stage of them all, which is WrestleMania, and turning on him. I was going on to stand up for myself, not needing a man to lean on and fighting for what I needed to fight for," she said. [WWFOldSchool]
Stratus also stated that the infamous "bark like a dog" segment was integral for her on-screen character:
"I get questioned about that a lot, and most people go, 'oh, remember you had to bark like a dog and you had to do that thing that was so degrading, right?' For the character, it was, yeah, because that was what the character had to go through. We don't talk to Halle Barry when she had to get abused by so and so, you know, it's a character. That, for me, was integral for the character to be at that rock bottom, to have the foresight to say, 'I can break free from this. I won't let this happen to me again and let's move on.' And you know what? 22 years, we're still talking about it!" she added.
Stratus retired from in-ring competition in 2006. She has since made several sporadic WWE appearances and competed in a few matches. Her final bout came in 2019 when she lost to Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam.
Suggested: Here are some of the controversial storylines that WWE Superstars refused
