5 Controversial endings to Pay Per Views

For a young wrestling fan, beginning their journey into wrestling, there's nothing quite like your first pay per view. Seeing all these feuds you have watched intently collide, many in stipulation matches, many for championship gold.

I remember my first pay per view, Unforgiven 2003. Getting into wrestling just after Summerslam, I was hit by a barrage of recaps from Summerslam, showing the deadly Triple H leaving Goldberg in a bloodied heap after the second Elimination Chamber.

Instantly, I was hooked and was drawn in further when stipulations were added to their rematch. If Goldberg was to lose, he would have to leave the WWE. The newest fan of the WCW Star, I watched closely as Goldberg beat the Game for the World Title, saving his career.

But some pay per views, don't quite have that satisfying ending. Here are 5 pay per views with the most controversial endings to them.

#5 WWE Hell In A Cell 2014

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With WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar absent, it fell to Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose to carry this October show.

Rollins had turned on his Shield Brothers in June and had been dominant, winning the Money In the Bank contract a month later.

Facing off inside the Satanic Structure, the match was solid, though there was a definite void where the championship should've been.

In the closing moments, Ambrose would attempt Rollins' own curb-stomp, before the lights went out.

Instead of victory, the Lunatic Fringe would taste a Sister Abigail from Bray Wyatt, who emerged from the smoke and a ghostly spectre.

Whilst interesting to look at, the ending felt highly rushed, with Dean and Bray having no major beef with each other, asides the Shield-Wyatt family feud eight months ago.

Rollins got the big W, but after such a bizarre ending, it felt that neither Seth nor Dean nor Bray for that matter, looked anything like a winner.

#4 WCW Starrcade 1997

In one of the most impressive booking decisions of all time, the Icon of WCW, Sting, had not competed in over a year, after feeling betrayed by fans and his fellow wrestlers alike.

Emerging from the rafters, the former blonde surfer dude now dressed in all-white, similar to The Crow character, to face Hulk Hogan for the WCW Championship.

Whilst Hogan had been a cowardly heel since turning the previous year (but we'll get to that later...) the Hulkster was now a dominant force, seemingly impervious to the Stinger.

The ending of the match SHOULD'VE been a fast count by corrupt referee Nick Patrick, with Bret Hart, fresh out of the WWF post Screwjob, having the match restarted, so another wrestler didn't have to share his fate.

Instead, Patrick's count was normal, though the story went on. Bret looked stupid, the ending was rushed and the biggest show in WCW history ended with a whimper.

#3 WWE Royal Rumble 2015

The fans know what they want. That is the lesson we have learned ever since Daniel Bryan rose to mega-stardom.

Returning around the 2015 Royal Rumble, Bryan, who had vacated the WWE World Championship due to injuries the year prior, was seemingly a sure-fire lock to win the match.

After not even appearing in the 2014 Rumble, you would've thought the company would have learned their lesson after a mixed response to that year's winner, Batista.

Instead, Bryan was put in, but rather abruptly eliminated from the 2015 match, with all who came after suffering a torrent of boos.

The first of this fell to Roman Reigns, the eventual winner of the match.

Last eliminating Rusev, the divisive Samoan received a torrent of boos, with the company sending out The Rock to support his family, and to appease the crowd.

This didn't help in the slightest, and Reigns was booed out of the building.

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#2 WWE Summerslam 2016

With the dawning of a new championship, you would have assumed that the Universal Title bout between Finn Balor and Seth Rollins would've closed this show.

Instead, the esteemed place fell to Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton, with the pair being hurried into a feud, which came following the 2016 Brand Extension.

With Brock on RAW and Orton on SmackDown, the match had a big fight feel to it.

It was made even better with Orton, known for his glacial and relaxed pace to storylines, returning as an energetic Superstar, really into it.

However, the match quickly took a nasty turn, when Lesnar busted open Orton after ten minutes or so.

Laid in a pool of his own blood, the Apex Predator was powerless against the Beast, with the match being stopped due to TKO.

A bloody mess at a time with little blood, the match left many confused or even angry.

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#1 WCW Bash at the Beach 1996

When Hulk Hogan joined WCW in 1993, he joined with a literal parade, being driven around the studios where it was filmed.

Not long into his run with the Georgia-based promotion, the Hulkster had already won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, squashing everyone in his way.

On the rare occasions where he would lose the title, it was a question of when not if, he would regain it.

This constant success began to sour with fans, who were tired of seeing the same guy on top for the past 12 years.

In 1996, Hogan shockingly turned heel, revealing himself as the third man, teaming with fellow former WWF stars Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, to form the NWO.

Whilst the ending was awful for many Hulkamaniacs, Hogan's turn ushered in the most infamous faction in wrestling, and made changes to the industry that are still being felt today.