9. LayCool Bully Mickie James
Be-A-Star is the name of a WWE charity campaign allegedly focused on ending childhood bullying. The organization’s efforts have been marred somewhat by the fact that professional wrestling is a genre loaded with bullying, by both heels and faces, both onscreen and in real life. While it makes enough sense for a bad character to be presented as a bully, there needs to be a triumphant payoff for the people being bullied, or else the story comes off as petty and mean-spirited. Case in point, the feud between Mickie James and LayCool that regularly dragged SmackDown to a halt throughout the winter of 2009.
Michelle McCool and Layla El had been teaming as Mean Girls-inspired women, and due to the fact that James was considered by fans to be a better wrestler than either of them, she became their primary target. LayCool pretended the very in-shape Mickie was fat, calling her “Piggy James,” oinking and making horrific comments at every chance they could. The worst incident was on November 20, when James defeated Layla, causing McCool to air a poorly Photoshopped video of a pig with Mickie’s face on its head. Stupid as the video was, it deeply offended Mickie James, and she ran out of the ring with tears running down her face as a result.
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