Image via Complex Original
16.
WWE specializes in deception. They’re in the business of staging fights—of making something choreographed appear spontaneous. The wrestlers cut promos the way actors might read a script. They plan out the finish in the locker room. They sell punches and kicks as more painful than they really are.
By and large, the audience members are smart to all of this, and most times, they will play along and suspend their disbelief. But even so, fans don’t like being explicitly lied to. Even if a feud is scripted, there needs to be something believable to make the fans care about and pay to see it.
That’s why a lot of times, wrestlers will insert actual events and personal information into the feud; even if the fights aren’t real, the emotions behind them are. Fans, who feel like they’re seeing something they weren’t supposed to, speculate: “Did that wrestler just go off script?” “Do those two hate each other for real?”
These moments—regardless of how few and far between—make for tense (yet entertaining) television. And, on rare occasions, they hurt the actual feelings of the performers involved. Let’s all get together and cringe for the next few minutes, shall we? Here are some of the memorable moments when WWE got really awkward. Is it a work? Is it a shoot? Watch, and you be the judge.
15.Go Back to the Bingo Halls!
Delivered by: The Miz
Year: 2016
This is the most recent example on this list, and it didn’t even take place on live, syndicated television. It took place on a WWE Network post-show after SmackDown went off the air, and it turned out to be more interesting than the actual show.
Here’s the brief rundown: Daniel Bryan, who was forced to retire as a direct result of his high risk, high impact style, criticized The Miz for working too “soft” in the ring. The Miz got extremely angry and defensive, and he layed into Bryan with uncharacteristic savagery.
Most observers believed the segment was entirely planned, but in a recent interview with ESPN, Bryan claimed otherwise. “He knows that that’s really pushing on a nerve,” Bryan said. “And calling me a coward for not [going to the independents]…which I sometimes think of myself as a coward for not doing…it’s tough.”
14.Hey Man, Nice Tattoo
Delivered by: John Cena
Year: 2012
John Cena and The Rock had a genuine dislike for each other backstage. And in the lead up to their “once in a lifetime” match at WrestleMania, the verbal wars got very ugly. The two of them were more interested in embarrassing each other than promoting the match.
Take the above clip, for example. Right before it, Cena was backstage, waiting his for cue to come out. A referee pointed out that Rock had his promo notes written on his arm. And what followed was a mocking, mean promo that stunned The Rock into silence. You can see The Great One’s body language change as the segment progressed.
13.Breaking Up Team PCB
Delivered by: Paige
Year: 2015
The Divas Revolution pitted three stables against one another. There was Team Bella, consisting of Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, and Alicia Fox; Team BAD, consisting of Sasha Banks, Naomi, and Tamina Snuka; and Team PCB, consisting of Paige, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch. To be frank, it was a pretty lame set-up. It guaranteed an endless number of three-on-three matches, and it is impossible to be a star when you’re competing for attention with five other people.
Fans waited patiently for the teams to break up, and Paige finally drew first blood. She broke up Team PCB with the most cutting, personal promo possible, where, amongst other things, she implied that Nikki Bella and Brie Bella had slept their way to the top of the division.
12.Happy New Year!
Delivered by: Jim Cornette
Year: 1997
For several weeks during the Attitude Era, WWE gave booker and manager Jim Cornette free rein to say whatever the hell he wanted to in a series of pre-taped promos. Cornette took that directive to heart, calling out anyone and everyone, from the wrestlers in competing companies to the wrestlers in his own company.
In this promo delivered a few days before New Year’s Eve, Cornette aired out a list of personal grievances. Amongst other things, he said the WWE “stinks.” He called Shawn Michaels and Triple H “mulletheads.” He said that moving from Tennessee to Connecticut to work for WWE was like “trading a Hawaiian vacation for a bed in a cancer ward." Ouch. Tell us how you really feel, Corny!
11.What Would Your Father Think?
Delivered by: Paul Heyman
Year: 2001
Before Vince McMahon fashioned WWE into the global, corporate juggernaut that it is today, wrestling was spread out over a series of regional territories. Vince’s father ran the WWE promotion in the Northeast, and the promotions all worked with one another (trading talent and coordinating schedules) to make money and draw crowds. But when Vince took over WWE, he raided the territories of their talent, and soon, WWE was one of the last promotions standing. That’s great for Vince’s bottom line. That’s not so great for professional wrestling as a whole.
In this promo, Paul Heyman recounted the very real, very cutthroat history of the McMahon family. He got personal when mentioning that Vince waited until his father died before killing the territories, and for several awkward, agonizing minutes, the junior McMahon stood there and took it.
10.The Hitman’s Getting Screwed Over By Everyone
Delivered by: Bret “The Hitman” Hart
Year: 1997
Bret’s not the best talker in the game, but his passion made up for some of it. During their feud from 1997-1998, he and Shawn Michaels had legitimate hatred for one another. Hart had a real resentment for how the younger man treated him; he disliked Shawn’s booking clout and the backstage politicking he did to become successful. In this promo from a Raw after the Royal Rumble, Hart ranted that everyone in WWE screwed him over, and he proceeded to "quit" the company.
It’s funny how art imitates life. In Montreal a little under a year later, WWE would actually screw Hart out of the world title on live television, and Hart would leave WWE in the most embarrassing, public manner possible.
9.Who Can Lace Her Chuck Taylors?
Delivered by: AJ Lee
Year: 2013
In 2013, the women’s division (then called the Divas division, which tells you everything you need to know) was a shell of what it is today. The Bellas were nowhere close to being the athletes they would eventually become. And, aside from AJ Lee, the only other genuinely skilled women’s wrestler on the main roster was Natalya.
In a blistering rant, AJ put the entire women’s locker room on blast. She called them “worthless excuses for women,” and she took a shot at Total Divas, claiming that everyone on the show was only there to be famous, not because they truly loved wrestling. It was a brutal takedown, but it had a ring of truth.
Today, the women in WWE are far more respected. Every one of them (with the exception of Eva Marie, still!) can hold their own in the ring. But that wasn’t the case less than three years ago, when things finally started to change.
8.The Good Ol’ Boy Gets Defensive
Delivered by: Jim Ross
Year: 1996
Jim Ross is the unfortunate, hapless doormat of the WWE. He’s been forced to kiss Vince’s ass. He’s been lit on fire. He’s been subjected to one humiliating stunt after another.
But for one night, Jim Ross aired out every grievance he had with his employer, starting with being forced to wear a toga at WrestleMania IX and ending with Vince’s federal steroid trial.
Today, J.R. stays loyal to WWE. He doesn’t insult them in public, even though Vince mocked his Bell’s palsy on live television. But the above clip is a rare moment, 20 years ago, when Good Ol’ J.R. got a little slice of his dignity back.
7.The Skeletons of the Straight Edge Superstar
Delivered by: Chris Jericho
Year: 2012
There’s no better way to get under someone’s skin than bringing up his or her family. Chris Jericho knew this, and during the buildup to his championship match against CM Punk, he decided to get really, really personal. He brought up Punk’s father, who was an alcoholic, and his sister, who was a drug addict. He started encouraging the straight edge Punk to drink too.
Punk was in on it, but it made a lot of fans very uncomfortable. But at least the feud had a happy ending; when Punk won his Street Fight against Jericho at Extreme Rules, Punk’s sister was in the front row to bear witness.
6.Quitting In Style
Delivered by: Joey Styles
Year: 2006
It isn’t easy being a commentator for WWE. Many people who have held that job have quit, Mick Foley included, because Vince is always backstage, yelling in your ear and micro managing everything you say.
Commentator Joey Styles cut this barnburner of a promo that revealed the creative difficulties of working for WWE, especially the struggle to conform to their weird lingo (“sports entertainment” instead of “wrestling,” “superstars” instead of “wrestlers”) and their emphasis on storytelling over moves.
5.An Extreme Love Triangle
Delivered by: Matt Hardy
Year: 2005
This is all sorts of awkward. In real life, Matt Hardy was dating Lita, but Lita ended the relationship when she cheated on him with Edge. In a twist that’s both stunning and somewhat grotesque, WWE turned it into a storyline, and the three of them played out a spurned love triangle in front of the entire WWE Universe.
The above moment took place early on in the feud. Matt Hardy called Byte This to confront Lita, and what followed was a weird combination of scripted talk and backstage lingo combined with a whole lot of hurt. Take a look, and see if you can separate which from which.
4.ECW’s Last Stand
Delivered by: Paul Heyman
Year: 2005
In 2005, ECW, which had been bought out by WWE, had an old school, throwback pay-per-view in the tiny Hammerstein Ballroom. It was raw, exciting, and intimate, and it was stuffed to the rafters with fans who were smart to the business.
Paul Heyman gave a heartfelt, teary-eyed speech to the ECW faithful. But WWE wrestlers were also in attendance, and Heyman did everything he could to ensure that they were as uncomfortable as possible. Among his best insults from that evening: “Hide your wives…it’s Edge!” and “The only reason [JBL was] WWE Champion for a year is because Triple H didn’t want to work Tuesdays!”
3.The Hitman’s Had Some Sunny Days?
Delivered by: Shawn Michaels
Year: 1997
This one happened very quickly; most of the casual fans wouldn’t have picked up on it.
On live television, Shawn Michaels heavily implied that Bret Hart was cheating on his wife with WWE valet Sunny. It’s difficult enough to keep a marriage together while on the road. And this weird accusation did Hart absolutely no favors; he and his wife would divorce in 2002.
This promo elevated the heat between Shawn and Bret—just one more brick in a wall that wouldn’t crumble until over 10 years later, when Hart finally returned to WWE and shook Shawn’s hand.
2.The Swiss Superman Isn’t Feeling The Draft
Delivered by: Cesaro
Year: 2016
Drafts are hard on the roster talent. It lets them know exactly where they stand with the company, and unless they get drafted in the first, second, or even third round, it’s pretty disappointing. Cesaro, for example, was drafted in the sixth round this year, and he was none too pleased about it.
Cesaro usually keeps his emotions in check, but this backstage interview was a different story. He called WWE out for focusing more on their corporate drama than the wrestlers, and he expressed an interest in working on SmackDown instead of Raw, which is where he was drafted.
Right now, Cesaro is losing a Best-of-7 feud with Sheamus 3-0, so we can see how far complaining has managed to get him.
1.The Pipe Bomb
Delivered by: CM Punk
Year: 2011
Well, we had to end the list with this one. CM Punk’s pipe bomb promo aired out the grievances that long-time fans had with the WWE for some time. Punk touched on everything, from John Cena’s endless push, to fired wrestlers, to Vince’s impending death, to Triple H’s nepotism, to WWE’s anti-bullying hypocrisy. Eventually, WWE cut his mic. The ensuing confusion and positive fan reaction pushed Punk to the top of the company, and he would win an incredible, classic match against John Cena at Money in the Bank.
Punk became a notorious “voice of the voiceless,” who said what the fans were thinking rather than spitting the company line. He maintained a reputation as an iconoclast and rebel until 2014, when he controversially walked out on the company. Months later, WWE served Punk his termination papers on his wedding day.