WWE, 2012 It was New Year’s Eve, and WWE’s power couple, Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee, had promised an in-ring celebration to ring in 2013. Of course, there was no way that this segment would go off without a hitch, especially with the two hosts wearing this: This should have set off alarms for everyone watching. After all, when was Continue Reading...
Category Archives: Active Inductions
The very latest of our world-famous inductions
Induction: Master P and the No Limit Soldiers – Rap is Wrestlecrap
61 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 05 December 2013, 20:00WCW, 1999 In the summer of 1999, facing lagging ratings, WCW attempted to stay relevant by reaching out to the music industry. Before bringing in KISS and Megadeth to perform live on Nitro, Bischoff and company tried their hand at cross-promotion with hip-hop. Of course, “cross-promotion” was more or less a code word for “we’ll pay you money to hog Continue Reading...
Induction: Saturday Morning Slam Thanksgiving Pie Eating Contest – Sugar Rush! Sugar Rush! Sugar Crash…
19 Submitted by RD Reynolds on Mon, 25 November 2013, 19:30WWE, 2012 Ok, took me a few weeks to make a hard decision: I’ve decided that going back and reviewing all the Saturday Morning Slams that I missed back before we relaunched the site is a fool’s errand. It ain’t gonna happen. The reasons are myriad, but honestly, it’s primarily due to the fact that every report I did was Continue Reading...
Induction: The HLA Match – As believable as Mrs. Doubtfire, and almost as sexy!
31 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 21 November 2013, 21:00WWE, 2002 September of 2002 was without a doubt the gayest month in WWE history. It seemed that every show that aired that month was designed to make viewers say out loud, “This is so gay!” Gay, that is, meaning literally homosexual. If we here at Wrestlecrap wanted to express that something was being embarrassingly stupid, we wouldn’t stoop so Continue Reading...
Induction: The Haunting of Roddy Piper: Adrian’s Revenge
28 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 31 October 2013, 20:00Biography channel, 2013 A lot of wrestlers have “personal demons,” and Roddy Piper is no exception. In the rowdy Scot’s case, though, they’re not the kind of demons you can get arrested for if the cops pull you over and find them in your car. No, these are bona fide ghosts, and if you don’t believe me, just ask professional Continue Reading...
Induction: 2011 Halloween Divas Battle Royal – AJ Gives Nerds The World Over a Geekality!
41 Submitted by RD Reynolds on Thu, 31 October 2013, 09:302011 I am pretty sure if I decided to make it a Halloween tradition to induct every stupid Divas costume gimmick match, I’d have material until the end of time. I mean, really, they have these things every year, right? But 2011 was different. Muppet-tastically different. Ah yes, the glory days of the infamous guest host era of Raw. What Continue Reading...
Induction: The Executioner: The Effluence of Execution
22 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 24 October 2013, 20:00WWF, 1996 Executioners are a dime a dozen in wrestling. Since time immemorial, promoters running low on talent, ideas, or both have slapped black masks on wrestlers and trotted them out to the ring for a quick loss to their babyface stars. On the very first Monday Night Raw, for instance, perennial jobbers Duane Gill and Barry Hardy donned the Continue Reading...
Induction: Johnny Curtis: NXT winner tests your gag reflex
24 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 17 October 2013, 20:00WWE, 2011 When Curtis Hussey, better known to WWE fans as Fandango, was getting ready to debut his new gimmick, the more cynical fans in the WWE Universe (i.e. the ones who won’t repeat a silly marketing buzzword like, “WWE Universe”) balked at the idea. Week after week, ridiculous vignettes aired that seemed to guarantee a spectacular flop and a Continue Reading...
Induction: The Indecent Proposal Match: The only wrestling angle to win a film award in Vegas
52 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 10 October 2013, 20:00WWE, 2003 Only in wrestling could a man coming off a “break-up” and a fake gay marriage hook up with a woman still mourning the sex-induced death of her father brought on by her lesbian predator nemesis, only to run afoul of a trailer park-dwelling couple that had recently received a multi-million dollar windfall from a dead uncle’s inheritance. The Continue Reading...
Induction: The Super Posedown: Vince’s original Body Stars face off!
30 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 03 October 2013, 20:00WWF, 1989 Years ago, wrestling promoters’ attitudes about sex appeal were a little… different. In “No Holds Barred,” Hulk Hogan’s bikini-brief clad buttocks made the villainess swoon and immediately come… to the side of good. Over in WCW, their “sexiest wrestler” contest was won by Tom Zenk. Even at the 1996 Slammy Awards (note to self: induct the 1996 Slammy Continue Reading...
Induction: The APA Bar Room Invitational: The silliest wrestling bar fight not involving a squeegee
35 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 26 September 2013, 20:00WWE, 2003 By 2003, WWE had already established its brand extension (not a “roster split”), which extended its brand right down the middle, and was taking the daring step of charging for separate brand-exclusive pay-per-views. In June, Raw put on Bad Blood, so in July, Smackdown followed suit. Since the brands had been extended pretty thin, the show was a Continue Reading...
Induction: Vince McMahon, WWF champion: The Two-Vince Ego Trip
63 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 19 September 2013, 20:00WWF, 1999 If you’ve read enough inductions on this site, you will by now have figured out that the Attitude Era wasn’t the golden age of cool angles, awesome wrestling, and mature content that many fans seem to think it was when complaining about WWE’s recent “PG Era.” At least not if you take the word, “mature” literally. You’ve probably Continue Reading...
Induction: Sting vs. Rick Steiner: Release the hounds (and whoever spliced this footage together)!
14 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 12 September 2013, 20:00WCW, 1999 Live wrestling audiences tend not appreciate pre-taped matches. Believe it or not, people who pay money to see matches in person hate it when they are subjected to fight sequences in remote locations that they don’t get to see first-hand. Whether it be the King of the Road match, the Hollywood Backlot Brawl (note to self: induct the Continue Reading...
Induction: Mark Henry, sex addict: Mark finds a way to spend even more time on the couch.
53 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 05 September 2013, 20:00WWF, 1999 We’ll all remember Mark Henry’s faux-retirement speech for a long time. With tears in his eyes, the World’s Strongest Man cut an emotional promo dedicated to his friends and family, only to blindside John Cena and goad him into a title shot. This wasn’t the first time that Mark had bared his soul to the public, however, as Continue Reading...
Induction: Rodman Down Under: No matter the hemisphere, crap still flushes the same way.
22 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 29 August 2013, 20:00Independent PPV, 2000 The term, “terrible” is all relative. For example, last week, I inducted Jerry Lawler vs. Roddy Piper, a terrible match with no business headlining a “New Generation” card on a major pay-per-view. If, however, the same match had been put on an independent DVD sold for $1 on the Wal-Mart bargain shelf, then it wouldn’t have been Continue Reading...
Induction: Piper vs. Lawler: No promotion in the world would dare pass this off as “The New Generation.” Well, maybe AWA.
32 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 22 August 2013, 20:00WWF, 1994 It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the late Art Donovan’s classic terrible commentary at King of the Ring 1994. Given my pen name (based on Gorilla Monsoon’s botched introduction that evening) and my blog entitled, “How Much Does This Guy Weigh?”, it should come as no surprise that Harry Simon’s induction of Art Donovan at Continue Reading...
Induction: NXT Season 2 Finale: Bros before Pros, or Why Curtis Axel isn’t world champion already
34 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 15 August 2013, 20:00NXT started in early 2010 as a proving ground for new talent, combining elements of Raw and Smackdown (wrestling) with elements of the Million Dollar Tough Enough (reality TV-style eliminations, absurd challenges). The first season was won by Wade Barrett, but the real exclamation point at the end of the season came when all eight rookies stormed the ring and Continue Reading...
Induction: Farting Natalya: When a Diva passes gas on TV, Wrestlecrap is never far behind.
30 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 08 August 2013, 20:00WWE, 2012 Farts have had a complicated history in television. Even though everyone has them, and they are on the whole (no, I don’t like how that sounds; let’s just say, “for the most part”) harmless, for decades they were shunned from the airwaves. Kids have long included flatulence in their schoolyard humor, and fart jokes are often the sole Continue Reading...
Induction: WWA Inception: Former Stars Go Down Under (Forcibly)
50 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 01 August 2013, 20:00Pay-Per-View, 2001 After the purchase of WCW by WWF in 2001, there were many new promotions vying to be the #2 company in the wrestling world. Jimmy Hart launched the XWF and the Jarretts founded NWA-TNA, but the first out of the blocks was Andrew McManus, who not only set up the World Wrestling All-Stars promotion in his native Australia, Continue Reading...
Induction: The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior: A Lesson in Professionalism from WWE’s Spiteful Owner
100 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 25 July 2013, 20:00WWE, 2005 Some of the biggest news in the wrestling world as of late is the Ultimate Warrior’s promotion of the upcoming WWE 2K14 video game. I suppose the Warrior is a forgiving man, or else he was afraid of what would happen if he refused the endorsement. That’s because, allegedly, the last time the Ultimate Warrior was offered an Continue Reading...
Induction: Flair and Piper on Celebrity Wife Swap: Naitch still is a 60-Minute Man (41 Minutes without the commercials)
67 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 18 July 2013, 20:00ABC television, 2013 When I first heard that wrestling personalities would be featured on Celebrity Wife Swap, I was shocked that Hulk Hogan would even be on speaking terms with Bubba The Love Sponge again, let alone agree to appear on national TV together. Later, I learned that the show was rated TV-PG, putting that lot out of the question. Continue Reading...
In 2001, WWF was so pleased with the progress of the first season of Tough Enough, the reality show where 13 wannabe wrestlers trained and competed for WWF contracts to the sounds of terrible early 2000s music, that they put a second season into production immediately after the conclusion of the first. It seemed like a no-brainer at the time. Continue Reading...
Induction: Raw is Aldrin: The Eagle has landed in Wrestlecrap
50 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 04 July 2013, 19:00May 17th, 2010’s Monday Night Raw may have been the most historically significant ever. I don’t mean wrestling history here, either; I mean history history. This was the night that Raw was hosted by Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, second man to step foot on the moon. And really, like the Royal Rumble, that’s pretty much the same as being number one. Continue Reading...
Induction: TNA on Family Feud: We asked a hundred has-beens what kind of job they wanted in TNA. No, wait, that was Hulk Hogan.
45 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 27 June 2013, 19:00Family Feud is no stranger to the world of wrestling. In the past, they have hosted shows featuring performers from the WWF, WCW, GLOW, and even the WBF. Ray Combs, who took over for Richard Dawson, made numerous appearances at WWF events, and 1993’s Survivor Series even featured a “Family Feud Match” between the Hart family and Jerry Lawler’s masked Continue Reading...
INDUCTION: Million Dollar Tough Enough: The Male Diva Search
33 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 20 June 2013, 19:00WWE in 2004 had something of a dearth of new talent, to say the least. The new “stars” on Raw and Smackdown (okay, mostly Smackdown) included such future main-eventers as Kenzo Suzuki, Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns, Orlando Jordan, and Heidenreich. To fill the depleted roster, WWE held its fourth season of Tough Enough. Unlike the first three seasons of the Continue Reading...
Induction: WCW’s “Kiss My Ass” Match – What better match for two old farts?
23 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 13 June 2013, 19:00When people think of the last night of the Monday Night Wars, they typically think of the outdoor Nitro in Panama City, Florida that ended with Sting vs. Ric Flair and a simulcast featuring both Vince and Shane McMahon. And yes, according to kayfabe, that would be the the last episode of the Monday Night Wars, as in story line, Continue Reading...
Induction: Raw is Piven: Monday night becomes damaged Goods
47 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 06 June 2013, 19:00When Donald Trump bought Monday Night Raw in the summer of 2009, then promptly sold it back to Vince McMahon in one of WWE’s most poorly-written, incomprehensible, and financially damaging angles of all time, it opened up a new era for the USA program. From then on, every week would feature a different celebrity guest host whose performances would range Continue Reading...
Induction: Kurt Angle, Sex Offender: His 4th “I” was “Intercourse”
43 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Thu, 23 May 2013, 19:00WWE, 2005 Things had not been going well for Kurt Angle ever since 2004. After losing to Eddie Guerrero in a title match that WWE will forever treat as if it were the main event of Wrestlemania XX, Angle was named Smackdown GM and almost immediately was thrown off a balcony by the Big Show. Then, when the Big Show Continue Reading...
Induction: The Great Fall of Angle: How Did He Avoid a Broken Freakin’ Everything?
45 Submitted by Art0Donnell on Sun, 19 May 2013, 07:00WWE, 2004 The story of this week’s induction begins with the 2004 WWE Draft, which somehow saw Smackdown General Manager Paul Heyman drafted to Raw and then promptly quit. Kurt Angle was then selected to fill the always-fresh, never-clichéd role of heel authority figure. Kurt’s first order of business was nixing Triple H’s move to Smackdown just 24 real-world hours Continue Reading...
Induction: Survivor Series 1991: A $25 Infomercial For A Show That Grossed 25% Of The Revenue
47 Submitted by Emerson Witner on Thu, 09 May 2013, 19:00 WWF, 1991 (duh) by Emerson Witner A few months ago my brother texted me and wondered when I was going to induct Survivor Series 1991. At first I explained that a.) It’s not my site and b.) Survivor Series 1991 wasn’t that bad. He replied back that RD never writes anymore inductions (note from RD: more to come once I Continue Reading...