Can’t Knock The Hustle: Wrestling’s Most Hated Personalities
When I posted my first “Wrestling’s Most Hated Personalities” column back in 2022, I assumed it was a topic I could go back and discuss again at some point. After all, there is never a shortage of people in the wrestling business that are receiving hate on a regular basis.
Sure enough, even after including 15 people in that column, there were enough names to do a second column… and then another column… and now, here with a fourth column. Guess what? I have a list of names to potentially include in future editions of this “series,” and as of the moment I type this sentence, there are at least 50 people on that list.
The title of the column should be pretty easy to understand, but if you’re new, this is a column where I take a bunch of wrestling personalities… not just wrestlers, but anyone involved in the wrestling business in some way… and give my opinions on whether or not they deserve the hate they’re getting for whatever reason they’re getting it.
Like I said… pretty easy to understand.
For you newcomers, one thing to keep in mind as you read this is that I’m talking about the people behind whatever on-screen personas you see every week, and not the personas themselves. My example was always Adam Cole, who has done some great work as a heel in his career, but when have you ever heard anyone say anything remotely negative about the man behind the character, Austin Jenkins, being a prick? In discussing a particular person, I may mention their on-screen heel work, but the reason they’re being included here isn’t “oh, I can’t believe that son of a bitch turned heel on his tag partner!”
Get it?
Got it?
Good.
Jonathan Coachman
Why He’s Hated: He has become Wrestling Personality #99814473 to get on a podcast and decide to throw out as many “hot takes” as he can in an attempt to stir up controversy. Pairing him up with Vince Russo on a show is only going to bring up plenty of mixed emotions, as well. On top of that, “Coach” has been trying to dabble in the wrestling news and rumors business, bringing up stories and spoilers on his show, and almost without fail, they’re all proven false almost immediately.
Verdict: This is a weird one to me. While he was with WWE, and even while he was with ESPN, I’m not sure that Coach was ever someone that was truly anger-inducing. Maybe you found his WWE character annoying, but that was about it. The fact that he has gone from being pretty unassuming to whatever he’s trying to be today tells me that it’s probably an act. He found a way to create a lane of relevance in the modern day, and he is trying to maneuver his way through that lane as much as he possibly can. I know he can be a bit abrasive, but it’s more like something that you can just ignore until it goes away. Unwarranted.
Jade Cargill
Why She’s Hated: It all started when she came out of absolutely nowhere to be pushed as one of the top women in AEW. She wasn’t someone who had an independent wrestling background, nor was she someone who was a star in any non-wrestling world. There was a lot of jealousy, in and out of the business, because of that. That was only amplified when her in-ring skills weren’t matching up to whatever people thought it should be for someone wrestling on television. When she made the jump to WWE, that hate only grew. She bypassed NXT completely, showed up on the main roster, and continued to be pushed, even though those some people continued to feel like her in-ring work wasn’t very strong.
Verdict: While Jade is certainly not the best in-ring performer to ever grace a professional wrestling ring, she has more than proven her “spot” in the business. Yes, it was a little strange to see her come from nowhere to become a weekly television star, but she has a billion-dollar look, and she isn’t being asked to do anything crazy during her matches. She’s bigger, stronger, and badder than almost anyone she gets in the ring with, and she gets a chance to show that on a regular basis. What’s the problem? Unwarranted. The level of hate she gets is insane to me. She brings something different to the table, and she stands out because of it.
Jey Uso
Why He’s Hated: The start of his hate is based on his on-screen presentation, and even though it “doesn’t count” here, it’s still worth mentioning. There’s a certain percentage of the wrestling fan base that feels Jey is nothing more than an exciting entrance, and that he doesn’t offer much once the opening bell rings for his matches.
At the same time, he was also receiving hate simply for being a part of The Bloodline and their several-year storyline. Again, there’s a certain percentage of the fan base that has grown very tired of the group’s domination of television and pay-per-view time.
Recently, he has been getting hate because of the rumor mill working overtime. He may or may not have cheated on his wife, and he may or may not have cheated on his wife to start some sort of relationship with NXT’s Jaida Parker. You know how rumors go… some people believe anything they hear, and others refuse to believe anything they hear, no matter what.
Verdict: Jey himself has gone public about him getting a little too crazy during his entrance, causing him to get “blown up” before his matches even start. That will obviously affect the quality of a match, but overall, I think a lot of the online discourse about Jey’s in-ring work is completely overblown (no pun intended).
As far as the rumors about him and Jaida Parker… well, that’s none of my business. If… IF… he’s cheating on his wife, that’s certainly not an ideal situation to be in, but we don’t know the situation. We don’t know if and what his wife is doing, or if they’re separated, or this, or that, or anything else. I’m not going to judge him (or Jaida, if we’re being completely fair and honest) for a rumor that has zero proof to anything. Unwarranted, all around.
The Bella Twins
Why They’re Hated: Brie and Nikki have not only received hate for different reasons, but the hate they receive is different for each era that they’re around. Things started when they first debuted in WWE, when people thought the “Twin Magic” gimmick was stupid and that the sisters couldn’t wrestle. As time went by, Brie began to get more hate because of a rough in-ring stretch where it seemed like she was badly botching something on a weekly basis and hurting her opponents. At the same time, Nikki seemed to be improving in the ring, going on to become one of the top women in the entire division.
Somewhere along the line, Nikki began dating John Cena, and people were SURE she was sleeping with the top name in the company to further her own career and so on and so forth. Not a lot of the same hate for Brie being in a relationship with Daniel Bryan, though, even as DB began his meteoric rise up the proverbial ladder.
They were away from wrestling for a while, but when Nikki returned to WWE, she was a completely different wrestler, and not in a good way. She was having some really bad matches, and fan sentiment seemed to turn on her completely.
Verdict: Depending on how you look at things, this can be a bit of a tricky one. The Brie hate has been very strong at times, but it also goes against what I’m trying to do with these columns, and looking at the person, not their on-screen character. If you feel Brie was a dangerous in-ring worker, that goes more to the on-screen thing. Unless, of course, you feel it’s because she was a total bitch that was doing it on purpose. I don’t feel that’s the case at all.
I also don’t think Nikki was dating John Cena in an attempt to further her own career. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nikki act and be able to convey a single, solitary emotion properly. However, I’ve seen her be very sad in the aftermath of her breakup with Cena, and that makes me feel like she was genuine with how she felt about the man. Nikki had already been a Divas Champion before she even started dating Mr. Cena, and if I have my timeline correctly, she wasn’t even with the company when they first started seeing each other. Sure, you could say that she began dating him because she wanted her job back, and the fact that she and her sister returned to WWE soon after her relationship with Cena began seems to have convenient timing, but there are easier ways to go about things if that’s your goal. I’m going to go with Unwarranted here, for both women.
The Ultimate Warrior
Why He’s Hated: Through all of the names I’ve included in this series, Warrior is the first to make the list posthumously. The reasons he has received hate through the years varies from person to person. Some people hate on him because they feel he was a bad in-ring performer. Others hate on him for the controversial comments he made during his post-wrestling career as a “motivational speaker” of some sort. Some hate on him because they feel he had an overinflated sense of self-worth and importance, thinking that he felt he was a bigger piece of the wrestling business than he truly was. Others hate on him because of the numerous stories that have come out about the way he treated fans around the world. There’s a lot to choose from.
Verdict: First and foremost, let me just say that I think a lot of the talk about Warrior’s in-ring work is blown out of proportion. Not because he was secretly a great, world-class mat technician, but because he never needed to be. For one, the WWF wasn’t calling for its top talents to be great in-ring workers at the time. There were definitely some great workers on the roster, but it’s not like WWF shows were full of 20-minute matches. Just as a small example, there wasn’t even a 15-minute match at WrestleMania until 4, and that was a time limit draw. Ironically enough, the first 20-minute match in WrestleMania history was… Hulk Hogan vs Warrior at 6, which went 22:51, and by the time it was over, Warrior was moving around as if it went 122:51. I don’t hold it against him that he wasn’t as good in the ring as people like Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and so on, because… who was?
Instead, my issue is with the person that Jim Hellwig was. Do you remember that “Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior” DVD that WWE released in 2005? There’s a reason that so many people were more than willing to go on camera and talk shit about him for so long. He didn’t have a ton of friends in the business, because there weren’t many people who could get along with him. The man never met a bridge he didn’t look to burn.
Honestly, though, the way Warrior treated children is what has me saying his hate is Warranted. I have heard so many stories, from so many different people, about the way Warrior treated kids, ranging from yelling at kids at airports that wanted his autograph to being cold and callous towards Make-A-Wish kids at different events, and everything in between. Since we mentioned his name earlier in this entry, look at how that contrasts to Hulk Hogan. There has been A LOT said about Terry Bollea through the years, but one thing even his biggest detractors have said is that he loved the charity work he did with children’s organizations. Hulk treated it like it was something that needed to be done, even if it was merely giving a dying child something to smile about in their final days. Warrior, on the other hand, treated it like it was a punishment and a waste of his own time. That’s something I just can’t look beyond, no matter how much I try.
Dominik Mysterio
Why He’s Hated: If there was one name I almost didn’t include here, it’s this one. Not because he doesn’t receive hate, but because he receives hate for on-screen things. I’m making an exception to my own rule by including him, just because I keep seeing the same things over and over again.
Dom made his debut almost six years ago, and in that near six-year time frame, he continues to receive hate. Admittedly, it seems like most wrestling fans have come around on him, especially since he turned heel. There’s still a certain portion of the WWE fan base, though, that sees Dom as a “nepo baby” that may not necessarily “deserve” everything he’s gotten.
A lot of the hate he gets is because of the way The Judgment Day matches are often put together. He’ll wrestle a ten-minute match, and three-to-five minutes of that is dedicated to outside interference from his fellow Judgment Day members. If that happened once or twice, that’s one thing, but the fact that it happens every single time is an entirely different conversation.
Verdict: Unwarranted. I really, really don’t understand the hate he gets. If you dislike all of the outside interference in his matches, that’s fine, but how is that his fault? I continue to say that Dom is a future World Champion. He is an incredible heel that just understands how to get heat, from the things he says in his promos to his facial expressions to the way he carries himself, and everything in between. With that said, though, do you remember what happened at WrestleMania 41? That crowd went crazy for him when he won the Intercontinental Title. That lets me know there’s a gigantic face turn at some point in his future should WWE decide they want to pull the trigger on such a move.
Aleister Black
Why He’s Hated: There’s a lot of speculation here, but I’ve seen and heard enough stories from people who know the man, so I’m comfortable enough including him here.
The hate I’ve seen him receive is based on his most recent release from WWE. While most of the other releases got nothing but “I can’t believe they released this person” discussion, a lot of the talk about Aleister Black was more along the lines of “I can’t believe he keeps doing this to himself” instead. A ton of the speculation surrounds his on-screen character, and more specifically, how seriously he treats it, perhaps even to his detriment.
On a recent episode of his podcast, Jim Ross basically hinted that Tom Büdgen, the man behind the Aleister/Malakai Black persona, might be a little too strict with what his character does and doesn’t do on-screen. That went along with all of those pesky “he refuses to lose matches” rumors that he was dealing with while in AEW, and people began putting two and two together.
Other podcasts and personalities have also talked about him recently, and they all say similar things… that the man needs to either change his character entirely, or he at least needs to loosen up a bit and allow for more fluidity in the way he is presented on-screen if he’s going to succeed on a major level in pro wrestling. Then there’s the rumors that AEW doesn’t want him back.
When you put all that together… well, like I said, there’s a lot of speculation here, with everyone and everything pointing in his direction without directly saying anything.
Verdict: It’s hard to make a true decision because of all the speculation, but let’s look at what we know. Over the last seven years, he has had two main roster runs in WWE and one multi-year stint in AEW. In those seven years, he has a grand total of one title reign… a six-month reign as an AEW Trios Champion with Brody King and Buddy Matthews. The man can absolutely “go” in the ring, so why hasn’t he achieved any real success since dropping the NXT Championship nearly seven years ago?
His WWE character and AEW character are exactly the same. The entrance music, the promos, the matches… everything. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if something doesn’t work once, and you try it again, only for it not to work again, maybe you might need to try something different. I’m not saying that we need to see Malakai Black arrive on the independent scene and become a goofball comedy character, but perhaps something does need to change.
I know that WWE and AEW aren’t the only two games in town, so to speak, but it’s becoming more and more likely that the man is going to need to look outside of those two promotions for a real chance to shine in the business.
For now, I’m going to say Unwarranted here. As much as it looks like the case, the speculation is still just that… speculation. This would change in the future if someone who knows what’s what actually comes out and says something instead of just hinting and beating around the bush. I will say, however… it does seem telling that his former co-workers on both sides of the WWE & AEW fence aren’t exactly tripping over themselves to come to his defense in a public forum.
Aubrey Edwards
Why She’s Hated: They say a Referee’s job is to stay out of the way and not be noticed. There was a time when we weren’t even informed of a ref’s name, because it wasn’t relevant to anything. We weren’t supposed to know who they are. Time has changed a bit, and even when there isn’t a storyline taking place, you’ll often hear wrestling commentators name drop a Referee.
Aubrey Edwards receives hate from people for two reasons, at least that I’ve seen. One, a lot of fans feel that she tries way too hard to be “noticed” on camera. They complain about her overly exaggerated movements, facial expressions, and how she’s seemingly always looking directly into the cameras. A lot of the complaints refer to her as a “distraction” when they try to watch AEW television and pay-per-views.
The second batch of hate is from people who feel she isn’t an attractive woman. If you search her name on any social media platform, you’ll be inundated with comments about the way she looks, her features, and so forth.
Verdict: Let’s start with the first complaint, because I feel we have to split them up. I think it’s safe to say that Aubrey loves the camera. Yes, she is absolutely over exaggerated in all of her movements, and yes, you do notice her at times when perhaps you shouldn’t be noticing her. That, of course, is made infinitely worse with Tony Khan’s borderline obsession with making his Referees look as stupid as possible in as many matches as possible on as many shows as possible. On count one, the hate she gets is Warranted.
Now, on to the second complaint, which is incredibly stupid. Beauty is such an objective thing. Some people find Aubrey Edwards to be ugly, and some people find her to be attractive. It’s the same for every person on the planet. Why does it seem to be such a big deal with her? Besides, if Referees are supposed to be out of the way and not get noticed, wouldn’t you prefer it if the Ref wasn’t some super hot person? A lot of the people making the first complaint are also making the second complaint, which doesn’t make any sense to me. If you don’t think Aubrey is attractive, that’s cool. You saying that she’s unattractive, but seeking out pictures and Gifs of her to make fun of her… well, that doesn’t make a whole bunch of sense, either, does it? On count two, the hate she gets is Unwarranted.
Conrad Thompson
Why He’s Hated: In pro wrestling, the term “money mark” is used on someone who uses a ton of their own money to fund a wrestling project of some sort… a new promotion, etc… even though they don’t have any real experience in the business. That title was given to Conrad Thompson upon his initial journey to becoming “known” in the wrestling business.
After Conrad and some friends pooled money together to help fund an ECW documentary on Kickstarter in 2012, one of their rewards was getting to have ECW alum Shane Douglas come and meet them for a private screening of the film. “The Franchise” ended up enjoying himself so much that he hung out long after the film was over, drinking beer with the guys and sharing a bunch of stories from his pro wrestling career.
That led to Conrad meeting up with Jim Cornette through a mutual acquaintance, and it was the same thing… the friend group put some money in, and the next thing you know, Corny is hanging out with them and telling stories from his legendary career.
To say things skyrocketed from there would be an understatement. Conrad would end up meeting Ric Flair, who took a liking to him and started hanging out with him outside of their business deals. Flair would take Conrad backstage at WWE events, where Conrad would form relationships with the Rhodes family. He would become friends with Cody, would end up handling a mortgage (Conrad’s day job is running his own mortgage company), and even had lunch with Cody’s mom, Michelle, on a few different occasions.
Eventually, Flair was asked to start his own podcast, and he wanted Conrad to help him. The rest, as they say, is history. Conrad now has an entire podcasting empire, co-hosting several shows with pro wrestling names such as Bruce Prichard, Eric Bischoff, Jim Ross, Mick Foley, Jeff Jarrett, Tony Schiavone, and so on.
No matter what he does, though, that “money mark” term has followed him. Even after all these years, he still gets a lot of hate from people who feel that he has essentially bought friendship from wrestlers, that he schmoozed his way into the Flair family (he would eventually marry Ric’s daughter, Megan, in 2018), and that his shows are all boring, no matter who he’s co-hosting with.
Verdict: First and foremost, on the podcasting front, I don’t really get some of the hate that Conrad receives. Are the shows going to be the most thought-provoking things you’ve ever experienced? No, but if you’re listening to pro wrestling podcasts for that type of thing, I have some bad news for you.
I don’t listen to every episode of every Conrad show. It depends on the co-host, and it really depends on what the topic of the episode is about. My main issue with Conrad’s shows are the over reliance on Dave Meltzer. Conrad is CONSTANTLY using Meltzer’s quotes from the Wrestling Observer, and it seems like everyone that Conrad hosts with rates Dave Meltzer on the same level as hemorrhoids and a baby alligator biting you on the nipple. Conrad brings up something that Dave said, and then Bruce, Eric, and so on will rant and rave about Dave for anywhere from five to ten straight minutes. It’s like listening to a troll in his element, and they keep falling for it, time and time and time and time again, but I suppose that’s more on them instead of being on Conrad.
I have to talk about the “money mark” stuff, though. That’s a very important piece to the Conrad Thompson puzzle. The first thing to note is that this wasn’t merely Conrad putting thousands and thousands of dollars on a credit card or pulling out of his checking account to hang out with wrestlers. It’s him and several of his friends chipping in to do it, which lowers what Conrad has to spend by a considerable margin.
Most importantly, however, is the fact that damn near every single one of us would do the same thing if we had money to blow and friends to spend with. If I had Conrad Thompson’s money, I’d be doing all kinds of wild shit and buying all kinds of wrestling memorabilia, too. I’d have title belts, ring gear, and all sorts of autographed, event-worn “grails” all over my office. I would also be flying to different places around the globe and attending wrestling events and conventions.
It seems the hate he gets in that regard boils down to simple jealousy. Because of that, I’m going with Unwarranted here. If you want to hate on him for the quality of his podcasts, that’s one thing, and it’s something I can understand. The rest of it is dumb. It’s his money, and if he wants to spend it on wrestling… well… isn’t that what you’re supposed to do as a fan?
Vince McMahon
Why He’s Hated: Vince has been receiving hate from all corners of the pro wrestling world for over 40 years now. Even after all these years, some old school wrestling personalities and fans alike blame him for the death of the wrestling territories and what the wrestling business would eventually become.
He was getting hate in the early days of WrestleMania for what many felt was an unnecessary desire to have a celebrity-driven product and to constantly look outside of the business for stars to appear on his programming.
People began hating on him for what they felt was, at best, him turning a blind eye to the rampant usage of steroids in the business, and at worst, him pushing wrestlers to start doing steroids in the first place. Even after he was acquitted in court on charges of distributing steroids to his wrestlers, that didn’t change the opinion of most people, who saw it as yet another instance of “rich white man breaks law, rich white man doesn’t get punished for it.”
He was receiving a lot of hate for his work as an announcer in the WWF. He certainly brought plenty of enthusiasm to the gig, but he also brought very little to the table when it came to storytelling and anything even remotely resembling knowledge of wrestling moves.
He started getting hate from seemingly half of the wrestling public for the way he handled the “Montreal Screwjob” and the way Bret Hart left the WWF.
There were a ton of fans who felt he had no business becoming an actual wrestler. He was always in tremendous physical condition, but he was already an older gentleman back then, and his left feet had left feet, making him one of the most awkwardly uncoordinated people to ever step foot inside of a wrestling ring. That hate was amplified when Vince won the 1999 Royal Rumble match, even if Vince vacated his WrestleMania title shot and would go on to lose a Steel Cage Match to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin the following month, giving Austin the Mania title shot instead.
He got tons of hate for turning Owen Hart into The Blue Blazer on more than one occasion, and for that second stint as the Blazer leading to Owen’s untimely death. By several accounts, Owen didn’t want to perform the stunt at Over The Edge 1999, but Vince “pressured” him into doing it, either directly or indirectly. That level of hate was only sent to the moon once Vince made the decision to continue Over The Edge after Owen’s death.
There was the hate for his purchase of WCW, putting an official end to the “Monday Night War” and for once again putting the death sentence on any real competition in the industry.
He got hate for letting his ego stand in the way of turning the “Invasion” storyline into one of the biggest arcs that the sport has ever seen, fumbling it more than anyone has ever fumbled anything in the history of fumbledom.
Then there was hate from his decision to take the company and switch it to a family-friendly PG rating. It was a decision that turned numerous adult fans off to the point that they simply walked away from their fandom altogether.
Through the years, he put himself in numerous situations on-screen where he would be able to make out with, grope, and ogle various women on the roster. Even before anyone heard a single rumor of anything he did in “real life,” he was viewed as a creepy old bastard who had no problem flaunting that type of thing in front of his wife.
He also got hate for pitching incest storylines involving himself, his daughter, Stephanie, and his son, Shane. Even in the world of kayfabe, that’s pretty creepy, and of course, it got people questioning whether or not anything like that had happened outside of the ring. What didn’t help the weirdness was the fact that Vince also booked himself to be in physical altercations with both of his children, beating the hell out of them, and also being beaten by them in return.
Once Chris Benoit died, Vince got hate for running a tribute show to Benoit before knowing the details of what happened over the final weekend of Chris’ life.
There was the era of the “guest hosts” for Raw, often including B or C-tier celebrities that clearly weren’t wrestling fans and had no idea what they were doing on a wrestling show outside of “well, my agent told me to do it.”
A huge percentage of the fans felt Vince had zero desire to listen to the fans and what they want, and that was no more evident than Daniel Bryan and the “Yes! Movement” in 2013 and 2014. No matter how loud fans were for DB, and no matter how much the fans would “hijack” shows to support DB, Vince continued to take creative decisions in other directions, hoping fans would move on. Ultimately, he had to acquiesce, and he was probably kicking and screaming about it backstage as he did so.
On the flip side of that last coin, there’s his constant pushing of babyfaces like John Cena and Roman Reigns, who live crowds all over the world were dumping on week in and week out. Again, he showed zero desire to listen to anything that the fans wanted, or in this case, didn’t want.
Multiple decades of booking for an audience of one… himself… and putting on some of the dumbest, most mind-numbingly atrocious wrestling segments and storylines ever. If he finds it funny, he puts it on television, and even if nobody cares about it, he laughed, so he’s going to do it again… and again… and again… and again.
I just typed out nearly 1,000 words in this entry, and I didn’t even get to do a thorough, deep dive into Vince McMahon’s life and career. There are countless things he has been hated for that I didn’t bring up at all, simply for brevity’s sake.
Then, of course, you have some of the other stuff that I haven’t mentioned yet. The accusations from former WWF Referee Rita Chatterton that Vince raped her in 1986, leading to a lawsuit filed by Chatterton that was settled out of court for what was rumored to be a multi-million dollar deal. In 1992, Kevin Wacholz… known in the WWF as Nailz… filed a lawsuit against Vince, saying that Vince sexually assaulted him. Vince would also be accused by two completely different tanning salon employees… a Florida woman in 2006 and a California woman in 2011… of being inappropriate, ranging from showing nude photos of himself to the woman in Florida and trying to kiss her, to full-blown sexual assault accusations by the woman in California. Then there’s the $12 million in nondisclosure agreements that Vince had with random women related to misconduct claims against him and John Laurinaitis through the years.
Finally… there’s Janel Grant. The things that have gone public from the Grant lawsuit are some of the most vile, heinous things you could ever be introduced to. It seemed like we were learning something new on a daily basis when the story first came out, and none of it was good. Based on everyone’s personal opinions of Vince, they already have their thoughts on whether or not he did what he is being accused of here. For the people who feel he did it, he is receiving a level of hatred from them that is stronger than the levels of vitriol he has ever received for anything else in his life. It’s the type of game changer that could potentially affect the entire legacy of Vince McMahon, if it hasn’t done so already.
Verdict: Jesus Christ, where do I even start?
Don’t worry… I’m not going to go point-by-point and declare whether or not the hate for Vince is warranted each and every time with a lengthy diatribe. I’ll try to keep things as brief as I can in some responses.
When it comes to the death of the pro wrestling territories, I don’t fault Vince at all. Yes, it’s a shame that a lot of the territories had to go under, but it’s also something that opened the door for name after name after name after name to get a bigger spotlight placed on themselves, as well as getting larger checks in their bank account, by going to the WWF and working on their national stage. The hate Vince gets for taking the WWF national and killing off the territories is Unwarranted.
Besides, if Vince didn’t do what he did, there would’ve been someone else to come along and do it eventually. That’s just the way it goes.
When it comes to steroids, I think the hate is Warranted. Even if Vince didn’t personally put steroids in the hands of his wrestlers, he is responsible for creating the culture that had people feeling it was necessary for them to go that route. Have you ever seen what pro wrestlers looked like before the rise of the WWF? Guys like Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race, Arn Anderson, Jerry Lawler and on and on were all making names for themselves without looking like breathing granite sculptures. Vince wanted a roster full of Hulk Hogans, Ultimate Warriors, and people who looked like comic book characters, and that changed the business forever. Whether or not it changed things for the better is up to you to decide.
Again, though, if Vince didn’t create that culture, someone else would’ve done it eventually. Society, as a whole, was changing, and the larger-than-life physiques and presentations were becoming more and more important in other fields of entertainment.
When it comes to the death of Owen Hart and the decision to continue Over The Edge after Owen died, I’m torn on the topic. I’ve written about the subject before, but I don’t think Vince was necessarily wrong for continuing the show. Life is not all about money, money, money, but the logistical nightmare that would’ve come out of canceling the show on the spot would’ve been incredibly difficult to deal with. In the heat of the moment… of that type of moment, specifically… I don’t fault Vince, and I feel like I would’ve at least heavily contemplated doing the same thing if I were in charge that night.
At the same time, though, Vince was 1000% in the wrong for even having Owen as The Blue Blazer and doing a stupid stunt like that in the first place. It’s one thing when Shawn Michaels is zip lining from the top of the Arrowhead Pond at WrestleMania 12, or when Sting is rappelling from the rafters every week on Nitro. Those are main event stars at the top of their game. Why would The Blue Blazer… a midcard comedy gimmick… be coming down from the rafters at all?
So… Warranted for having Owen as The Blue Blazer and making him perform the stunt in the first place, but Unwarranted for continuing Over The Edge after Owen’s passing.
As far as WCW goes, I don’t see how you can fault Vince at all. WCW was for sale, anyway, and could’ve, would’ve, and should’ve been sold for pennies on the dollar. If the WWF didn’t purchase WCW, someone else would’ve done it. Would that have meant WCW gets resurrected and becomes the top promotion again without Vince McMahon’s ego and steroid-addled brain getting in his way? I highly doubt it, because the WCW brand was d-e-d, dead, and had taken too much damage over the last few years to ever reach greatness again. We’re going Unwarranted here.
It’s also Unwarranted when it comes to the company running a Chris Benoit tribute show on Raw after Benoit died. Nobody suspected Benoit did anything wrong in the final weekend of his life, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. If Vince would’ve gone with the “let’s wait and find out the details before we pay tribute to him” deal, he would’ve been absolutely crucified for the lack of respect he showed to an all-time great in-ring performer that just passed away. Vince had to run the tribute, and every single one of us would’ve done the exact same thing on that night.
I’ve dedicated entire columns to how poor I believe Vince’s creative mind is. The list of his colossal screwups is seemingly endless. A lot of the creative successes to take place during his time in the business either had nothing to do with him, or were things that worked in spite of him. Vince is the single greatest Promoter that has ever been involved in the wrestling business, and chances are, he will always have that title. He was able to kill the territories off, take a single wrestling promotion and turn it into a publicly-traded billion-dollar company. People who have never watched pro wrestling a day in their lives know what WWE is. The names “WWF” and “WWE” are synonymous with “pro wrestling” for people in the same way that every “cola” is “Coke” and, for a while, all “video games” were “Nintendo,” and that is because of Vince McMahon. I would never, ever take that away from him and his ability to push… promote… his company and his wrestlers. If he would’ve sat in his office at Titan Tower and ran the company from there for decades, that would be an entirely different conversation, but he had to put his fingerprints on every creative decision that the company made through the years, and that’s where things fall apart for him. If WCW had even an inkling of intelligence and leadership at the top of the company, we wouldn’t even be talking about this right now, because the WWF would’ve gone out of business in the late-90’s. Vince was like the Forrest Gump character, constantly lucking into things and finding himself in the right place at the right time, and that’s how he made his money creatively. The hate he gets for his creative mind is unequivocally Warranted.
When it comes to the legal things, I’m like the rest of you… I have an opinion on it, but I wasn’t there, so I can’t say for certain what happened and didn’t happen, no matter how strong my opinions are. I do believe the “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” line of thinking here, though. There have been WAY too many accusations through the years, from WAY too many people, for him to be completely innocent in everything. Some people feel that he is a target because he’s rich and famous, but there are people in the world who are way more famous, and who are way richer, who have never been accused of rape, sexual assault, or anything else even remotely considered “inappropriate” with anyone, let alone numerous people. Do I think he’s guilty of every single thing he has ever been accused of? No. Of course not. I do believe that he’s a pretty scummy human being, though, at least when it comes to the way he views and treats women.
Even if you’re one of those “Janel Grant was a willing participant in everything, and she’s only pursuing legal action because the money and gifts stopped pouring in” people, you have to at least admit how bad it is for Vince to even be involved in stuff like that in the first place.
Because of all that, I do think the hate he gets for the extramarital affairs, the scandals, the legal troubles, etc. is Warranted. He has played with fire for decades, and it has burned him time and time again, but he never seemed to learn his lesson, so he continued getting in trouble.
Jesus Herbert Christ… I want to take this time to sincerely apologize for how long that Vince McMahon section ended up being. I just started typing, then typing some more, and the next thing you know, I couldn’t stop. The entire Vince portion was longer than some full columns I’ve done, and I didn’t intend on that happening. I’m sorry.
What do you think about the ten people I mentioned in this column? You don’t have to go over all ten of them, but do you think the hate that these people receive is for good reason? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s switch it over to my Weekly Power Rankings before closing things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Bandido vs Blake Christian: There wasn’t a soul on the planet who expected a title change here going in, but the match was put together brilliantly, and there were multiple spots where it really did look like Blake Christian was about to become the new RoH World Champion. He looked great in defeat, and Bandido… well… he’s Bandido, and he continues to show why many consider him to be the best in-ring performer in the business today.
Darby Allin vs Konosuke Takeshita: It’s clear that the current storyline with Darby is that he’s going super hard and working an insane schedule with punishing title defenses, and that is going to catch up to him quickly. In no way, shape, or form should Darby be defeating someone like Takeshita… or Brody King… or Tommaso Ciampa… and so on, but hey, the matches are often pretty fun, so at least there’s that.
AR Fox vs Lio Rush: If you wanted to say that AR Fox is one of the most underrated performers in wrestling today, I don’t think I could put up too much of an argument against you. The RoH Television Title isn’t high on the list of the most prestigious belts in wrestling, but it’s more than he’s been doing, and if it allows him to keep having super fun matches like this, let’s rock and roll.
Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, The Young Bucks & Orange Cassidy vs FTR, Tommaso Ciampa, David Finlay & Clark Connors: Six-person, eight-person, ten-person, and so on… AEW sure loves these types of matches, don’t they? Throw as many people in one match as you can, give them a good amount of time to work with, and let them all get their shit in, as the saying goes… it works every time.
Dominik Mysterio vs El Grande Americano: The integration of AAA on WWE programming continues to have some nice success. I don’t know how much time they can truly get, especially with Smackdown losing their third hour, but I’m enjoying the work while I can get it.
Will Ospreay vs Ace Austin: The match was good. I knew it would be. You knew it would be. We all knew it would be. With that said, there isn’t a single reason for this match to go 16 minutes like it did. Ospreay is supposed to be positioned as one of the top performers in the business today. Ace Austin, as good as he is, hasn’t won a singles match on AEW television in almost seven months. Come on now.
Lee Moriarty vs Ace Austin: Back-to-back appearances for Ace Austin this week. It’s always cool to see stuff like that, especially for new names or for people who don’t make it in my Power Rankings all that often. Yes, both matches were losses for Mr. Austin, but hey, he’s one of only two names that are listed twice this week.
Kendal Grey vs Kelani Jordan: I really like the trajectory that Kendal Grey is on in NXT. She turns 25 next month, but she has already proven to be one of the top in-ring performers on the NXT roster. It’s only a matter of time until she is firmly atop the women’s division there.
Royce Keys vs Gunther: I like the idea of Royce trying to take advantage of Gunther not signing the contract for an Undisputed WWE Title shot by going to sign the contract himself. It’s even better that it led to a fun match like this. Obviously, Royce was never going to win, barring some unforeseen news like Gunther failing a Wellness Policy test or something, but even in a loss, Royce showed that he could “hang” with one of the top heels on the WWE roster.
Iyo Sky vs Sol Ruca: One of the best in the business today vs someone that has the potential to be one of the best in the business in the future. That’s fun.
Sean Legacy, EK Prosper & Tate Wilder vs Charlie Dempsey, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo & Uriah Connors: It’s really crazy how much roster turnover there has been in NXT recently. I mean, I get it… it makes sense, as it’s the nature of the beast for the top names in NXT to be called up to Raw or Smackdown, which means other names need to be brought up to replace them. Seeing people like Sean Legacy in a spotlight position in NXT really showcases that. This isn’t a complaint, by the way. Just me pointing out the facts.
Darby Allin vs Sammy Guevara: Sammy Guevara defeating Darby Allin to become the brand new AEW World Champion would’ve been one of the most baffling creative decisions in the history of pro wrestling. He didn’t have a shot in hell of winning this match, but the match was still fun. It seemed to feature less risky spots for Darby, but it continued the story I mentioned earlier, with Darby being worn down physically because of these back-to-back-to-back-to-back title defenses.
Joe Hendry & The Street Profits vs Logan Paul, Bron Breakker & Austin Theory: A fun six-man tag that was a vehicle to get the Profits a future shot at Logan Paul and Austin Theory’s World Tag Team Titles.
Je’Von Evans vs Rusev: The depth of the Intercontinental Title picture is pretty wild, with new names seemingly being added all the time. Clearly, this means Penta needs to be defending the title in a Ladder Match clusterfuck every month. It’s the only way.
This Week’s Playlist: “Whisper My Name” by Drake… “Survival” by Kurupt & Snoop Dogg… “Can’t Miss You” by Sublime… “Just Call My Name” by Mya… “ASAP” by Mya… “Heaven On High” by Periphery… “Subhuman” by Periphery & Will Ramos… “Salting The Earth” by Like Moths To Flames… “Blue Eyes” by Common People… “Me Muero” by Natalia Jimenez… “Zombie” by The Cranberries… “Wonderwall” by Oasis… “Still Loving You” by Scorpions… “Seek & Destroy” by Metallica… “Heart-Shaped Box” by Nirvana… “Cult Of Personality” by Living Colour… “No One Knows” by Queens Of The Stone Age… “Free Fallin” by Tom Petty… “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty… “Runnin’ Down A Dream” by Tom Petty… “Me Myself and I” by De La Soul… “Back To Life” by Soul II Soul & Caron Wheeler… “Keep On Movin” by Soul II Soul & Caron Wheeler… “Ain’t Nobody” by Chaka Khan… “Walk This Way” by Run-DMC & Aerosmith
