The Top Ten 12.12.06: Worst Moments of 2006

Posted by Julian Williams on 12.12.2006

Moments so bad it made you more embarrassed to be a wrestling fan than you already are.

So it seems that the holiday season is in full force as evidenced by the portly lady at K-Mart that nearly ran over me in order to get the box of Bratz that several other women were running for at the same time. Thankfully I'm done with all my Christmas shopping because there's nothing worse than standing on a 45-minute line stuck between a mom with three screaming kids and a teenage girl talking on the phone in the highest pitched voice I've ever heard. Welcome back to The Ten boys and girls, this week we're going to be taking a look at The Top Ten Worst Moments of 2006. If it weren't for moments like this, sites like Wrestlecrap wouldn't exist so you can't hate them too much. Alright, let's take a look at some of your emails from the last few weeks.

Reader Feedback

First up is Adam who wonders where the love is for the WCW triple threat matches:

Those were some great picks for the best triple threat matches. I
always
wonder, however, why people have forgotten about some of the great WCW
matches from 1997-99. I especially liked the Chris Benoit vs Raven vs
DDP
match from Uncensored 1998, Rey Jr vs Juventud vs Kidman from Starrcade
1998, and Raven & Saturn vs Kidman & Rey Jr vs Benoit & Malenko from
Slamboree 1999.

Adam has some good picks here as a lot of people mentioned the Benoit/Raven/DDP match and that was definitely one that could have found a spot on the list. The other matches he mentions were all great, especially the Rey/Juvi/Kidman match from Starrcade, but I gotta stick with my list. Any of those matches could crack any top ten list, though.

Matt thinks a forgotten classic from '98 got the shaft on the list:

Hey there
One match you didn't include that I would have was a great triple threat cage match with The Rock v Ken Shamrock v Mankind (it may have been a no.1 contender match) from Breakdown 1998. The Rock was still technically a bad guy but was getting more and more cheers. There was an awesome spot where Rocky was setting up Shamrock for the people's elbow and Foley interrupted, so The Rock slammed him down, took off both elbow pads and gave a double people's elbow as the crowd went nuts! According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWF_Breakdown this was the only time it has ever been done? (Not sure about that). At the end Foley killed Kenny with a chair shot and was halfway over the top of the cage for the win, when The Rock crawled onto Shamrock and stole a 3-count, great finish.
This definitely was a great match and the only reason it wasn't included on the list was because I tried to make the list only include straight up triple threat matches with no added stipulations, but if I had included any type of triple threat match, this match would most likely be on it. This was a great match that showcased just how truly over the Rock was at the time despite being a heel. Someone alert O'Dog because this is definitely forgotten goodness.

Chris checks in with some more great moments from 2006:

Julian,
Some more moments that may have been overlooked:

--Just recently, the homage paid to Ric Flair by DX in the center of the ring. To see Flair genuinely choked up as HHH and HBK offered their respect to "The Man" was the culmination of my years and years of watching these performers. We'll just forget about the crotch chopping for now.
--The Eddie Guerrero tribute show. The real feelings demonstrated by both rosters, along with the reactions of the fans (kids and parents alike reduced to tears) gave the most surreal feeling to any Monday night show since Owen's Show.
--The slapping of the "Send to OVW" sticker on the crate containing members of the Spirit Squad. While not the blow-off that many were expecting, it was effective in that it did not reduce the members of the Squad to have to girl-fight like a bunch of cheerleaders would. It should allow them to come back on their "own" terms, a la Kenny last Monday.
--The retirement of Trish Stratus. It is a shame that there couldn't be room in the Top 10 for the best woman performer in a very, very long time.
--The decimation of Mr. McMahon by HBK. That flying elbow from the top of the ladder onto the table-set garbage can containing the bloody carcass of VKM is an image right up there with Jeff Hardy flying off the top of that roided up ladder onto the Dudleys.
--Sorry, but I marked the F out when AA appeared from behind the curtain and gave the throat slit sign just prior to Survivor Series. So did the crowd.

Just wanted to share some thoughts with you.

Take it easy and keep up the good work,
Chris M.

Well except for the Eddie tribute show which actually took place in 2005(but we'll forgive Chris because it was a great show), this is a great list of moments that occurred in 2006. I definitely goofed on forgetting to include Trish's final match because I marked out heavy when she put the sharpshooter on Lita to win her final WWE women's title. The random appearance of Double A was also a great moment because I will never get tired of seeing that man do the throat slash. Great stuff here by Chris.

Reinaldo mentions a moment that shouldn't only be a moment of the year, but a moment of the millennium!:

I can't believe you totally forgot the biggest moment of the year. BRET HART RETURNED TO THE WWE FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY.

I never thought I would see Bret at a WWE function. Seeing him get inducted by his greatest rival, sharing stories about Owen, his dad, and his teams was the moment of the decade.

You got me Reinaldo, that was a big miss by me as seeing Bret Hart get inducted in the WWE Hall Of Fame and appear in WWE for the first time since the infamous Montreal Screwjob was a HUGE moment. I think I forgot about it because you only got to see it if you got the Wrestlemania 22 DVD or watched the Hall Of Fame Ceremony on USA, but that's no excuse for forgetting this memorable moment. I really wished Bret had appeared at Wrestlemania 22 because I know that Chicago crowd would have given him a tremendous send off. Good stuff here Reinaldo, I owe you a beer. A German one, not the pussy American ale.

411's own Stuart Carapola berates me for my indy-free list:

You had some great moments on there...but where was all the ROH?! I
mean...Cage of Death! The World and Pure Titles unified! The
Cornette-Zandig debate! Corino getting his head shaved!

For shame, Doc. For shame.

Can't say Stu is wrong, there were some great moments in ROH this year. If it wasn't for my absolute distrust of the US Postal Service, I would have a lot more ROH DVD's to catch me up on all the events of this year. I'm going to take a chance and order Supercard of Honor as well as Weekend Of Champions 1 and 2. If there are any other shows you ROH-heads think I should pick up, let me know.

Finally, we've got Kevin from Ontario who mentions some more great moments of '06:

Did you think about Edge's world title win at the beginning of the
year?
This was the first cash in of Money in the Bank, and a huge moment in
Edge's
career. Since then he has recaptured the World title once, got the tag
titles with Orton, and had live sex with Lita on national television!
Cashing in the Money in the Bank against a battered Cena at New Years
Revolution was one of my favorite parts of the year.

I also think Umaga's and Samoa Joe's undefeated streaks could be in
those
top ten, as well as Johnny Nitro's breakthrough as a singles star.

Anyways, Good job on the article, just thought I'd point out a few you
may
have overlooked (Or maybe you hate my suggestions! that is fair as
well).

Merry Christmas!

There were A LOT of you guys who felt that Edge cashing in his MITB at New Year's Revolution should have been included on the list and I can definitely see your point. I didn't put it on the list just for the fact that rumors were running rampant that day that Edge was going to cash in his MITB that night so the surprise was kind of ruined for me when it did happen, but that didn't make it any less memorable. Umaga and Joe's undefeated records were great, but Joe's streak was recently snapped and Umaga's didn't really start until the middle of the year. Johnny Nitro is one to watch for, if he gets better on the mic he could wind up being the next generation's HBK. Good stuff here by Kev. They celebrate Christmas in Canada? First they steal our pop culture and now their taking Christmas. Ohh well, we got Pamela Anderson from them.











We'll call it even.

That's all the feedback for this week. Keep sending in that feedback people, you know I loves it. Time to end your anticipation and take a look at this week's list.

The Top Ten Worst Moments of 2006

10) RVD and Sabu get busted
RVD was enjoying a successful reign as WWE/ECW Champion and Sabu was becoming a force in the new ECW when all of that changed after a routine traffic stop. The cops that stopped the original ECW duo found bags of marijuana as well as various pills scattered throughout the car. Once WWE got wind of this, the shit hit the fan due to the Es new Wellness policy. RVD was suspended for 30 days and lost both his WWE
and ECW titles on back to back nights. Sabu wasn't suspended, but his push became stagnant as he pretty much became fodder for The Big Show to run through. Neither men have been able to recapture the spot they had before the bust which could be evidenced by the early elimination of RVD at December to Dismember as well as the exclusion of Sabu in that match.

9) Sting loses his title via DQ
Sting had a match against the monster, Abyss, at Genesis in a brawl that included thumbtacks, bats, chairs, barbed wire and Abyss hanging upside down while Sting pounded on him. So how exactly after all that did Sting get DQd for barely shoving the ref? More importantly, how the hell did he lose his title after said DQ even though there was NO PRIOR ANNOUNCEMENT that the title could change hands on a DQ? Ohh, supposedly the title COULD change hands on a DQ because its an old NWA rule. Well the what happened in all those other title matches in the last four years of TNA that ended in a DQ and yet the title didnt change hands? And why not just build up that fact BEFORE the match occurred so that everyone wouldnt be dumdfounded at the conclusion of the match? This was just another shining example of Russo-F'N-Nomics. Seriously, how does this guy still have a job?

8) Boogeyman squashes the Bookerman on the biggest stage of them all
Booker T was a multiple time world champion who had seen a resurgence in his career once his wife, Sharmell, became his manager. After a great feud with Chris Benoit, it seemed like Booker was on to bigger and better things. Eventually he would be, but not before he crossed the Boogeyman at WM22 and proceeded to get absolutely SQUASHED. Granted, the Boogey/Booker feud provided some funny moments, but a superstar the caliber of Booker T shouldn't be getting squashed by a guy who can barely wrestle, especially on the biggest wrestling show of the year.

7) 2006: The year of handicap matches
Raise your hand if you were sick and tired of seeing handicap matches this year. Ok thats all of you except no-arms-Fred and even he raised his foot. Once the Spirit Squad was introduced as Mr. McMahons personal lackies, it seemed that every single week we were seeing a handicap match on Raw. Whether it was a 2 on 1 or a 4 on 1 or a 5 on 2, it seemed that there was always a handicap match going on. Handicap matches should be used in moderation to stack the deck against the babyface so the fans can see if he can overcome it. If its used every week, though, it gets boring and cliché which is exactly what happened in 06. With the dissolution of the Spirit Squad, lets hope that also brings an end to handicap matches for some time.

6) Vince Russo returns as head of TNA creative
At the No Surrender PPV, there were some groundbreaking announcements made including TNA going primetime as well as the signing of Kurt Angle. One announcement that wasn't made that could wind up being a lot more significant than the other two was that Vince Russo was re-hired to be the head of TNA creative. Since Russo has been back at the helm we have seen various examples of his inept style of booking. Whether it was the reverse battle royal, having the X title switch hands twice in three weeks, turning AJ heel for no apparent reason, having the James Gang quit after complaining about unfair treatment in TNA and then re-emerge a week later all ra-ra for TNA as VKM, having Sting lose the Heavyweight title via DQ even though that stipulation was never announced, having Jerry Lynn berate Chris Sabin for having no respect for the X Division and then suddenly side with him, or a myriad of other stupid things he's done since his brief return a little over a month ago. I actually used to defend Russo as I always felt he created great storylines during the Attitude Era and was instrumental in getting mid-carders over by providing them with intriguing storylines, but his runs in WCW and TNA have been disastrous. Russo is only good when you have someone reigning him in, similar to Vince when he was in WWE. When you give Russo the book and let him run free with any thought that pops into his head, it's going to result in some mind numbing television. Hopefully Russo can prove me wrong and start creating some good storylines because at this point, despite all the great talent TNA has, his writing may drive it into the ground.

5) 2006: The year of man ass
Raise your hands if you were sick and tired of seeing man ass on your TV screen almost every time you turned on WWE TV this year. Once again that's everyone except no-arms-Fred, but he happens to love man ass. As wrestling fans, we've come to expect some man ass on WWE TV every once and a while due to Vince's apparent obsession with guys showing their rear, but this year it was just damn ridiculous. This year we've unwillingly seen the asses of HHH, The Big Show, Big Dick Johnson, a slew of midget wrestlers, Vito, William Regal, and of course Vince McMahon due to his infamous Kiss My Ass Club. Even TNA got into the act near the end of the year when Kevin Nash showed his ass during one of the Paparazzi Production skits. TOO MUCH MAN ASS!! Do us all a favor Vince, if you want to show some naked ass on TV let it belong to Leyla, Kristal, Maria, or any of the other various divas. If I see another man's ass and I'm not drunk, I swear I'm going to kill somebody.

4) December To Dismember: A myriad of bad moments
Where do we even begin with this? First off, it wasn't the worst PPV ever as some people proclaim it to be because they did have some entertaining matches, but it may be one of the most disappointing PPV's ever. They started the PPV well enough with a great match between MNM and The Hardyz. Too bad that neither team is a part of ECW. That was one of the first examples of something being wrong with the PPV. The best match on the show were from non-ECW wrestlers which automatically made ECW look bush league. The other matches on the show were completely neutered from having a hardcore style, which is understandable since the main event was suppose to be EXTREME, but it wasn't nearly as EXTREME as advertised. The main event saw the two crowd favorites, CM Punk and RVD, eliminated first which automatically took the crowd out of the match. I am a huge Lashley fan, but even I was perplexed that they gave the title to him so soon after he came over to ECW from Smackdown. The fact that Show was champ for so many months and decimated almost all the faces on the ECW roster only to have Lashley come over and take his title within a couple weeks completely made the rest of the roster look weak in comparison. Then to top it all off, after the PPV, Paul Heyman was dismissed from his duties and the man in charge of ECW now is a man that had his head stuck up Stephanie McMahon's cooch during her tenure as Smackdown head writer and we all know how much Stephanie **loves** ECW. It's clear to see the difference between this ECW and the ECW that put on the great ONS II show in June and that makes me very sad because I had high hopes for this new ECW.

3) Voodoo Kin Mafia? WTF?!?
So a week after the James Gang quit TNA do to being overlooked and threatened to go back to the company up North, they come back under the moniker of VKM and state that they are declaring war on Vince and the WWE. WTF?!? Weren't you the same guys complaining a week ago about being treated unfairly and now you want to help TNA take down the company that you said you were going to go back to? Ooook. Then VKM started proclaiming how they were the true driving force behind DX and that HHH and Shawn Michaels had to rely on them for the group to be popular. WTF?!? So I'm suppose to believe that HHH and HBK, two of the biggest stars EVER in the wrestling industry and the two men who founded the original(and best) version of DX, weren't the real reason behind the popularity of the group but rather it was two overrated tag team performers that made the group such a worldwide success? Ooook. Then VKM started trashing DX for re-hashing past gimmicks and during it poorly. WTF?!? Aren't these the same guys who were using the same tired entrance five years after it was popular, even in a completely new fed with completely different names? It seems to me that they should be the last guys making fun of ANYONE. Even Waylon Mercy is somewhere laughing at these guys. Isn't that right Ron Simmons?



DAMN!

2) Randy Orton proclaims that Eddie's in hell
I have been one of the few who has defended the use of Eddie Guerrero's name for storyline purposes, but even I couldn't defend what came out of Randy Orton's mouth on a February episode of Smackdown. Rey Mysterio had won the Royal Rumble and was soaking in the adulation of the fans when Randy Orton came out to issue a challenge to Rey where Rey would put his Wrestlemania title shot on the line. At first Rey refused, but after some goading by Orton, Rey began to look to the sky as if he was asking for Eddie's advice. That's when Randy asked Rey why he was looking to Heaven because Eddie wasn't there, Eddie was in hell. I couldn't believe that those words had come out of Orton's mouth, whether it was scripted or not. There are just certain things you don't say and that's one of them. I understand it was for storyline purposes as Orton had to say something so wicked that it would make Rey put up his title shot, but I'm sure that the gusy in creative could have come up with something besides that. It was just very tasteless and that was one of the times I had to agree with the people who hate the use of Eddie's name in terms of storyline.

1) Vince McMahon mocks God
We all know that Vince is full of himself, but even he stepped over the line when he openly mocked God and had the nerve to have himself and Shane win a match against HBK and "God". I'm sure in Vince's head, he thought it would be a great way to generate some heel heat, but there are some things that don't belong in pro wrestling and God is one of them. Vince needs to concentrate more on creating a compelling wrestling show rather than using air time to mock God and all the people who believe in him. And this is coming from a person who isn't even overly religious so I could just imagine how a devout Christian would react to Vince's actions.

Drive-By Pimpin'

Check out all these UPDATED great columns by my 411 brethren:

-Andy Clark's "Shimmy"
-Ari's "Column Of Honor"
-Sean, Alex and David's "Triple Threat"
-Bayani's "Truth B Told"
-Weyer's "Shining The Spotlight"
-Byers' "Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People"
-Larry and Geoff's "3R's"
-Fact Or Fiction
-O'Dog's " Goodness"
-Sat and Uncle Trunx's "High Road/Low Road"
-Phill Feltham's "Quick Talkdown"
-Sarnecky's "Piledriver Report"
-Slimmer's News Report
-Hidden Highlights
-Carapola's "That Was Then" and "The Week in Hardcore"
-The Fink's Payload
-Gamble's "Just 'Spose"
-Cook's "Ask 411"
-Meehan's "Meethinks"
-Sforcina's "Evolution Schematic"
-Prag's "In Defense Of?."
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Sullivan's "Crystal Ball"
-Randle's "Wrestling News Experience"
-Joe Boo's "Ringside Or Cheap Seats"
-Linkous' "WWE vs. TNA"
-Double M's Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn's Rawtopsy, Smackdown Breakdown, & ECW eXperience
-Cook's "News From Cook's Corner"
-Mike LaFave's "Getting Over"
-Your News, Larry's Views

The Sign-Off

We're done here people. Be sure to send in your feedback as I'm sure there are a bunch of you who have quite a few more moments to add to this list. Be sure to come back next week when we're going to look at The Top Ten Breakout Wrestlers of 2006. Until then, Go wash your ass!