Bad WWE PPV Posters

In 1985 with the first ever WrestleMania, WWE entered the PPV business and this decision alone proved to be a huge driving force for the boom in the company over the next few years. Although PPVs are now “Premium Live Events” on the WWE calendar, the promotion has hosted so many memorable shows over the last five decades.

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It is important to not only have a strong card, but a big part of selling PPVs (especially older ones) to draw fans in includes good production, presentation, and marketing. PPV posters are a part of that, though sometimes WWE’s events have had some truly abysmal PPV posters, and here are the ones which are the most laughably bad.

10 WrestleMania 5 May Have Nostalgia But The Poster Was Silly

The Color Palette On This Poster Was Terrible

Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan had a long term feud which culminated at WrestleMania, which Hogan won
Demolition successfully defended the WWE Tag Team Titles against Powers Of Pain
Rick Rude dethroned Ultimate Warrior as the Intercontinental Title

WrestleMania 5 had an iconic main event with the tagline of the “Mega Powers Explode” as the two friends turned enemies Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage clashed for the WWE World Championship.

The poster used the explosion theme with an illustration of a flaming explosion, but the effect of it wasn’t great. Instead, it looks like Hogan and Savage are standing in front of a big bowl of cheetos or a plate of baked beans. When getting that in your head, it's hard not to laugh at this PPV poster.

9 Hell In A Cell 2013 Was Funny For How Random Is Was

R-Truth Was Featured On The Hell In A Cell Poster

Randy Orton defeated Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship
CM Punk overcame Paul Heyman & Ryback inside Hell In A Cell
John Cena returned to defeat Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship

Despite being mostly an undercard guy at this time, WWE went with the absolutely baffling decision to feature R-Truth front and center for the 2013 Hell In A Cell. He was in a white suit for absolutely no reason, having hardly ever worn a suit during his on-screen career, and the shadows of Hell In A Cell were the only element to make it relevant to the show.

If you find things completely random funny, then this is a PPV poster for you, because it's hilarious at how bizarre it is given the context. Truth wasn’t even on the card!

8 SummerSlam 1994 Is Something You’d Make For A School Project

The Tone Of This Poster Was All Askew

Undertaker toppled his own doppelganger
Bret Hart & Owen Hart clashed in a Steel Cage match, with Bret as the victorious brother
Diesel dropped the IC Title to Razor Ramon

The Undertaker battled himself at SummerSlam 1994, but despite this dark storyline and spooky gimmicks, WWE went full throttle with the summer theme. Seeing the brooding and dark-dressing Undertaker backed with a sky blue background, his own reflection with a sunset in a broken mirror, and the laughably bad tagline of “So Hot It’s Scary” is something that will make anyone laugh.

The tone was all over the place here, with Undertaker contrasting with the summer theme in an ugly way. This is the type of thing you’d make for a poster in a school project.

7 Unforgiven 2001 Looks Like An Amateur Made Horror Film

Steve Austin Has Faces Coming Out Of His Own Face

Team WWF reigned supreme as Kurt Angle took the WWE Title off Steve Austin
Christian defeated his former friend Edge
Team WWF took on The Alliance in various matches on the card

The tagline of “The Greatest Battles Are Fought From Within” was showcased in a very on the nose way with this poster, a a creepily grimacing Steve Austin in the middle of the poster had his own shouting face coming out of either side of his head like Lord Voldemort in the first Harry Potter movie.

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It looks like something you’d find in a jar in the back of an old horror film rather than the selling point of a WWE PPV poster in 2001. It’s absolutely terrible and hilariously weird.

6 Big Show Looked Constipated On The 1999 King of The Ring Poster

A Silly Looking Poster For WWE’s Yearly Event

Billy Gunn became King of the Ring in 1999
Steve Austin was robbed out of a ladder match against Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon
The Undertaker retained the WWE Championship against The Rock

For whatever reason, WWE put The Big Show on this poster in the bottom corner with a strained look on his face, and then a larger photoelectric type of version of the same picture blown up behind him.

The overall effect is terrible and looks insanely amateur. Big Show’s face is so over the top and poorly executed.

5 Capitol Punishment Was A Bad Show With A Bad Poster

2011’s Capitol Punishment Poster Was Terrible

R-Truth lost in the main event against John Cena
Ezekiel Jackson became the brand new Intercontinental Championship
Randy Orton defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Christian

The whole theme of Capitol Punishment was that it was based in DC, so it bafflingly included Barack Obama and the White House on the poster. Obama, along with John Cena and Rey Mysterio were in caricature form - and these weren’t particularly good drawings either!

This event was weird in general, and this poster was a good way to showcase just how odd it was. It is a laughably bad poster for sure, especially when you notice a random crate in the ring too (for some reason).

4 Survivor Series 1996 Is A Terribly Made Poster

The Four Wrestlers Look Like Thumbs

Sysco Sid dethroned Shawn Michaels to become WWE World Champion
Bret Hart and Steve Austin clashed to become the new number one contender for the world title
The Undertaker beat Mankind with Paul Bearer suspended in a shark cage

WWE’s 1996 Survivor Series event was marketed with this abomination of a poster. Shawn Michaels, Sid, Steve Austin, and Bret Hart were all so awkwardly edited into this photo that they all look like the ends of thumbs.

It is a really laughable image, especially when they’re just plastered between what looks to be two apartment blocks or some building complexes. Horrendous, and laughably bad.

3 SummerSlam 1993 Made Fun Of Yokozuna’s Weight

The SummerSlam Tagline Was Ridiculous

Lex Luger won the main event against Yokozuna via DQ
Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect ended in a countout
The Undertaker beat Giant Gonzalez in a rematch

Even though Yokozuna was booked as a monster heel throughout his time in the main event scene, WWE and Vince McMahon have had a tendency to make fun of the weight of their wrestlers, and Yokozuna was not immune to that. In fact, on the SummerSlam 1993 poster, the big words of “Fat Chance!” sat above Yokozuna hitting his finisher on a US flag.

It feels like the cover for a joke shop item or comedy movie rather than for WWE’s biggest show of the summer with the WWE World Champion front and center.

2 SummerSlam 1995 Looked Like It Was Made By A Child

It Looked Like A Pair Of 3D Glasses

Diesel beat King Mabel in an abysmal main event
Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon had another classic ladder match
Bertha Faye won the WWE Women's Title from Alunda Blayze

SummerSlam posters often had the theme of “heat” due to the summer, so the use of red and blue on this poster was meant to reflect that, with the words “Face The Heat” in a terrible font across the poster of the 1995 event.

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Kevin Nash is behind what looks like the screen of a pair of old 3D glasses, and the effect it makes the whole poster look hilariously amateur. It is a truly shocking PPV poster and one which does not entice fans in to watch the show at all.

1 Bad Blood 1997 Was A Terrible Undertaker-Themed Poster

The Undertaker Was Holding His Own Severed Head

Shawn Michaels defeated The Undertaker in the first Hell In A Cell match
Kane made his WWE debut under this character
Owen Hart won the vacant Intercontinental Title

The Undertaker has been involved in some of WWE’s all time great PPV posters, but he has also been in some laughably bad ones too, and Bad Blood 1997 was a brilliant example of that.

There were times when WWE leaned on the spooky side too much for The Undertaker so it bordered on the ridiculous, and him holding his own poorly edited severed head made for a funny image that was likely not supposed to be funny. This was painfully terrible.