5 Moments Vince McMahon wants you to forget

WWE planned a death angle for Vince McMahon which was later canceled due to an unfortunate occurring!
WWE planned a death angle for Vince McMahon which was later canceled due to an unfortunate occurring!

The WWE has transcended many eras adapting to the whims and fancies of the audience to deliver a product that has stood the test of time.

The Golden era and the New Generation era were where wrestling dominated proceedings, but when it came to the Attitude Era, the WWE experimented with edgy content in order to take competition head on and hence, promos and backstage segments that were perhaps not applicable to all age groups was packaged along with wrestling and this took them to the pinnacle of the industry.

During its TV-14 era, WWE had many controversial moments occur in its storylines and matches, most of them were violent and venereal in nature.

World Wrestling Entertainment prides itself on being a company that is as much about entertainment as it is about professional wrestling. When the organization had a TV-14 television rating, there were frequent bouts of swearing, hardcore violence, and the showing of scantily clad women. Some events went above the usual antics, though, and had many people actively complaining to WWE.

Today, we take a look at 5 such moments that Vince McMahon wants you to forget.


#5: The Crucifying of Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin gets crucified by The Undertaker!
Stone Cold Steve Austin gets crucified by The Undertaker!

Although the legendary wrestler debuted as a heel at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, twenty-nine years ago, the Undertaker was a solid babyface by the end of the 1990s. He had been this way for years, with audiences cheering for the Phenom each and every time he came to the ring.

Then something changed, and the Undertaker began his evil gimmick in late 1998. One of his targets was Stone Cold Steve Austin. After attacking Austin on Raw, Undertaker tied Austin to his Undertaker symbol, which looked suspiciously like a cross, although it was an uppercase T with an “X” across it. The symbol rose up with Austin struggling to get out from his bonds. He was unharmed by the symbolic gesture, but nonetheless, many fans were upset by the angle.

A similar angle occurred on ECW involving Raven and the Sandman, which was of course met with a much different reaction.

Take a look at Austin being crucified by the Undertker here:

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#4: Vince McMahon's limo explosion

The Angle was dropped due to the Chris Benoit incident!
The Angle was dropped due to the Chris Benoit incident!

The character Mr. McMahon which is portrayed by the World Wrestling Entertainment's Chairman, Vince McMahon, began to act very strange on television, not making much sense when he spoke, and randomly punishing wrestlers so that he seemed to be losing his mind. On the night of June 11 in 2007, after leaving Raw, Mr. McMahon entered a limousine that subsequently exploded. He was presumed dead.

On June 25, 2007, however, Vince McMahon revealed that it had all been part of a storyline, on the night of what was supposed to be a memorial show devoted to Mr. McMahon. The storyline was halted due to the death of Chris Benoit, which had happened the night before, and they presented a memorial show for Benoit instead. McMahon later regretted the memorial for Benoit, once he learned the circumstances around Benoit’s death.

The WWE creative had plans to run a storyline that Mr McMahon's brother Roderick (Kayfabe), who looked like Vince would then take charge of things and behave the exact opposite of how Vince was and be the anti-villian.

But, now, we may never get a chance to see this.

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#3: The Undertaker hangs Big Boss Man

This was dark and offensive!
This was dark and offensive!

The Undertaker and Big Boss Man had feuded prior to their Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania XV. After a brutal and hard-fought match, Undertaker decided to prove that he was dominant over Boss Man. Edge, Christian, and Gangrel all descended from the rafters on top of the Cell and tore a hole through the top of the cage. They passed the Phenom a rope and he proceeded to hang Boss Man from the cage.

The Undertaker, as the leader of the Ministry of Darkness, often used Satanic themes and imagery to further his character. Though this angle helped the character of the Undertaker move forward, you can't deny that it was downright offensive and belongs in the same category as the crucifying of Stone Cold.

In a business such as professional wrestling, there has been an unfortunate history of wrestlers taking their own lives, while keeping that in mind, this was flat out distasteful.

Credit to the Big Bossman for playing his part to perfection. But in an era where kayfabe was an unknown entity, this was an outright shocker.

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#2: Billy and Chuck’s Commitment Ceremony

Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo!
Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo!

There were hints that there was more than friendship between the tag team of Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo. When Chuck asked Billy to become his life partner and Billy agreed, it seemed there would soon be a wedding. Billy and Chuck even made an appearance on NBC’s Today Show to discuss the storyline and its positive aspects. An official from the GLAAD Alliance Against Defamation gave them a gravy boat.

The wedding did not go off without a hitch, however. Before Billy and Chuck could say “I do”, their ceremony was interrupted by The Godfather, a manager of ladies of the night. The Godfather informed the audience that Billy and Chuck were not together because both frequently made use of his ladies’ services. The duo admitted that it had all been a publicity stunt and that they were 'really straight'. The storyline was eventually dropped.

Eric Bischoff as the disguised priest, Stephanie McMahon as the smackdown GM endorsing the wedding and Rico, as their hairstylist all added flavor to the setup.

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#1: Katie Vick

This was utterly disgusting!
This was utterly disgusting!

If you ask a wrestling fan what the worst storyline in WWE history is, he will most probably tell you that it's the Katie Vick angle. This is a storyline that accomplished nothing, presented nothing, and is considered the most distasteful of all WWE angles.

This storyline occurred in the highly praised Ruthless Aggression Era when Triple H began psychologically tormenting Kane about something that had happened in his past. It was revealed that Kane had been in a car accident that had caused the death of Katie Vick, the only girl who had taken pity on him and liked him in high school.

Triple H accused Kane of doing heinous things with Katie Vick after she had died. While wearing a Kane mask, he then impersonated the alleged act with a mannequin inside a coffin. Complaints were made about the incident immediately after it aired and soon after WWE dropped the storyline. All these years later it is still generally considered the worst storyline in WWE history.

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