The world of professional wrestling is perhaps one of pop culture’s most intriguing and consistently befuddling mediums. A form of sports that has one foot in fiction and the other in reality, you’ll often hear a swath of insane stories surrounding the squared circle.
From violent backstage incidents to intense legal proceedings outside of the ring (some of which are extremely fresh, and ongoing, so we will not be delving into those), pro wrestling has seen its fair share of controversies. The following entries will touch upon distressing topics such as sexual assault, suicide, and drug abuse, so reader discretion is advised.
10. Montreal Screwjob (1997)
The action we see every single week in the squared circle is predetermined but on rare occasions, it can become all too real. Our key players in this situation are then-current World Wrestling Federation Champion, Bret “The Hit Man” Hart,” and number one contender, “The Heartbreak Kid,” Shawn Michaels. Despite sharing impressive in-ring chemistry, the two did not get along very well, even coming to physical blows at one point.
By the end of 1997, due to the company’s inability to pay him a previously agreed amount, Bret intended to depart for World Championship Wrestling, the WWF’s main competition. Complicating matters was the fact that Bret could very very likely leave with the championship belt itself, even showing up on WCW television with it. So to avoid this potential PR disaster, Vince McMahon and writers Jim Cornette and Vince Russo hatched a devious plot.
As their championship match at Survivor Series 1997 ended, Michaels hooked in the Sharpshooter, Hart’s own finishing move. Vince McMahon, revealing himself as the WWF’s chairman onscreen for the first time, ordered the bell to be rung, making Michaels the new champion! To this day it stands as one of the best examples of the staged world of pro-wrestling melding with real-life behind-the-scenes events.
9. The Curtain Call (1996)
In the world of pro wrestling, you’ll often hear the word kayfabe passed around by everyone from the bookers to the workers. Simply put, the term is a catch-all, frequently used to describe the act of maintaining the magical and theatrical illusion that is the in-ring action.
This proverbial fourth wall was heavily maintained in wrestling for many years, the audience mostly kept in a perpetual state of blissful ignorance. However, in 1996, one of the most infamous examples of kayfabe being shattered would occur in one of professional sports’ greatest arenas. In the mid-’90s, The Klik, a backstage group consisting of Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall, had an absurd amount of sway and influence.
However, things changed when Hall and Nash opted not to re-sign with WWF, instead jumping ship to WCW for more lucrative contracts. With their exit imminent, the quartet opted to throw caution to the wind and give their little posse a public send-off. After the conclusion of a live event at Madison Square Garden, all four men shared a prolonged hug in the middle of the ring. This confused many fans, as both Triple H and Nash were bad guys during this period, destroying any previous sense of kayfabe.
8. Hulk Hogan’s Racial Slur Controversy (2015)
Whether it was beating the Iron Sheik in MSG or slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III, Hulkamania was the driving force of pro wrestling’s boom period. However, many fans will still opt to look back on those fond memories, while choosing to forget the Hulkster’s most infamous moment. In 2012, a sex tape filmed six years earlier, featuring Hulk Hogan and a woman named Heather Clem, leaked online causing a whole mess of issues. Snippets of this tape were then posted on Gawker, a celebrity news website, resulting in Bollea suing the site for posting what was his content.
However, his desire for legal justice may have made things worse as, eventually the tape’s entire transcript was made publicly available. This transcript included a moment when Hogan was ranting to Clem about his daughter being involved with a black man. During this pillow talk tirade, Hogan proceeded to use the n-word several times to describe him, much to the shock of many fans online. This revelation resulted in WWE temporarily parting ways with Hogan, going as far as to never show or mention him in video highlight packages. While Hogan has resumed infrequent appearances for the company, many fans to this day still would rather the Hulkster remain absent.
7. The Plane Ride from Hell (2002)
If ever there was a lethal combination, it would be already chaotic professional wrestlers and the presence of alcoholic beverages. There is no better example of this than the actions of several major WWE stars back in 2002 during an incident that’s now referred to as the Plane Ride from Hell. Following a tour and sell-out pay-per-view event in the United Kingdom, several key WWE stars were set to return home on a chartered flight.
Following their arrival, several of the present talents began overindulging in the plane’s open bar which is where the trouble began. Soon enough the talent began acting up, devolving into very meanspirited pranks, physical altercations, and sexual debauchery. This included a pull-apart fight between Brock Lesnar and “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig which almost ford open the plane’s emergency exit. Dustin Runnels AKA Goldust also opted to hop on the plane’s intercom and sing songs to Terri Runnels, his ex-wife who WWF also employed then. At the same time, “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, known for his excessive alcohol indulgence, was busy exposing himself to the two flight attendants present on the flight. After returning to the United States, several talents were severely reprimanded while a few had their WWE contracts terminated.
6. Fabulous Moolah Controversy (2018)
Regarding the history of women’s professional wrestling in the United States, the Fabulous Moolah is an integral figure of its early success. Starting her career in the 1940s, Moolah AKA Mary Lillian Ellison went on to become a multi-time Women’s World Champion. From the National Wrestling Alliance to the WWF, Moolah was widely regarded as one of the greats and frequently propped up as a celebrated figure.
However, following her death in 2007, the truth of who Moolah was behind the scenes emerged and the truth was disturbing. As the years have passed, many former female wrestlers have come forward with their own first and second-hand Moolah stories, all horrific in different ways. From Moolah pimping out unsuspecting young talent to stealing a significant percentage of her trainee’s money, it’s an eye-opening laundry list of misdeeds. Mad Maxine, a once-promising female star, went on record as calling Moolah an “evil person,” citing her money-making method of sending her trainees to be pimped out by a man in Arizona.
What sparked a renewed interest in these allegations was WWE’s attempt in 2018 to brand a memorial battle royal after Moolah at that year’s WrestleMania. Snickers, a prominent sponsor for that year’s event, even threatened to pull out if the match wasn’t rebranded which it ultimately was.
5. Jerry Lawler’s Legal Issues (1993)
In 1993, pro wrestler Jerry “The King ” Lawler found himself in immense legal trouble due to allegations of statutory rape. The accuser was, quite disturbingly, a 15-year-old girl who claimed that Lawler and she had been assaulted by Lawler in his hotel room. These accusations, and subsequent legal proceedings, led to Lawler being removed from WWF television ahead of the Survivor Series pay-per-view in 1993.
Lawler completely denied all of the allegations, reaffirming his innocence throughout all of the legal proceedings. The case ultimately devolved into a deluge of “he said, she said,” with Lawler even writing a letter to his prosecutors to defame his accuser. The case went on until February 1994, when Lawler ended up copping a plea for harassing a witness, avoiding any serious legal ramifications.
Although Lawler would avoid jail time and even ended up returning to the WWF in 1994, the damage was already done. To this day there are still a fair amount of fans who still aren’t comfortable seeing Lawler on television in any capacity. Despite the charges never being proven, the dark cloud of the allegations still follows Lawler, often resurfacing in online discussions from time to time. This includes the time that Lawler himself re-stoked the conversations by bizarrely retweeting an old newspaper clipping of his indictment.
4. The Steroid Scandal (1990s)
As recent events have more than shown us, Vince McMahon is no stranger to front-page news and negative publicity. However, this isn’t the only time that McMahon has found himself in trouble with the federal government.
Back in the early-90s, ringside physician, Dr. George Zahorian, was indicted in 1991 for the illegal distribution of steroids to WWF talent. The subsequent investigations into steroid abuse within the locker rooms of the WWF resulted in what is now known as the Steroid Trials. These trials saw the United States Government bring no less than six changes against McMahon, though three would be thrown out before the trial began.
On the stand was not only McMahon but also, the biggest wrestling draw of the early-90s, Terry Bollea AKA Hulk Hogan. Hogan, testifying under immunity from prosecution, said that McMahon had never once forced him to take any performance-enhancing substances, and any found in his system were for his own medical purposes. When the trial came to an end on July 23, 1994, McMahon was found not guilty by the jury due to a lack of sufficient evidence. Although he’d walk away a free man, the effect of the Steroid Trials on WWF (later WWE) would be felt for countless years after.
3. Owen Hart’s Death (1999)
When it came to in-ring proficiency, back in the 1980s and 1990s, one needn’t look any further than Owen Hart. Whether it was fighting against his brother Bret or winning the Tag Team Titles with the British Bulldog, Owen was as dependable a worker as one could find. Not only was he an absolute technical wizard in the ring, but outside of the squared circle was was widely regarded as one of the business’s nicest people.
Sadly, Owen’s career came to an end in tragic circumstances one fateful night in 1999 at a WWF pay-per-view ironically titled Over The Edge. At the time of the event, Owen was portraying a superhero character named the Blue Blazer, who’d make his entrance by soaring in on a zipline. Unfortunately, as Owen was set to make his aerial entrance for his match with Jeff Jarrett, tragedy struck. Due to what was later revealed to be a defective harness, Hart fell 78 feet into the ring, landing chest first on the top rope! Due to internal bleeding caused by the fall, Hart would be pronounced dead at 34 years old just a few minutes later. The fallout resulted in the Hart family suing the WWF for the lack of oversight regarding the safety of the stunt, eventually being paid 18 million dollars.
2. The Death of Bruiser Brody (1998)
In the 1970s and 1980s, Bruiser Brody was one of pro wrestling’s most dangerous and destructive men, often leaving his opponents as bloodied, crumpled heaps. Brody, real name Frank Goodish, did much of his most memorable work in Japan and the shores of Puerto Rico, two territories known for their pervasive bloodlust.
Due to his aggressive in-ring style and “My way or the highway” attitude backstage, Brody made just as many enemies as he did allies. One such enemy was wrestler and booker, José Huertas González, AKA Invader #2, a popular masked star in Puerto Rico. These real-life issues reached a fever pitch when Brody was set to take a position of power in Puerto Rico’s World Wrestling Council, likely putting González out of a job.
On the night of July 16, 1988, while sitting in the locker room, González requested that Brody step into the shower area for a quick chat. A few short moments later, fellow wrestler Tony Atlas rushed in to see Brody lurched over, bleeding profusely, with a crazed González holding a bloody knife! Despite the best efforts of the nearby hospital, Brody was later pronounced dead with González claiming he’d acted in self-defense. These shady and tragic circumstances have only added to Brody’s mythical outlaw status, further propelling him into legendary status within wrestling history.
1. The Chris Benoit Tragedy (2007)
When wrestling fans hear the name Chris Benoit, they’ll recall his stellar in-ring career, but more than likely they’ll be focused on the disturbing final days of his life. En route to WWE’s Night of Champions event in 2007, Benoit had sent some rather distressing text messages to a fellow talent, Chavo Guerrero. The texts, noting the location of his dogs in his home and punctuated with the words “I love you,” were more than a little concerning.
Following Benoit’s no-showing of the pay-per-view, WWE opted to call the police precinct closest to Benoit’s home and ask for a wellness check. The police arrived and, after seeing Benoit’s neighbor flee the home in horror, quickly entered and were met with a nightmare. As they searched the house, they soon found both Chris’s wife, Nancy, and his son, Daniel, dead. Then, upon entering Benoit’s home gym, they discovered the 40-year-old wrestler hanging dead from one of his workout machines.
The horrific scene was later declared a murder-suicide, with Benoit having killed his family before taking his own life. WWE, not knowing these details until after that following Monday, still went ahead with a tribute episode for the late Benoit. This episode has never been re-aired and, to this day, WWE has seen fit never to mention Benoit or his past accomplishments in any form.