Professional wrestling is pretty simple to understand. Even if you're brand new to the scene and having to take a crash course in "wrestling fans for dummies," the concept is really easy to comprehend. You take a good guy, you place him or her in a ring with a bad guy and in the end, you have one winner....
With that idea in mind, every once in a while, someone comes along with whom it doesn’t matter if they're a babyface or a heel, regardless of how hard a company tries to push them as the "face of the company" or any other angles that might be used to attempt to turn you into a huge fan of that particular person, you just can't stand them. They don't necessarily have to do anything in particular to get under your skin but you just can't stand the mere sight of this person. This is the type of person that fans take pleasure in watching them take a beat-down.
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Throughout the storied history of professional wrestling, there have been matches where someone has taken a beating so severe, you question whether or not that was actually a work or not. Then there are those instances where you have zero doubt that something went wrong and for one reason or another, some legit blows were thrown.
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Here's a look at five times when we as fans, took pleasure in someone else's unfortunate beating.
5. MICHAEL COLE (MONDAY NIGHT RAW: 5/2/2011)
It was a warm and festive night in Miami as thousands packed the American Airlines Arena to celebrate the birthday of their hometown hero, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
As The Rock stood in the center of the ring, acknowledging the millions....and millions, of The Rock’s fans, his attention quickly turned towards the announce table. In the weeks prior, Michael Cole had been spewing a lot of shade towards The Rock and he surely intended to confront this issue.
As The Rock called Cole to the ring, to give him a chance to apologize, Cole took off his top layer of clothing, only to reveal a Boston Celtics jersey, which further fueled heat from the Miami faithful. Once in the ring, it was an awkward few moments for Cole, until finally, The Rock extended his hand in what appeared to be an olive branch type of moment. However, the great one quickly pulled Michael in, planted him with a Rock Bottom, before finally finishing the mouthy commentator off with a People's Elbow, much to the delight of Rocky’s fellow Miami faithful.
4. JBL (Smackdown 7/7/2005)
This was one of those situations that no one saw coming, nor did anyone really understand the reasoning for some time. The Blue Meanie had been away from WWE for several years but was called back for this one-off opportunity to work one segment for 2005’s One Night Stand pay-per-view. However, to his own admission, Meanie had been spreading a lot of negativity about his experiences with JBL, while he was on the WWE/ECW roster. During one particle interview, The Blue Meanie was asked about his time with WWE and he explained that he had nothing but good memories from his time with WWE...except for his memories of JBL.
Meanie explained that JBL was always one of the rudest people he'd ever encountered in the business and that he was simply put, "just an a**hole." Meanie went on to say that no matter how nice he tried to be to JBL, he was always rude and disrespectful in return.
On the night of 2005’s One Night Stand, JBL and The Blue Meanie were both scheduled to be a part of one all-out brawl, involving a number of superstars. During the segment, he says things went wrong and he took some serious blows as a result.
Meanie said that JBL headed directly for him and pulled a hockey-type of maneuver, pulling Meanies' shirt over his head, then delivering blows to the face and head.
Once they got back to Gorilla Position, a bloodied Meanie confronted JBL, looking for answers. In turn, JBL defended himself by saying "you were talking about me on the internet!" A shocked Blue Meanie replied- "doesn't look like I was wrong either, huh?"
Meanie ended up taking his frustrations to WWE management, to the point of even threatening legal action if they didn't address the incident. But, in the end, WWE officials and Meanie settled with a non-title, no disqualification match against JBL, on Smackdown. It's also worth noting that JBL was ordered to job to The Blue Meanie and simply take the loss.
The time came on an episode of Smackdown for Meanie to settle the score. Accompanied to the ring by his fellow bWo brothers, Meanie entered the ring, only to meet a boot to the face by JBL, who looked visibly set off. Needless to say, this was a stiff contest, but through it all, Meanie appeared to take things in stride and remained professional. That was until Stevie Richards got involved. Richards jumped into the ring and planted JBL with a chair shot to the head, which could've been felt on the other side of Sacramento.
Following the chair shot, Meanie attempted to finish the match with his patented Meaniesault. However, JBL kicked out, but it didn't matter because Batista would put JBL down for good, with a vicious spinebuster, then pulled Meanie over Layfield for the 1-2-3 win.
3. PAUL HEYMAN (MONDAY NIGHT RAW: 11/11/2013 )
You may or may not remember, but CM Punk wasn't always a "Paul Heyman Guy." In fact, at this particular time, Heyman was the advocate for Curtis Axel. WWE was attempting to give the third generation superstar a chance to finally get himself over. Not only had they put the Intercontinental Championship on him at one point, but they had also enlisted him with the services of one of the greatest managers of all time. Heyman was able to fill in the blanks, so to speak, in Axel's body of work. Unfortunately, even that would prove not to work in getting the offspring of Mr. Perfect over.
Towards the end of 2013, they ran a storyline where Heyman was Punk’s ultimate antagonist. However, as a part of the angle, Paul was in a wheelchair, trying to ensure Punk wouldn't put his hands on him. Much to Heymans chagrin, Punk reached a boiling point during one episode of Monday Night RAW. As Punk made his way down the entrance ramp, he went through Curtis Axel relatively easily and eventually stood directly in front of a helpless Paul Heyman.
As the crowd exploded as Punk took Heyman on an in-ring roller coaster ride and spinning him in circles before finally dumping him on his head and commencing to give Paul the beating of a lifetime, using the kendo stick he pulled from under the ring apron. This was one night when Heyman could've surely used Brock Lesnar in his corner.
2. VINCE MCMAHON (MONDAY NIGHT RAW: 10/5/1998)
Oh, the memories of the famed Attitude Era. As much as we all miss this period in professional wrestling, it's an era that we must accept will never return. The Attitude Era was a once in a lifetime period of time that can never be replicated. There's simply no sense in even insulting the legacy of this era by attempting a remake.
One of the greatest rivalries of this era and of all time, to be honest, was the feud between Stone Cold Steve Austin and the chairman, Vincent Kennedy McMahon. These two had plenty of battles over the course of this time. However, there was one hilarious moment that sticks out in my mind and likely always will.
As Mr. McMahon laid peacefully in his hospital bed, resting and recovering from his injuries, he received a special visit from a special doctor. Before Vince could comprehend who was in front of him, Stone Cold Steve Austin, dressed in scrubs and all, proceeded to dish out a little Stone Cold therapy to Mr.McMahon's injured foot.
As Dr.Stone Cold continued to "treat" his patient, he began striking the boss with any and everything he could get his hands on, including McMahon’s own bed pan.
1. JOHN CENA (2014 SUMMERSLAM: 8/17/2014 )
John Cena is one of those babyface personas that we mentioned earlier. He's one that no matter how many titles he wins and no matter how hard they try to push him, a certain group of fans will always have a genuine hatred towards Cena.
Heading into the 2014 SummerSlam pay-per-view, Cena was the defending world champion, a title he would capture at the 2014 Battleground event where he defeated Randy Orton and Roman Reigns. The following night on RAW, it was announced that Cena would defend his title against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
In the weeks leading up to this event, WWE attempted to sell the main event as an event in which not only could Cena possibly win, but that he would win. Most fans laughed at the notion of Cena defeating The Beast Incarnate. However, I'm not sure if anyone was prepared for the beat-down that Cena would endure.
When the bell rang, Cena delivered a few flurries of strikes to Lesnar, but it never affected him whatsoever. Within 30 seconds, Lesnar delivered his first F-5. After an attempt at a quick pitfall win, Cena kicked out and it appeared that Lesnar enjoyed the fact that Cena got back up. It was similar to an animal toying with his prey. From this point forward, the match belonged to Brock Lesnar. For the next 17 minutes, Brock would sling Cena around the ring like a rag-doll. Finally, after some 16 patented German Suplexes and a second and final F-5, John Cena would succumb to the much more superior warrior on this particular evening. In the end, a new champion was crowned as a defeated Cena struggled to make his way to the dressing room to lick his wounds.
