10 Wrestling Storylines That Were Fun As Kids ( But Terrible As Adults)

Most people become WWE fans when they are kids, and everyone thinks the era they grew up watching is the best. However, if you look back, you'll find that for every classic moment, there's also a storyline that didn't age well. This list focuses mainly on the Ruthless aggression Era. It's a very popular era with fans today because it is the era a lot of the WWE universe adult fans grew up watching. This era gave us great stars like Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and Rey Mysterio. WWE even has a documentary on the Ruthless Aggression Era on Peacock.

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However, this era also has a lot of moments that don't stand up when you take off your nostalgia glasses and look at them critically as an adult. Some of these moments were poor booking choices, and others were just in poor taste.

10 Great Khali vs. Undertaker

This is a feud that definitely had mixed support among age demographics. You were probably amazed if you were a kid watching the Great Khali's debut. He might be the tallest wrestler you have ever seen. So it made sense when this colossal guy came in and dominated the Undertaker. However, as an adult, there was no way that Khali should have dominated the Deadman the way he did.

The Great Khali should not have beat the Undertaker clean at Judgment Day either. The Undertaker is one of the most protected characters in WWE history, and Khali was new to WWE and not on the Undertaker's level in the ring.

9 Kane vs. Kane

In 2006 Kane feuded with himself. An Imposter Kane showed up on Raw dressed in Kane's 90s gear. WWE had already done this trope with mixed results with Undertaker vs. Imposter Undertaker. However, presumably, because Imposter Kane had a mask, WWE thought things would go better this time.

This was an exciting storyline if you were a kid at the time, especially if you were a Kane fan. However, looking back now, the feud was very gimmicky and poorly planned. Imposter Kane defeated Kane at Vengeance, then Kane beat up the imposter on Raw, and the angle was scrapped.

8 Santina

In 2009 at the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania, WWE decided the best way to celebrate the many women from the company's past and present was to stuff them all in one match.

They had a Battle Royale to crown Miss WrestleMania. The only problem was Santina won the match. Santina was Santino Marella dressed in drag. If you were a kid watching at home, this might have made you laugh. However, from an adult perspective, there is nothing funny about turning the women's division into a joke.

7 Nexus vs. John Cena

John Cena constantly undercut the credibility of the Nexus. If you were a kid in 2010, you probably enjoyed seeing Cena take out the evil Nexus at SummerSlam. However, as in adult, it is clear that John Cena ruined their push. Nexus was rising to the top of the WWE, and if they had taken out the WWE team assembled to stop them at SummerSlam, fans would have had to take notice.

The Nexus could have been The Shield before The Shield. However, Cena went over instead, stealing their crowning moment and continuing to damage their credibility in the subsequent feud.

6 Edge & Lita vs. Matt Hardy

In real life, Matt Hardy and Lita were in a relationship when Lita began an affair with Edge. Matt Hardy found out and put Lita on blast, and WWE turned it into a storyline. Edge and Lita were the heels, and the crowd hated them for the cheating scandal. However, Edge and Lita won the feud.

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If you were a kid at the time of this feud, you probably just look at this as Edges' launching point. However, it was awful stepping back and looking more critically at this situation. Matt Hardy was cheated on by his girlfriend, and then his boss turned it into a storyline to elevate her and the man she cheated with at Matt's expense.

5 Lita's Retirement

Lita had her retirement match against Mickie James and lost the match. Mickie James is more than a respectable opponent, and you are supposed to go out on your back, so there is nothing wrong with losing your retirement match. However, after the match, Lita was humiliated. Cryme Tyme auctioned off stolen items from Lita.

They auctioned off a number of her personal items. If you were a kid watching the evil heel Lita get humiliated, you probably thought this is what she deserves. However, that segment was the definition of poor taste. Lita stated in multiple interviews that she hated her send-off and tried to get WWE to change it before it happened, but they refused. Lita helped build the Hardyz and Edge and main evented with Trish by the time she retired in '06. She deserved so much better.

4 Muhammad Hassan

You may not have understood exactly why you should hate Hassan as a heel as a kid. However, Hassan had nuclear heat, and you could just feel that you were supposed to hate him even if you did not understand why. As a kid taking things at face value, Hassan was just another guy on WWE's long list of detestable villains. However, looking back, the gimmick was terrible in almost every way. First, Hassan started by pointing out how Muslims and Arabs were treated unfairly in a post-9/11 world, and Hassan was right but still portrayed as the story's villain.

Second, Muhammad Hassan was an Italian man playing a culture he was not a part of. Lastly, when the character transitioned into terrorist-like antics around the same time as real terrorist attacks happened in the U.K, the gimmick was canceled by the network, and it messed up the career of the wrestler behind the Hassan character.

3 Melina And Batista

You probably enjoyed Batista and Rey Mysterio joining forces as a kid to battle MNM for the Tag Team Championships, and you should; it was awesome. However, one part of the feud that wasn't awesome was when Melina offered sex to Batista to prevent him from beating MNM. Batista, being the honorable babyface, slept with Melina and then beat them anyway, thanking Melina for the warm-up. ​​​​​​​

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Melina then claimed that Batista forced himself on her. The story never got resolved because Batista got injured. It was a terrible angle that perpetuated the idea that most women lie about sexual harassment. It also made Batista, a top face at the time, look sleazy and reflected WWE's poor attitudes about women in the worst way.

2 Kane And Lita

If you were a kid watching the Kane and Lita relationship bloom, you probably enjoyed seeing Kane get a girlfriend. However, looking back with the eyes of an adult, you see a much different picture. This has to be one of the worst stories WWE has ever done. Kane beat up Matt Hardy weekly, kidnapped Lita, and then forced himself on her.

He told Lita that their one night of passion would stop him from beating up Hardy. Kane married her pregnant, got her pregnant, and accidentally caused a miscarriage. After the miscarriage, Kane and Lita briefly teamed up to take down Snitsky, who was responsible for the miscarriage. After all this, she ditched him for Edge and was somehow still the villain.

1 Kurt Angle And Sharmell

Other than "gutter sl**" being bleeped on television, this feud might not have seemed so shocking if you were a kid watching the product at the time. Booker T won the rivalry, and the matches were actually really good. However, it was a terrible angle. Kurt Angle played a racist pervert.

Calling Sharmell a gutter sl** and saying he wanted to have bestiality intercourse with her was deplorable in a way that transcends the storyline. Also, Kurt Angle being an open pervert threatening to assault Booker T's wife every week without anyone but Booker T and Sharmell caring, normalizes rape culture.