WWE: The 10 Biggest Storyline Fails in Recent History

Presently, the WWE is on one of their hottest streaks in recent history. Thanks to quality television, excellent PPV's and a perfect mix of old and new faces, the WWE has started to return to a level of popularity that it hasn't experienced in years. Fans are starting to not only watch again, but also love the direction that the company is headed.

The biggest reason for this current hot streak, however, is the storylines. They've become more intriguing and entertaining in only a few weeks and have made fans like me watch in anticipation every single time I tune in.  

There was a time though, not too long ago, where the the WWE's programming was pretty bad. In fact, most of it was just plain unwatchable. The WWE and its creative team lacked any form of imagination or fresh ideas and seemed to try just about anything to make the people watch. Most of us did...and most of us were left scratching our heads.  

I must admit, its good to finally see the WWE coming back strong, but for now, let's look back on some of the stupidest storylines in recent memory.  

Note: This list is in no particular order, except for the last slide, which I feel was the biggest FAIL out of all of them

1. Raw Guest Hosts

This was one of those ideas that looked pretty cool at first. Sometimes the host actually added a great deal of entertainment to the show. Remember when Sheamus put Mark Cuban through a table? Yeah, that was awesome.

Sadly, great moments like that didn't happen often enough. For every Bob Barker or Shaq O'Neal, there were four or five washed up celebrities that had no business being anywhere near a ring and were clearly there just for a much needed paycheck.

Seeing old wrestlers return for a night was always a treat, especially Bret Hart's emotional return to the WWE after more than a decade of animosity. But still, some of the people that the WWE actually had the nerve to put on our televisions every Monday night was downright insulting.

Al Sharpton? Really? What exactly does he know about the WWE?  

Or what about megastar Verne Troyer? Watching him dance with Mark Henry and a bunch of ladies still remains one of the weirdest and most disturbing moments I've ever seen in the WWE—or life.

Even awesome guys like Cheech and Chong ended up being completely unentertaining, thanks to the WWE's lack of effort. All they did was sit there and eat a magic box of Lucky Charms that Hornswaggle gave them. What did any of that have to do with wrestling? It wasn't even entertaining. 

Although none of these guys hold a candle to the worst host of all time, Buzz Aldrin. What exactly was he doing there? Why did he look so lost and confused every time the camera was on him?

For what seemed like an eternity, he spoke about nothing but Canada and gibberish in the ring, until Zach Ryder came out to save the day...barely. The whole thing was an absolute mess. And why wouldn't it be, when you have an 81-year-old man in the ring who has no knowledge of what's going on, who he's talking to or what wrestling even is?

At least he did the moonwalk with Evan Bourne. That was pretty cool, I guess.

Thank god that whole Raw guest host thing was removed before the WWE really lost their credibility. Let's hope the WWE continues to use celebrities in the only way they should ever be used, in a match at Wrestlemania.

That last sentence was sarcastic.  

2. Drew McIntyre and Kelly Kelly: A Love Story for the Ages

Drew McIntyre hasn't really had the career that someone once called "The Chosen One" would be proud of. For a while there McIntyre looked like he was destined for pretty big things. He had a decent undefeated streak when he first arrived, he was Intercontinental champion and he definitely was starting to draw some heat. The main event seemed right around the corner for this Scottish sensation.

Then poor Drew fell in love with Kelly Kelly, and it all went downhill from there.

In early 2011, WWE started an odd storyline that involved The Chosen One trying to impress Kelly Kelly and prove to her that he wasn't such a bad guy. Even though nobody cared in the first place, maybe Kelly Kelly would finally give McIntyre a reason to change his ways for the better.  

At times it looked like this little fling would actually be successful. Drew continued to show he cared, even saving Kelly Kelly from Laycool at one point. What a hero!  

The whole thing, though, was still a little weird, considering Drew always seemed to just come out of nowhere to awkwardly wish Kelly Kelly good luck. Plus, the storyline was incredibly boring to watch and if you didn't know by now, Kelly Kelly really has never been known for her acting skills.

At least Trent Barreta finally got to wrestle a little bit.  

After a while it was clear that McIntyre was still the evil, conniving heel he's always been, and the whole thing quickly ended between the two after about a month or so.

Kelly Kelly was still single and millions of adolescent boys around the world breathed a sigh of relief. 

McIntyre was moved to Raw and ever since then has completely disappeared from television, probably because he's still getting over that horrible break-up. Kelly Kelly is the current Divas Champion, and like most people in the WWE Universe, she probably doesn't care too much about what the former Chosen One has been up to lately.

3. Tyson Kidd's Manager Roulette

Ever since the breakup of the Hart Dynasty, Tyson Kidd has become merely an afterthought on WWE television. Which is actually a shame, considering it from a technical standpoint, as he's actually incredibly talented.

The WWE was smart, though, in noticing that Kidd desperately needed someone in his corner to help draw a little more heat. Plus, Kidd's skills on the mic are as bad as his former NXT rookie, Lucky Cannon. And that weird hair flip he just got rid of might have been the worst style in the history of wrestling.

Things started off pretty bright for Kidd, after the Hart Dynasty break-up back in late 2010. He won the mandatory former tag partners feud against David Hart Smith and started coming down to the ring with a new, unbelievably huge bodyguard, Jackson Andrews.

A guy named Shawn Michaels did the same kind of thing about 15 years ago with a bodyguard named Diesel, and it worked out pretty well for both men. Not to mention that Vickie Guerrero had recently started to manage Dolph Ziggler, someone with the same kind of problem as Kidd—great skills but no heat. All of a sudden, Ziggler became one of fastest rising stars in the company.

Needless to say, Kidd's stock was rising quickly as well. All he needed was the right guy in his corner.  

As quickly as it came, though, it was clear that Andrews was no Diesel...he wasn't even that fake Diesel. He was a just a big, slow, stupid man who got hit with one world's strongest slam from Mark Henry and disappeared from the WWE. I'm assuming because of shame.

Kidd was left alone without a manager or a bodyguard, so in typical WWE fashion, they found anyone who wasn't busy backstage at the moment and told them to go manage Kidd. What transpired over the next few weeks would be the weirdest experiment to happen for quite some time in the WWE.

Every week on Superstars, it seemed like a new person was escorting Kidd to the ring. The list included Michael Hayes, Armando Estrada, Matt Striker, Vickie Guerrero and even JTG. The only person not there seemed to be Mr. Fuji, although I'm sure the WWE is calling for his services as we speak.

I don't know what the WWE was trying to accomplish with all these managers, but it sure didn't help Kidd's credibility in any way, shape or form. Now he's showing up sporadically on Smackdown without any manager or direction. 

I guess he's still better off then David Hart Smith though.   

4. The Corre: When Stables Go Wrong

The Nexus was one of best surprises to happen in the WWE in recent history. It shook up the WWE for months and was one of the hottest storylines the WWE had in quite some time. It gave a bunch of talented young guys a chance to shine and show they had what it takes on the biggest stage in the world. Even though it was constantly criticized near the end for how horribly weak they were booked, it still should go down as one of the most important stables in history.  

The Corre, on the other hand, was a disaster from day one. Everything about the group seemed very poorly executed. Even the shirts they wore looked like they were made by fourth graders.

In the simplest terms, they were a rejected version of Nexus. They ganged up and attacked wrestlers just like Nexus and they even held a few titles. Nevertheless, The Corre was nothing more than a big waste of everyone's time. They didn't even start an obvious feud with Nexus, probably because the WWE realized immediately how big of a mistake that would be.

In addition, The Corre never even got close to dominating Smackdown, like Nexus did on Raw. No matter who Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and Ezekiel Jackson ambushed, it never seemed to work out. By the end of it, they were getting completely squashed at Wrestlemania by Big Show, Kane, Santino and Kofi Kingston, in a match that lasted only a minute and a half.

The next night on Raw, the four losers randomly came out and attempted to ambush The Rock and John Cena in the ring after announcing their Wrestlemania 28 match, only to be pummeled almost immediately by both men.

You can watch The Corre get owned right here.  

If that's not the definition of fail, I don't know what is.  

The Corre only lasted a little under six months and most of that time was spent slowly dissolving or arguing with each other. In retrospect, The Corre disappeared as quickly as it arrived, making it one of the worst stables in recent history.

5. Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole: Worst. Rivalry. Ever.

Just thinking back on this rivalry gives me a crippling headache. This monstrosity should have never happened, let alone for almost six whole months.

It all started with Cole's little man-crush for The Miz, which forced him to interfere in Lawler's title match against The Awesome One back in November. After Cole apologized the next week, many people thought that would be the last of their little tiff and they would just go back and announce, like they always had.

Unfortunately, this was only the beginning for Cole and the King. Their feud continued to consume a time slot every week on Raw, in what I can only assume was a way for the creative team to punish the fans for something we did. I'm still not sure what it was, though.

Throughout the next few months we watched Cole make fun of Lawler for having a dead mother, then get put into a weird glass announcer's box to protect him from the King's wrath, then to top it all off, we finally got to see a fat, old Grandmaster Sexay back in the ring. Even Jack Swagger got dragged into this as Cole's personal trainer for their upcoming match, at freakin' Wrestlemania.  

After months of arguing, we had the most unanticipated Wrestlemania match in history. Even Stone Cold as a special guest referee couldn't save this ridiculous excuse for a wrestling match. Cole walked down the ramp looking like a deformed clone of Rick Steiner, except with way more random tattoos. At that moment, I realized how bad of a purchase Wrestlemania 27 actually was.  

After Cole tapped, I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping this whole thing was over. Then, out of nowhere, the Raw GM reversed the decision because Stone Cold had gotten involved. Cole left Wrestlemania with a win and I was furious. Not because I hate Cole, but because I knew I would have to actually sit through another match between him and Lawler.

My nightmare came true at Extreme Rules. Only this time it was the always popular Country Whippin' Match, and it became a tag match with Lawler and Jim Ross in one corner, and Cole and Swagger in the other. I'm sure Swagger, a former champion, was thrilled to see the direction in which his career was heading at this point.

Cole won again that night, catching good ol' J.R. off guard and rolling him up for the pin. This had to be the end of this rivalry right? 

Nope. This money train rolled right into the next PPV, Over the Limit. This time we all were lucky enough to see a Kiss My Foot match. And like every other match these two were in together, it was absolutely horrendous. By the end of it, J.R. had covered Cole in barbeque sauce, a random Eve Torres hit Cole with a moonsault and Cole was forced to kiss Lawler's foot while in a sharpshooter, from the one and only Bret Hart. 

What an absolute mess of a match—and a feud. At least it was officially over.

The next night, Lawler actually ended up forgiving Cole for everything, making every single moment in this rivalry a complete waste of time. They both went back announcing like nothing ever happened.

I wish I could have forgotten this feud as quickly and as easily as Cole and Lawler did 

6. Anything to Do with Hornswoggle

There's just too many horrible Hornswoggle moments to choose from, so instead of creating an entirely different article, I decided to fit it all into one crappy slide.  

Let's start with his horrible feud with Chavo Guerrero. Every week we got to watch Guerrero's career continue to dissolve right before our eyes. Over several months back in 2009, Hornswoggle and Guerrero would compete in arguably some of the worst matches in the history of Raw. Even from an entertainment standpoint they were horrible.

To make the fights a little more fair, Guerrero wrestled blindfolded, on his knees, with one arm tied behind his back and even once in a cow costume. Then the bell would ring and we would all witness him take on the great Hornswoggle. 

By the way, Guerrero lost every single time and is now no longer with the company at all. Personally, I blame Hornswoggle. 

Then there was the time when Hornswoggle started to hang out with DX. At first it wasn't that bad, considering HHH pedigreed him pretty quickly into their relationship. Then Hornswoggle sued the two pals, and things got weird.

Because Hornswoggle never does anything like a normal human being—I'm guessing because he plays a leprechaun—he actually sued DX in something called Little People's Court, which, in my opinion, is as strange as it was offensive. It also left me with tons of questions.

For one thing, why was this court underneath the ring? Is the courthouse always under the ring, like a rip-off of the late, great Veteran's Stadium? If that's the case, then how deep does the area under the ring go if its able to fit a courthouse filled with little people? Is there a town under there too? These questions will probably never be answered, so sadly I'm just left with a pretty big headache when I think about the whole thing.     

I know many people are now wondering how this settlement ended. Luckily, Hornswoggle decided to drop all charges if DX allowed him to become their mascot. That's right, the most radical, influential group in the history of wrestling—besides maybe NWO—was now forced to actually associate themselves with a leprechaun who spoke gibberish...and it was just plain embarrassing.

Luckily that didn't last long either, since DX broke up not too long after that. I blame Hornswoggle for that too, though.

Still don't think Hornswoggle's the worst thing to ever happen to wrestling yet? Don't worry I'm not done.

Remember when John Cena and Hornswoggle teamed up at the Royal Rumble and kept eliminating people who were actually talented? Fail.

Remember those awful promos where Teddy Long tried to teach Hornswoggle to speak English? Fail.

Remember when Hornswoggle was exposed as Vince McMahon's illegitimate son? FAIL.

Don't even get me started on the fact that he's considered the last cruiserweight champion in WWE history.

Oh, and then there's this.

Curse you Hornswoggle, curse you. 

7. Mark Henry: Hip-Hop Legend

The World's Strongest Man has been absolutely on fire lately. In fact, veteran Mark Henry is only a few weeks away from battling Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions. 

Not too long ago, however, Henry was nothing more then basically a very big, popular jobber. He had no direction with his character and was in a very loose tag team with former WWE superstar, MVP. It seemed Henry's small time at the top had come and gone.

Henry definitely needed a fresh, new gimmick if he was ever going to succeed. Luckily, his recent heel turn has helped him become one of the hottest guys in wrestling today. 

Sadly, this was one of the ideas that they first had in mind. 

Mark Henry rapping? Come on guys, that's the best you can come up with? Besides, R-Truth already has that whole thing pretty much locked up. 

Like most people expected, this little freestyle was absolutely horrible. Verne Troyer just sitting there made it a little bit weirder, and even though MVP tried his best to get the people going, even the crowd seemed a little embarrassed for Henry. To my knowledge, this is the only time Henry attempted to spit, and for very good reason.

For the sake of hip-hop, let's hope Henry never attempts anything like that ever again. 

8. Edge's Heated Encounter with a Macbook Pro

The Anonymous Raw GM has been a complete fail in itself. But there's one moment that will always be considered one of the lowest points of this ridiculous idea.

The Anonymous Raw GM always seems to have an attitude. Nobody likes him/her, and he's so unpredictable at this point that its obvious there's only one reason why he/she hasn't been revealed yet—the WWE doesn't have anybody to play the role.

The WWE is starting to faze the Raw GM out more and more every week. In fact, I don't think he's been heard from in the last couple of episodes. Chalk up a loss for the creative team on this one, I guess.

Still, there was a time not too long ago where you were guaranteed to hear from the GM at least once an episode, usually to set up an incredibly obvious match. Usually it would be the always annoying Michael Cole speaking for the GM, which got really old, really fast.

There was one time, though, where we finally got to hear this man of mystery first hand, and a fuming Edge was ready to give the GM a piece of his mind. In addition, this little showdown would be on Edge's show, The Cutting Edge, one of the most unpredictable shows in wrestling history. 

However, the events that transpired were just plain stupid. Edge stormed around the ring, yelling at a podium with a computer on top of it about how he was being mistreated. To make things even more odd, the podium actually talked back in a weird robotic voice that sounded like C-3PO on helium.

Even Edge at one point realized how stupid this whole thing looked when he stated, "Why am I arguing with a computer? We've gone from Stone Cold stunning Mr. Mcmahon on Raw to Edge arguing with a computer!" Indeed, Monday Night Raw had fallen pretty far. 

The whole thing was strange, and after Edge lost to Cena in a surprise match that the GM set up, Edge did the only reasonable thing left to do. He beat the living hell out of that darn computer, smashing it with a chair and even at one point headbutting it, which busted his forehead wide open. Probably the most embarrassing way anyone has ever cut themselves in the WWE, ever.

This low point of Edge's entire career wasn't a complete loss, however. In the next few weeks, Edge would move to Smackdown, where he would become World Heavyweight Champion and remain the champ until his emotional retirement from the WWE, due to injury.

The Raw GM is hopefully on his or her way out, too. I don't think there's any WWE fan out there that will complain the day that the GM's podium finally goes away for good.

If you'd really like to witness this insanity, you can watch Edge's freak-out here.   

9. Nexus Buries the Undertaker for No Reason Whatsoever

Kane vs. The Undertaker. 

It was one of the best feuds of 2010 by far. For about four months, both men put on a series of great showdowns, culminating at Bragging Rights in the always intriguing Buried Alive Match.

The match started off on the right foot, as Taker and Kane battled all around the arena, putting on a match that only two legends like these could accomplish.

Then came the expected finale in a match like this. Both men fought back and forth near the grave, each trying to put each other away for good. Finally, it looked like it was time for The Deadman to bury his brother. Until Nexus showed up out of nowhere.

Watching Wade Barrett and his cronies come out and swarm The Undertaker was shocking, to say the least. It was even more shocking when they held up the defeated Deadman so Kane could hit the knockout blow that would send Taker to his grave.

Was Kane now a friend of Nexus? It sure seemed that way for the moment, and as The Undertaker lay there under six feet of dirt, it was clear that both Kane and Nexus had a lot of explaining to do on the following week's Smackdown.

Oddly enough, it was barely ever mentioned again. Kane was completely unaware that the Nexus attack would occur, and the whole situation certainly didn't make that much of an impact on Friday nights. Sure, it was mentioned once or twice, like when David Otunga threatened to tell the entire world why Barrett really attacked The Undertaker in the first place. However, he never did, and now we'll probably never know, since Nexus is dead and gone.

So exactly why did Nexus attack The Undertaker? From what I can tell there actually isn't any reason behind it at all. To make matters even worse, when The Undertaker returned, it still wasn't clarified. It seemed like the Deadman forgot all about it.

Seriously, he couldn't take a little break from his war of words with HHH to maybe ask Barrett why he randomly got involved in the match? I mean, they buried the poor guy alive.

Whether it'll ever be explained or not in the future, this "storyline" has already been marked as a complete and epic fail and will continue to be one of the oddest mysteries in recent memory.   

10. John Cena Gets Fired for About an Hour

I still don't understand how the creative team ever got caught up in this disaster of a storyline, especially considering it started off so promising. 

John Cena against the Nexus had a lot of great, underrated moments throughout their rivalry. Wade Barrett became a main event star, and Cena being forced to join this young group of renegades became probably the most shocking moment of 2010.

However, two months after Cena became a member of Nexus, things started to become way too confusing. After Barrett lost at Survivor Series to Randy Orton, Cena was fired as per the stipulation. The moment was actually incredibly heartfelt. Cena practically left with tears in his eyes, people stood up and thanked him for everything he'd given to them and many people in the WWE Universe wondered how legitimate this "firing" actually was. Was Cena taking a small break from the ring to rest his sore body, or would this little thing only last about a week?

Both of these were wrong. Cena's firing didn't even last a day. His farewell speech on Raw the next night was another amazingly heartfelt moment for the champ and proved just how good of a promo cutter he really is.

But by the end of the night, he showed up out of nowhere to cost Barrett the title yet again. It was clear that Cena wasn't going anywhere and in about a month he would be rehired by Barrett, after Cena started taking out the Nexus one by one.

The entire storyline was nothing but puzzling and made many fans question exactly how a horrible idea like this actually got cleared by Mr. McMahon. The flaws with something like this are just too numerous to even mention. For one thing, how did Cena keep making it past security as he's sprinting out of the crowd and into the ring? If any normal human being did that, they'd be immediately hit with a taser. 

To make things even worse, since Cena was fired, how was he supposed to wrestle at house shows? The WWE had a simple answer for that: put Cena in a mask and pass him off as Juan Cena, John's Mexican cousin. Wait, what?

Again, how did this idea even get past the cutting room floor? I can't imagine the ideas that didn't make it onto T.V. if this is the best they could come up with.

This is a classic example of WWE trying to do too much at one time. The end result just made Raw unwatchable, since no one could really grasp what was going on. Cena made his glorious return to the ring at the next PPV, buried Barrett under a sea of chairs and ended the most ridiculous storyline in recent history.   

The End

There you have it guys, 10 of the biggest storyline fails in recent memory. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Please feel free to comment underneath and let me know if you can think of any other fails that should have made this list. I'd love to hear your opinion.

Thanks again for reading everybody.