The top three worst wrestling PPV events prior to the WWE Network era

There have been a lot of bad wrestling pay-per-view events prior to the WWE Network era, but some stand out more than others. I asked people on Facebook and Twitter for their input, and I got a huge list here of pay-per-views. To be honest, I don’t even remember a lot of the matches on these shows, but I’m going to go through some of them and give my thoughts on whether I think they’re among the worst or not.

Let’s start off with two Survivor Series pay-per-views — 2008 and 2009. Certainly not good pay-per-views, but I don’t know if I’d call them among the worst ever. However, when you look at Survivor Series events overall, they’d definitely be near the bottom.

In 2008, I remember that really bad Triple H vs. Kozlov match. It was originally supposed to be a triple threat: Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge. But then you had Kozlov out there because Jeff Hardy was “injured” in storyline, and it was just brutal. It was one of the worst WWE Title matches on pay-per-view I can recall. The rest of the show was bland — John Cena beat Chris Jericho for the World Title, Undertaker beat Big Show, and the Survivor Series matches were just okay.

The 2009 event was also forgettable. The main event — John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H — had one of the worst buildups ever. It was centered around Hornswoggle, which tells you all you need to know.

SummerSlam 2007 was another dull show. There wasn’t really a memorable match. The only entertaining thing I recall was Vince McMahon backstage doing the “Money, Money, Yeah, Yeah” dance with William Regal. Otherwise, the show sucked. Cena vs. Orton was a big letdown, and it ended in controversy that just set up next month’s match.

Victory Road 2009 and 2011 from TNA also make the list. The 2009 show is infamous for Jenna Morasca vs. Sharmell — one of the worst matches ever. The pay-per-view itself was forgettable, with the Main Event Mafia dominating and younger talent being buried. Victory Road 2011 was remembered for the disastrous 90-second main event: Sting vs. Jeff Hardy. Hardy was in no condition to perform, and the show ended abruptly. A complete disaster.

The Great American Bash 1991 was another train wreck. Ric Flair had just left WCW for WWE, and the crowd chanted “We want Flair” all night. Lex Luger won the title, but nobody cared. The undercard was terrible, featuring the likes of Oz — it was just awful.

Capital Punishment 2011 was built around John Cena vs. R-Truth. The problem was Truth had been booked as an inferior joke leading up to it, even getting himself counted out on purpose. The whole pay-per-view felt like a bland episode of Raw that fans paid $50–60 for.

Fall Brawl 1998 was another WCW disaster. The crowd didn’t care, the Ultimate Warrior’s smoke-and-mirror entrance bombed, and even DDP got no reaction when he won. Most matches were bad, and the show was lifeless.

Speaking of WCW, Uncensored 1995 and 1996 were both horrendous. The 1995 event’s gimmick was that every match had a stipulation — and it backfired completely. The “King of the Road” match between Blacktop Bully and Dustin Rhodes was filmed from a helicopter on a moving truck, and it was unbearable to watch. Both men got fired for blading. You also had the debut of the Renegade — a cheap Ultimate Warrior knockoff — and a terrible Hogan vs. Vader main event.

Uncensored 1996 was no better. Hogan and Savage vs. the Dungeon of Doom in the “Cage of Doom” was dreadful. The undercard was just as bad. Both of these shows have been considered among WCW’s worst ever.

WrestleMania 27 was a huge disappointment. Maybe not the absolute worst, but still bad. The main event — Cena vs. The Miz — was all about setting up Cena vs. The Rock the following year. Miz was treated as a background player despite being WWE Champion, and the finish with the double count-out and Rock interference left fans frustrated.

Bash at the Beach 2000 and New Blood Rising were peak WCW chaos. At Bash at the Beach, Hulk Hogan walked out after Vince Russo’s worked-shoot promo, which led to a real-life lawsuit and Hogan leaving the company. New Blood Rising featured Goldberg “breaking the script” mid-match — WCW outright exposing wrestling as fake on its own show. Both were examples of WCW at its absolute worst.

SuperBrawl 2000 wasn’t much better. James Brown appeared unannounced — an idiotic move since it wasn’t promoted — and Tank Abbott threatened someone with a knife. It was just an embarrassing show all around.

King of the Ring 1995 might be the worst King of the Ring ever. The wrestling was terrible, Mabel won the tournament, and fans were chanting “ECW!” out of boredom. That was likely a turning point where Vince McMahon realized his product needed to change.

WrestleMania 11 is also remembered as one of the worst. Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow was fine, but the rest was awful. Undertaker vs. King Kong Bundy was dreadful, and even Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund was disappointing. Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels was decent, but the crowd turned on Diesel and wanted Shawn to win.

Now for what I consider the three worst pay-per-views of all time:

#3 – December to Dismember (2006): This was the death blow for WWE’s ECW revival. It had one of the lowest buyrates in WWE history, and the quality matched. The Elimination Chamber main event saw Bobby Lashley win — nobody wanted that. Fans wanted RVD or CM Punk. Once RVD was eliminated, nobody cared. The rest of the show was lifeless, and after this, WWE’s ECW brand was never the same.

#2 – WrestleMania 9 (1993): Often regarded as the worst WrestleMania ever. It had more bad matches than good ones — Undertaker vs. Giant González, Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna ending with Hogan randomly winning the title — it all came off poorly. At the time, young fans might’ve liked it, but in hindsight, it was terrible booking that made Bret look weak and did nothing for the future.

#1 – Heroes of Wrestling (1999): This one takes the cake. It was an independent show featuring aging legends well past their prime. Yokozuna was near death, the matches were awful, and the event is infamous for Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ incoherent promo where he rambled, “You want to play 21? I got 22!” During his match, he even acted inappropriately with his snake. The whole thing was so bad that Botchamania dedicated an entire episode to it. It’s on YouTube — but be warned, it’s painful to watch.