Wrestling's Scummiest Moment Ever?

[Loss]

Hey everyone, remember when WCW had Ric Flair fake a heart attack on Nitro to draw a rating?

[sek69]

I can't tell if Loss really likes this topic or really hates it.

 

Fritz exploiting his own sons makes it a level of scum higher than the usual "promoter exploits wrestler" routine to me. When you watch Mike post toxic shock trying to wrestle or give interviews it's really disturbing to know his own father is the one behind it. In fact Mike killed himself because he couldn't live up to being the next great Von Erich and I think that falls on Fritz.

 

So to tl;dr it, nothing will out scum Fritz driving his own son to suicide to me.

[JRH]

According to Sex, Lies, and Headlocks, the indy fed Windy City Wrestling did an angle where the lead heel beat up a mentally handicapped fan (the way it was worded it made it seem like it was a legit fan and not a plant). I dont know much about this angle, but it sounds pretty scummy to me (even if the fan was just a plant, it's just real cheap heat).

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

Katie Vick would only be scummy if there really was a Katie Vick who died in a car wreck. People are confusing stupid storylines with actual scummy things. Fritz selling fake autographed pictures of his dead kids is scummy. Trish barking like a dog is just silly.

If it was just the barking, that would be one thing, but Trish crying and stripping while Vince angrily yelled at her to take her clothes off to the roaring applause of the crowd is one of the creepiest things ever broadcast on wrestling TV.

[JerryvonKramer]

Bit of a Devil's Advocate but... at the end of the day, Fritz was exploiting the deaths of his own sons, not someone else's.

This is why I mentioned exploiting the death of Gino to get the blindness angle over with Adams.

[PhilTLL]

 

 

Jim Neidhart dressing up as a Klansmen and beating up Virgil. No matter if you like or dislike Virgil, any person who is flicking the channel would automatically think a KKK member is beating up a black man in a wrestling ring.

When and where did this happen?

This happened in 1995 on one of those local indy Feds in the 90s that got TV. The historians on the board would much more than I would about it. I've heard about in the past but last year was the first time I saw it.

It appears this was from a Vegas/Sacramento indy called National Wrestling Conference.

 

http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/indy/nwc/nwcindex.html

 

August 25, 1995 in Las Vegas, NV

Silver Nugget Pavilion drawing 750

The Powers of Pain beat Silver Wings & Kerry Love.

 

Rob Van Dam & Bobby Bradley beat The Mercenaries (Billy Anderson & Cincinnati Red).

 

Judge Dread & Johnny Paine beat The Navajo Kid & Dancing Wolf.

 

Larry & David Power beat The Bushwhackers.

 

Little Tokyo & Cowboy Lang beat Lil' Haystacks in a "handicap" match.

 

Rob Van Dam & Bobby Bradley beat The Powers of Pain.

 

Larry & David Power beat Judge Dread & Johnny Paine.

 

Virgil NC The Thug (Jim Niedhart).

 

Rob Van Dam & Bobby Bradley beat Larry & David Power to win the first NWC Tag Title.

 

NWC Champ Sabu NC Cactus Jack (13:12) in a "lumberjack" match.

[Death From Above]

In hindsight, NOAH's first ever show where in the main event they faked Misawa's death/recovery as part of a match is something I don't think I could ever watch again, and it was pretty bizarre and distasteful to begin with.

[Johnny Sorrow]

 

Katie Vick would only be scummy if there really was a Katie Vick who died in a car wreck. People are confusing stupid storylines with actual scummy things. Fritz selling fake autographed pictures of his dead kids is scummy. Trish barking like a dog is just silly.

If it was just the barking, that would be one thing, but Trish crying and stripping while Vince angrily yelled at her to take her clothes off to the roaring applause of the crowd is one of the creepiest things ever broadcast on wrestling TV.

 

The crying was just bad acting, I remember laughing my ass off at the entire absurdity of it.

[Death From Above]

I also feel like I should have about 30 Ian Rotten stories, but they have all blended together in my head into just saying "Ian Rotten".

[Johnny Sorrow]

Bit of a Devil's Advocate but... at the end of the day, Fritz was exploiting the deaths of his own sons, not someone else's.

Oh, then fair game.

Holy shit, THAT'S WORSE.

[Robert S]

It's definitely not the worst thing the WWE ever did but "Your little baby brother, he did not have much fight in him, did he?" was scummy as hell, especially everything that went with it (not warning Reid's parents beforehand, blaming it on Charlotte afterwards etc.).

[thebrainfollower]

Trish wouldn't have been able to take it to court. "Actress refuses to do scene" isn't worth litigation without illegal coercion involved.

 

No Laz I meant her quitting WWE over not wanting to do it and them suing HER is what would have happened to me most likely. Commending her for gutting it out and forcing their respect through 5 more years of hard work.

[thebrainfollower]

Also I took scummiest moment to mean scummiest moment on air, not scummiest thing behind the scenes.

[thebrainfollower]

Wouldn't the coverup for Bruiser Brody's death be the worst? Or is that more a case of Puerto Rican justice being an issue?

[Loss]

I think that's one a cocktail of things, wrestling's secretive nature being a key ingredient. Apparently, there was hesitation to even contact the police when they realized he was dead.

[jcmmnx]

Wasn't there a dude a few years ago that knew he had hiv and was wrestling in death matches bleeding on everyone? Hard to top that one.

[Laz]

Yep. Andre Davis.

http://camelclutchblog.com/independent-pro-wrestler-tests-positive-for-hiv/

[El Boricua]

Wouldn't the coverup for Bruiser Brody's death be the worst? Or is that more a case of Puerto Rican justice being an issue?

Without getting into any conversation about cover ups or Puerto Rican justice, this wouldn't qualify since this was not something that happened in order to draw money or get anyone over. Now, you could say that attempts to use this tragic event in angles later on (Onita's attempt being one that comes to mind) would qualify.

[subatomic_elbow]

The Living Miracle Mike Von Erich hurts my heart physically when I just think about it. The footage tears at me in a visceral way. This kid was clearly not right and they exploited him. His only family. His father paraded a mentally and physically damaged boy before the world and used him. I can't even type this without tasting bile.

[drew wardlaw]

 

Wouldn't the coverup for Bruiser Brody's death be the worst? Or is that more a case of Puerto Rican justice being an issue?

Without getting into any conversation about cover ups or Puerto Rican justice, this wouldn't qualify since this was not something that happened in order to draw money or get anyone over. Now, you could say that attempts to use this tragic event in angles later on (Onita's attempt being one that comes to mind) would qualify.

Was the match where Manny Fernandez makes one of the Invaders throw up fake blood somehow tied into Brody's death or am I getting that mixed up with something else?

[drew wardlaw]

Two recent ones, Suzuki making fun of Misawa's death in Hiroshima last year, and I THINK Saito was in the audience (not positive though).

 

The Connor's Cure thing WWE does feels really exploitative. I guess they are raising money for cancer research but it's very self-agrandizing and having that poor father speak at the HoF didn't seem right.

[El Boricua]

 

 

Wouldn't the coverup for Bruiser Brody's death be the worst? Or is that more a case of Puerto Rican justice being an issue?

Without getting into any conversation about cover ups or Puerto Rican justice, this wouldn't qualify since this was not something that happened in order to draw money or get anyone over. Now, you could say that attempts to use this tragic event in angles later on (Onita's attempt being one that comes to mind) would qualify.

Was the match where Manny Fernandez makes one of the Invaders throw up fake blood somehow tied into Brody's death or am I getting that mixed up with something else?

The match between Invader 3 and Manny Fernandez was a few months before Brody's death and was not related at all to what happened.

[drew wardlaw]

Ahh got it, thanks.

[supremebve]

Two recent ones, Suzuki making fun of Misawa's death in Hiroshima last year, and I THINK Saito was in the audience (not positive though).

 

The Connor's Cure thing WWE does feels really exploitative. I guess they are raising money for cancer research but it's very self-agrandizing and having that poor father speak at the HoF didn't seem right.

The Connor's Cure thing isn't exploitative. They are raising money and awareness for a disease that affects millions of people. Sure, that cute little kid's memory is being used to raise that money and awareness, but his parents are clearly happy with how their child's memory is being used. Cancer sucks, and I can say for a fact that you feel lonely and helpless if someone you love is diagnosed. The WWE, and the WWE audience gave that family a level of support they wouldn't have received otherwise and that shit matters. Cancer is one of those things that you'd do everything you can to help the person who has it, except there really isn't anything you can do. If that charity helps at all it is a net positive.

[clintthecrippler]

Two recent ones, Suzuki making fun of Misawa's death in Hiroshima last year, and I THINK Saito was in the audience (not positive though).

 

The Connor's Cure thing WWE does feels really exploitative. I guess they are raising money for cancer research but it's very self-agrandizing and having that poor father speak at the HoF didn't seem right.

 

What the hell is the Suzuki thing?