10 Worst WWE Matches Of The 1980s
WWE aired some stinkers in the 1980s
The 1980s was the decade that WWE became a truly global phenomenon. It was the decade of an aggressive national expansion spearheaded by Vince McMahon Jr., the decade of the rock and wrestling crossover and the decade that birthed Hulkamania.
A golden era, maybe, the 1980s were also a decade where character was truly king and workrate was sorely lacking much of the time. That may have given fans some larger-than-life personalities to cheer or boo, but it also gave them some rubbish matches, too.
These are the 10 worst WWE matches of the 1980s.
10. Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts - WrestleMania IV
When you spot the names of these two Hall of Famers next to each other on the bill, you expect it to be nothing less than very good. And at WrestleMania? Well, Jake Roberts and Rick Rude had the capacity to steal the damn show together.
Not at WrestleMania 4, though. Oh, no. Rather than steal the show, they almost stopped the show by putting everyone to sleep.
To be fair to the match, it’s not that it’s actively terrible or that they’re botching spots left, right and centre. It’s more that it is just so interminably dull.
Ravishing Rick and The Snake always had the capacity to change the pace of their matches and bring the crowd on the proverbial emotional roller coaster ride with them. They didn’t do that here, failing to get out of second gear and returning to the dreaded chinlock time and again.
Not only did this test the viewer’s patience, it also completely telegraphed the end result of this WWE Title tournament match.
After 15 uneventful minutes, the match was rendered a draw and nobody advanced to the quarter-finals.
