10: John Cena’s Selling – WrestleMania 23

WrestleMania 23 featured a classic matchup between John Cena and Shawn Michaels. Whilst fans loved the matchup, the same can’t be said for HBK, who was disappointed and frustrated with Cena’s lack of selling, so much so that HBK refusing to shake Cena’s hand was legitimately a shoot.

Whilst this may have been the old HBK coming to the surface once again, it was understandable that HBK may be annoyed with Cena for such a key detail in the match.

Thankfully, HBK was able to put any resentment to one side, and the two would work together numerous times throughout their careers, including in a 5-star classic rematch in April of 2007.

9: Charlie Haas’ Targeting– SmackDown 2003

Eddie Guerrero was very much a perfectionist in the squared circle, and Charlie Haas found this out the hard way in 2003.

During a match between the two on SmackDown, Guerrero informed Haas to ease off targeting his elbow, as Guerrero had been having problems with that specific body part.

Unfortunately, Haas didn’t listen, and he continued to target the body part. It is said that when the two went backstage, things got physical, and the two had to be separated.

8: Kevin Owens Slaps Roman Reigns – Survivor Series 2022

During the 2022 men’s War Games match, Kevin Owens slapped Roman Reigns across the face, and whilst on the surface, this seemed like a standard spot in the match, it caused Reigns to lose it.

According to numerous reports, Reigns had a bruise under his left eye, and he even potentially ruptured his eardrum.

According to Dave Meltzer from The Wrestling Observer, the multi-time former World Champion was “very very upset”.

“During the match there was a slap that Kevin Owens gave Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns had a bruise under his left eye, and he may have ruptured an eardrum. There was definitely an eardrum injury. It was thought that it was a ruptured eardrum, but I did not get that confirmed. Roman Reigns after was very very upset, and was very vehement about it. And was yelling about it.”

“...it’s more than just the fact that a slap got out of control and hit Roman Reigns and may have busted his eardrum...I think Roman Reigns felt that it was something that should not have happened in the match.”

7: Hulk Hogan Grabs Elizabeth - WWE Live Event 1989

In the late 1980s, Hulk Hogan and Macho Man’s feud on screen escalated into real-life, and Macho Man infamously became paranoid regarding Hogan’s affection towards Elizabeth. At one live event in 1989, Hogan pulled Elizabeth into the ring, and this was the breaking point for Macho Man, as he believed that Hogan grabbed her wrist “too hard”.

Hogan broke down this story during an interview on WWE.COM:

“I was supposed to grab Elizabeth by the wrist and pull her into the ring. All of a sudden, I ended up in the locker room with him in my face going, ‘You grabbed her wrist too hard, brother! Who do you think you are?!’ It got crazy. All with good intentions, because that’s how intense Randy was. We were at a Live Event once, and they didn’t have the steps for her to walk up to the ring. She was in my corner at the time, and she needed to get in the ring. When I leaned over to pick her up by the armpits — this superhuman feat of strength for me, to pick this little lady up off the floor onto the apron — Randy yelled, ‘Hey, brother, you grabbed her!’…”

6: Vince McMahon ‘Retires’ – SmackDown 2022

When Vince McMahon retired from WWE in the summer of 2022, the majority of wrestlers were happy, as McMahon was prone to micro-manage talent, and of course, the allegations surrounding him were too serious for McMahon to be involved in the company in any capacity.

One WWE name who wasn’t happy was Brock Lesnar, who, upon being told the news backstage at a SmackDown show stormed out of the arena. Key names in WWE were able to convince Lesnar to come back, yet it just highlighted how strong the friendship was between Lesnar and McMahon.

This story remained as an urban legend for a while, that was until Triple H talked about the story during an interview with BT Sport, and The Game confirmed its credence:

"'… it's just a different time now and now that he has had a moment to digest it, he digested it a little, came back to the building, we did business that night, had long conversations about where we go next, he liked what he heard, liked how he's been dealt with, and it's all good."

5: Fans Heckle Maxxine Dupri – WWE Live Event 2023

Maxxine Dupri has been working extremely hard to get better in the ring, yet a certain portion of the fan-base decided to heckle her with negative chants during a live event. The fans in question heavily booed Maxxine, and when she was heading to the backstage area, these negative chants continued, with one fan even telling her to “never come back”.

The backlash to the antics of the inappropriate fans was substantial, as a strong portion of the WWE audience, as well as the majority of the women’s roster came to defend Maxxine. Wrestlers such as Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch stood side by side with Maxxine, and confirmed that she had their support, and also stated how hard she is working to get better at her craft. 

4: Carmella Gets Snubbed – SummerSlam 2021

The initial advertised Women’s Title match for SummerSlam in 2021 was Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks. When Banks was removed from the match at the last moment, WWE introduced Carmella as Belair’s mystery opponent. This obviously upset fans, as this wasn’t a SummerSlam worthy matchup, and it was setting both women up for failure. WWE had a trick up their sleeves, and they were going to have a returning Becky Lynch show-up and challenge Belair, and ultimately win the Women’s Title.

According to Lynch in her autobiography, she asked WWE if Carmella knew what the plans were for the PPV matchup, and they told her they wanted to keep it a secret and that she would find out right before she went out for the match. Lynch was having none of this, as she adored and respected Carmella, and she believed it was a total sham for WWE to set Carmella up like this. Lynch would then give Carmella a head’s up, and even still, Lynch stated that she felt extremely guilty that her return put Carmella in that position.  

3: Brock Lesnar Busts Open Randy Orton – SummerSlam 2016

The 2016 SummerSlam main event saw Brock Lesnar take on Randy Orton. Infamously, the match saw Lesnar brutalise Orton with stiff and legitimate elbows. This resulted in Orton being busted wide open, and although this was completely scripted, one certain legend backstage was convinced that Lesnar was going into business for himself.

Chris Jericho was outraged by Lesnar’s stiff elbows, and he thought that Lesnar was shooting on a WWE great. Jericho demanded answers backstage, and when he wasn’t getting a straight answer, he confronted Lesnar as soon as he came through the curtain. Jericho and Lesnar had a heated verbal confrontation, and Jericho was later informed that everything was planned, and everything went ahead as the script for the match intended.  

2: CM Punk Returns – Survivor Series 2023

CM Punk returning to WWE for the first time in almost a decade was a huge deal. Whilst fans were delighted to see Punk back, the same can’t be said for certain talent who were unaware that the former WWE Champion was returning at the end of the 2023 Survivor Series event.

One name who was legitimately furious was Seth Rollins. Rollins had a strong personal dislike of Punk, and he felt disrespected that he wasn’t informed in advance of Punk’s return. Rollins had to be physically restrained from coming after Punk, yet ultimately, he was able to calm down, and now the two reportedly have a positive working relationship.

Another name that wasn’t exactly jumping for joy to see Punk back was Drew McIntyre. McIntyre, who also legitimately hated Punk, stormed to the backstage area, and reportedly left early. McIntyre, similarly to Rollins, was able to put this bad blood aside, and McIntyre and Punk have worked together in numerous segments since this notorious night in Chicago back in 2023.  

1: The Booking Of The WrestleMania 35 Main Event

There was uproar when Charlotte Flair was inserted into the WrestleMania 35 main event. Fans were actively pushing for the main event matchup to be Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch in a singles match, and Flair felt shoehorned in, and only seemed to be inserted just so she could have another accolade added to her resume. The segment in which Flair was added to the match was for the longest time the most disliked video on WWE’s YouTube channel, which goes to show how much hatred the fans had towards the unwarranted plot twist.

According to Becky Lynch in her autobiography, when they were putting the match together before WrestleMania 35, Flair got incredibly angry and frustrated, as she felt like she was being presented as “the third wheel” in the match. According to Lynch, Flair was on the verge of tears as the match was being laid out. Lynch would even state that the referee chimed in and informed Flair directly that she was indeed the third wheel in the match, which obviously didn’t do anything to improve Flair’s mood. 

‍

‍