Most boring wrestler of all time?

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Randy Orton.

[Mr. Lacelle]

Regal & Axel are great mentions. Crush as well for that horrible WCW run as well as his run with Fuji when he was feuding with Luger. Lex Luger from post Wrestlemania X until he left the WWF was woefully boring too. Tatanka was another guy who I won't be rushing to buy a comp of. Although I did not mind his comeback stuff in 06.

[bradhindsight]

I can't go along with the HHH hate. Yes, there's certainly been some stinkers where he went WAY too long with guys (vs. Kevin Nash at Bad Blood 03 comes to mind) but there's a least of dozen matches of his that I love (San Jose RAW tag, cactus jack feud, batista feud, taker WM). You can credit his opponents with some uptick in quality and editing, but he's fine.

This begins and ends with his Hell in a Cell circle jerk with Shawn Michaels in 2004. I think a "Most boring match of all-time" thread is way too broad but maybe a "Most boring Main Event of a major show"?

[FedEx227]

I can't go along with the HHH hate. Yes, there's certainly been some stinkers where he went WAY too long with guys (vs. Kevin Nash at Bad Blood 03 comes to mind) but there's a least of dozen matches of his that I love (San Jose RAW tag, cactus jack feud, batista feud, taker WM). You can credit his opponents with some uptick in quality and editing, but he's fine.

This begins and ends with his Hell in a Cell circle jerk with Shawn Michaels in 2004. I think a "Most boring match of all-time" thread is way too broad but maybe a "Most boring Main Event of a major show"?

 

WrestleMania 18 and 25 main events would like to have a word with you.

[BrickHithouse]

Worst PPV Main Event of all time for my money is Undertaker vs Kane from Judgment Day 98.

[mookeighana]

I can't go along with the HHH hate. Yes, there's certainly been some stinkers where he went WAY too long with guys (vs. Kevin Nash at Bad Blood 03 comes to mind) but there's a least of dozen matches of his that I love (San Jose RAW tag, cactus jack feud, batista feud, taker WM). You can credit his opponents with some uptick in quality and editing, but he's fine.

This begins and ends with his Hell in a Cell circle jerk with Shawn Michaels in 2004. I think a "Most boring match of all-time" thread is way too broad but maybe a "Most boring Main Event of a major show"?

 

Yeah, originally I had conflated the Kevin Nash and HBK HITC matches in my mind (both at Bad Blood). 47 minutes was WAY too long for that HHH/HBK.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

This is good discussion and all, but the answer is still Triple H.

 

(I forgot about Randy Orton, though. He might challenge Steve Regal for the No. 2 slot)

[C.S.]

Can't believe Larry Zbyszko and Williams & Gordy were mentioned.

 

Larry was fun in The Enforcers, The Dangerous Alliance, and during his feud as a babyface against Regal. That match had me cheering Larry and booing Regal, even though I wasn't a Larry fan and always liked Regal.

 

I've only seen the Williams & Gordy team in WCW, but I found them awesome to watch...very intense, in a way we rarely saw from that era (in America).

 

Even the Triple H suggestion is a bit mind-boggling, though I can understand the sentiment, because he has been shoved down everyone's throats.

 

I almost suggested Sting and Lex Luger. Against the right opponent, yes, they shined. But in normal, every day situations, I found them bland, bland, bland. Of all the things Sting especially is overrated for, charisma and personality top the list. Having spiky hair and facepaint does not equal personality. But to be fair, while they weren't as good as their spots, they were just good enough. So, I can't honestly suggest them.

 

Maybe Marcus Alexander "Buff" Bagwell? Decent heel personality near the end, but I can't think of one truly great match he's had.

 

Even then, I don't know... "Buff" was still a fun midcard gimmick. The problem is, no major league wrestler is boring in every aspect. They all have at least one thing going for them, even if that one thing is overshadowed by a million other deficits.

[Zenjo]

Joe Malenko - Charisma didn't exactly run in the family but Dean got what was going. Worked a really dry, technical style.

[Graham Crackers]

Joe Malenko - Charisma didn't exactly run in the family but Dean got what was going. Worked a really dry, technical style.

I'd take Joe over Dean anyday.

[Death From Above]

Worst PPV Main Event of all time for my money is Undertaker vs Kane from Judgment Day 98.

Eh. The Undertaker vs. Dudleys match that "killed off" Paul Bearer by burying him in concrete oatmeal was honestly the most soul sucking thing I've ever watched in a main event.

 

Actually thinking about it, Undertaker has had quite a few dreadful PPV duds, but I tend to think a good chunk of that is he tended to get stuck with gimmick workers, or weird match stipulations. Plus he's been on a billion PPV's, so I suppose it is inevitable.

[anarchistxx]

I remember that Nash/HHH main event being alright. They brought a toolbox out at one point which I seemed to think was pretty cool at the time, and Foley added to the match with a couple of nice bumps against the cage. Not seen it since it aired though.

 

The HHH/HBK cell match was truly awful though, made worse by the unsurprising fact the crowd was totally silent through all of it, especially the end sequence which was clearly meant to be 'epic' and sell the exhaustion of the match but failed on all counts. There was perhaps the best shoulder to post bump ever in that match though.

 

Worst PPV Main Event of all time for my money is Undertaker vs Kane from Judgment Day 98.

I can get down with that. Even as an Attitude Era mark in 2003 tracking down all the old shows I hated that match. Austin/Undertaker at Judgement Day 2001 is another of the same ilk, just endless punch exchanges and total boredom, amazing to think it was the same two wrestlers who had that great Summerslam main event in 1998.

 

Diesel/Mabel at SS95 would be another candidate for worst main event; did it go on last after the ladder match? I recall it did. Those early In Your House events also had their fair share of bad main events.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Glen Jacobs has been having the same "second match on a $12 indie show" match for like 15 years.

I remember back in the late 2000s, I think circa 2008. Kane innovated this new resthold that my brother and I dubbed the Kane Snuggle. Where Kane would apply a reverse waistlock to his opponent then fall to the mat with him and spoon him for about 2-5 minutes. We still bring it up from time to time. I miss the Kane Snuggle.

 

Kane is definitely a front-runner for most boring wrestler ever.

[Loss]

Tom Zenk.

[JerryvonKramer]

Good call.

 

I say: Terry Taylor.

[BrickHithouse]

Ted Dibiase

[JerryvonKramer]

[BrickHithouse]

[JerryvonKramer]

[Mad Dog]

Funny you should mention that HHH/HBK cell match. I've had more than a few people in Columbus tell me that was the match that got them to stop going to live WWE events.

[PeteF3]

Funny you should mention that HHH/HBK cell match. I've had more than a few people in Columbus tell me that was the match that got them to stop going to live WWE events.

::raises hand::

 

40 soul-crushing minutes with the audience doing absolutely nothing except saying out loud, "Climb the cage!" Columbus has had two PPVs in history and Triple H has headlined both of them in the most boring match imaginable (the other was HHH/UT at KOTR '02, where The Rock was the best and most over performer in the match at the commentary desk).

[Mad Dog]

Oh wow, I forgot about KOTR and how awful that show was. Why does the WWE hate us?

[PeteF3]

I've never watched either show on tape, but I still think KOTR was better. Brock's coronation seemed a little more historically significant even if it was a foregone conclusion, and Angle tapping Hogan was fun and markout-worthy. Badd Blood had a mildly entertaining Orton/Benjamin match and nothing else to offer that approached the entertainment value of Rock, Booker, and Goldust backstage.

 

I went to a ton of Ohio Center shows dating back to roughly late '85/early '86, and only twice did I go to a show where the place was filled. (The Ohio Center was/is NOT a huge arena--8000 seats or so, maybe more for wrestling). One was a Challenge taping with Hogan on the card, one was in '98 with Austin approaching his peak. TV at the Schott and Nationwide Arena were different stories of course. And actually that Badd Blood PPV had most of the balcony curtained off.

 

I know Columbus was a strong market for GCW and they filled the place up some, but other than that and Al Haft's peak it's never been a major wrestling city to my knowledge. Blame the Sheik and his shitty promotion.

[Log]

Good call.

 

I say: Terry Taylor.

I was going to say Taylor, too. But then I remembered his really fun heel run at the end of UWF.

[Mad Dog]

Both WCW shows I went to in 98 and 99 were jam packed. I went to ECW in 2000 and they had the Newport Music Hall crammed with almost 1000 people for that show. I know TNA was doing reasonably well here when they were coming. I always thought Columbus was a strong market that just took a beating from shitty WWE shows in the early 00s.