Great WWE Booking Decisions That Were Ruined

WWE’s long history sees more instances of fans dreaming of great scenarios at the end of angles. The mixed track records show both beloved and hated booking decisions by WWE management. However, even the positive ones can backfire if the execution leads to disappointment and sours the positive moment.

10 Bad Wrestlers Who Benefited From Controversial Booking Decisions

These are ten bad wrestlers who lucked out thanks to controversial booking choices that show how sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Wrestling not having an offseason means the momentum must continue or risking negative results. Triple H has a lot more support for his booking than the tail end of Vince McMahon’s run, but even he knows that can change at the drop of a hat. The following instances of WWE history show how easy it is for great booking decisions to immediately get ruined.

Hulk Hogan's Face Turn After WrestleMania 18 Classic

One More Comeback World Title Reign Ruined Everything

Fans Chose To Cheer Hogan Over Rock To Cause Face Turn
Vince Sacrificed Triple H's Big Face Title Reign For Hogan
Hulk's WWE Championship Reign Completely Flopped

WWE fans fell in love with Hulk Hogan’s face turn at WrestleMania 18 after his epic match against The Rock. Hogan initially returned as a top heel leading the New World Order act for the first time since WCW ended.

Eddie Guerrero, Triple H, Booker T, Vince McMahon, and Hornswoggle in WWE

5 Best Booking Decisions Of WWE's Ruthless Aggression Era (& 5 Worst)

WWE booked some of the best storylines of all-time during the Ruthless Aggression Era era, but the company also made some questionable decisions.

However, WWE fans cheered Hogan against Rock since they wanted their version of Hulk from the Golden Era. Vince McMahon pulled the trigger to have Triple H drop the WWE Championship to Hogan one PPV later. Unfortunately, the title reign exposed Hulk’s weaknesses to kill the momentum.

Roddy Piper Making Sean O'Haire His Heel Protégé

WWE Wanted To Make O’Haire Part Of Their Core Future

Felt Like A Blue Chipper Prospect During WWE Call-Up
Piper Was Supposed To Give Him Heel Character Credibility
Became Afterthought In The Piper Vs Hulk Hogan Feud

There was an old WWE Magazine feature spotlighting the stars of the future with John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Batista and Shelton Benjamin all finding success from it. Unfortunately, one other young prospect from the time to get featured wasn’t as successful.

Sean O’Haire had supporters in developmental to get a solid push when called back up on the Smackdown brand with Roddy Piper mentoring him. The problem was that WWE started leaning too much into a Piper vs Hulk Hogan feud to take away O’Haire’s momentum before it ended.

Damien Sandow Finally Standing Up To The Miz

Fans Wanted WWE To Make Sandow A Star On His Own

Mizdow Act Made WWE Fans Want A Sandow Babyface Push
WWE Even Used Great Moment Of WM 31 Battle Royal For Split
Feud Completely Disappointed Due To WWE Not Trusting Sandow

WWE found an interesting tag team act when The Miz returned from filming a movie and added Damien Sandow as his stunt double. The running joke of them looking nothing alike saw Sandow running with the comedy to get extremely over with fans.

Sandow was cheered like crazy for his over the top imitations of Miz during singles or tag matches. Miz’s poor treatment of Sandow had fans wanting a big face turn for months. Sandow actually turned face to a huge pop, but WWE followed it up with lackluster storytelling and Miz victories.

Paige Ending PCB Faction By Betraying Charlotte & Becky

WWE Made Paige Go Too Far With Controversial Heel Promos

PCB Group Took Away From Each Wrestler's Individual Personality
Paige's Heel Turn Had Promos That Went Too Far To Ruin Fan Support
Even Charlotte & Becky Had Their Worst Rivalry With Each Other Afterwards

The women’s evolution started with the call-ups of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks all on the same night. WWE placed Charlotte and Becky with established main roster star Paige aka Saraya in the PCB faction.

It became counterproductive since WWE had to push one of them into the title picture over others. Paige turned heel in a wise move to show jealousy after Charlotte was the one to win the gold for them. The heel turn should have worked, but Paige mocking Charlotte’s brother Reid dying young just ruined any fan interest with tacky TV.

Dean Ambrose Turning Heel On Seth Rollins To End Team

Dream Feud Soured All Fans On Something They Always Wanted

Fans Always Wondered If Ambrose Would Betray Rollins
WWE Made Dean's Character Too Embarrassing To Care For
Moxley Knew He Wanted To Leave When Deal Expired

The reputations of Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose on the indie circuit and in WWE developmental saw Rollins as a great face and Ambrose as a great heel. Everyone expected Ambrose to be the one to end The Shield originally, but Rollins shocking the world worked perfectly.

A future Shield reunion saw fans finally getting the ideal wish with Ambrose finally playing a singles heel in WWE. Unfortunately, Vince McMahon leaned into horrible ideas of mocking Roman Reigns’ cancer battle or taking needles in the backside to avoid getting diseases by fans that just ruined everything about the angle.

CM Punk Leaving With WWE Championship At MITB 2011

Summer Of Punk Had Way Too Many Mistakes Ruining It

Punk Leaving WWE As WWE Champion Was Incredible Moment
Returned Way Too Soon With Confusing Champion Vs Champion Program
Kevin Nash & Alberto Del Rio Ending Title Reign Ruined End Of Summer

Fans still talk fondly about the infamous Summer of Punk in WWE, but the great times ended much faster than expected. CM Punk had the best run of his career setting up his Money in the Bank 2011 title shot vs John Cena and threatening to walk out with the belt.

Top 10 Controversial WWE Booking Decisions Of All-Time

WWE made plenty of booking decisions that had wrestling fans scratching their heads. However, none were more controversial than these 10!

WWE had fans ecstatic with the unpredictability of the show when Punk defeated and left as WWE Champion. Things fell apart after with Punk coming back too soon, Kevin Nash getting involved, and notable disappointment Alberto Del Rio somehow ending the summer as WWE Champion.

Owen Hart Attacking Shawn Michaels After Montreal Screwjob

Major Owen Push Coming Back To Avenge Bret Hart Was All For Nothing

Vince McMahon Promised To Push Owen When Turning Down Release
Owen Returned Attacking Shawn Michaels Looking For Hart Family Revenge
Shawn's Sidekick Triple H Beating Owen Was How Program Ended

WWE allowed Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart out of their contracts to join Bret Hart in WCW, but Owen Hart was turned down. Vince McMahon felt Owen was too valuable to release and claimed he’d return with a huge push.

Owen did have a major comeback appearance attacking Shawn Michaels, but he never got a big win out of it. WWE pivoted to Hart facing Triple H instead and still losing their feud over the European Championship after fans expected Owen to get revenge for Bret against HBK.

Randy Orton Revealing He Was Using Wyatt Family

Ruined Angle That Was Working Well Each Step Before Culmination

Bray & Randy Had Underrated Tag Team Run Together Winning Gold
Orton Revealed He Was Always Planning To Strike Wyatt As The Viper
Wyatt's First WWE Championship Reign Was Sacrificed For Orton

Randy Orton joining the Wyatt Family was a shocking story as Orton stayed in the group for many months as a loyal member. Bray Wyatt and Orton developed great chemistry as a tag team with Luke Harper at their side.

WWE eventually had the story pay off with Orton revealing he was using Wyatt for previous issues between the two. The story made sense, but their match at WrestleMania 33 was a disaster. Bray looked like a joke losing the WWE Championship after a few weeks.

Ken Shamrock Winning 1998 King Of The Ring Tournament

Fans Were Behind Babyface Shamorck During Big Win Over Rock

Had Underrated Rivalry In 1998 As Rising Star Mid-Carders
WWE Picked Shamrock Over Rock To Win King Of The Ring
Ended Up Being 90s Rare King Of The Ring To Never Become Main Eventer

The King of the Ring tournament history sees many future legends like Steve Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle and Edge taking the first steps to that level. One rare finals match that is second-guessed on paper was the 1998 match between Ken Shamrock and The Rock.

WWE picking Rock would have given them another future legend to add to that history. However, it was Shamrock scoring the massive win over Rock to become King of the Ring. Fans loved Shamrock at the time, but WWE never giving Ken a big win afterwards led to him stalling before a pointless heel turn.

Shane McMahon Purchasing WCW Over Vince McMahon

Ruined The Promising Angle Of WCW Continuing In WWE World

Shane Buying WCW Helped Make Feud With Vince More Important
Invasion Completely Ruined Excitement Fans Had For WWE Vs WCW
The McMahon Kids Being Centerpiece Of Invasion Was Insulting

McMahon family drama became overused and polarizing, but there were some hits like the Shane vs Vince feud in 2001. Fans started rallying behind Shane as he stood up to his father. A massive moment in the story saw them using the purchase of WCW. No one wanted to see Vince gloat about buying WCW, so Shane buying WCW in kayfabe before his dad could was a smart move.

This made their WrestleMania 17 match feel even more important, but that was the last positive. The Invasion storyline was among the biggest failures in wrestling history with WWE making WCW look pathetic through each step.