Weird Things Everyone Just Ignores About WWE

The spectacle of WWE is truly something to behold, from over 40 years of WrestleMania spanning some of the largest venues in the United States, to high-profile storylines, to even megastars of Hollywood whose careers began within the company. As many people who have been fans of WWE, especially back in the days of the World Wrestling Federation, know, there can be many strange happenings in the company, not just in storylines, but also backstage, as well as memorable botches within matches that leave fans in stitches, but WWE cringing.

There are some tacky storylines and disturbing moments that WWE would like fans to forget about, but some can never be erased. There are some things, however, that WWE tends to ignore about its own product, from matches that happened earlier in history, to attempts at its own social media brand, and other things the company probably wishes fans would just ignore.

Many are able to suspend their disbelief to enjoy a WWE show, even when things get a little weird, but there are more things that all fans just tend to ignore about WWE, including things like dropped storylines for no apparent reason, as well as fun facts that WWE has never acknowledged publicly.

The match pitting Kurt Angle against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 19 in 2003 is most infamous for the botch involving Lesnar landing almost directly on his head during a shooting star press, but it was historic for a reason WWE has just ignored for years, not just for Lesnar's subsequent concussion. Their match was unique in the sense that it was the first, and so far only, WrestleMania main event to feature two stars working under their real names.

Angle almost pinned Lesnar after the botched move, but "The Beast Incarnate" pinned his opponent after hitting three F-5s, winning the WWE Championship from the Olympian. Angle spoke about the match to CBS Sports in 2022, saying that changing the finish of the match and beating Lesnar to retain the title was out of the question following Lesnar knocking himself out.

Angle explained that he was wrestling with a broken neck and was set to have surgery the next day, so it had to be Lesnar taking the championship. While the match is infamous for both men working injured during the bout, WWE ignores that it was historic for the simple fact of the performers' real names — as WWE often requires stars change their names to fit their character.

One thing WWE absolutely chooses to ignore is its investment in a failed social media company that many younger fans may not remember today. In 2012, WWE invested in "Tout," a microblogging social media site that allowed users to send and view 15-second videos, called "touts." Tout first became popular when Shaquille O'Neal announced his retirement from basketball using the service in June 2011. At the time, Tout had over 12 million visitors to the site and 75 million videos were shared by users.

Advertisements for the site and app would air on WWE programming multiple times throughout a broadcast, with WWE stars sharing their own personal videos. WWE began hyping up the platform on the 1,000th "WWE Raw," asking viewers to "tout" their favorite memories from the show's history. One of the most popular WWE Tout posts was Brock Lesnar announcing his kayfabe retirement, and other stars would follow suit by cutting promos on the site to further storylines.

Though WWE initially announced a two-year partnership with the company, the social media platform failed to take off, and WWE stopped its promotion in early 2013. Tout folded shortly after the partnership between the companies ended in 2014. It was revealed during a quarterly investors call by former WWE CFO George Barrios that the investment had been $5 million.

WWE is no stranger to dropped storylines, but one of the most infamous among fans is Shane McMahon's lockbox in 2016, in the build-up to WrestleMania 32. At the time, Shane was feuding with his father, Vince, and his sister, Stephanie, for control of "Raw." McMahon was set to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania, and if he won, he'd become general manager of the red brand.

If Undertaker lost, he would never wrestle at the event again. In addition to the stipulation, McMahon threatened his father with a secret "lockbox" that contained Vince's darkest secrets. If McMahon lost the match to Undertaker, the mysterious lockbox would return to his father.

McMahon lost the match at WrestleMania and Vince took possession of the box, but its contents were never revealed and the mystery remained unsolved, until a Fightful report in 2024. According to the report, Vince added the stipulation at the last minute, but sources said there were never any contents agreed upon — and the line about them was never supposed to make air. With both McMahon men no longer with WWE, for very different reasons, including a sex trafficking lawsuit against the elder, the "lockbox" full of Vince's secrets is something ignored to this day.

In addition to dropped storylines, WWE tends to ignore dropped characters, or even character traits, as well. The most glaring example of this is Kofi Kingston's dropped Jamaican accent, though it was briefly addressed by Triple H during a D-Generation X reunion, when the future COO of the company would ask, "Aren't you supposed to be Jamaican?"

Kingston, who was billed from his home country of Ghana, used the accent in the early days of his career, up until the episode of "Raw" in October 2009. Kingston would later address the accent on an episode of the "Muscle and Fitness Reps" podcast, where he explained that Vince McMahon told him all his interviews had to be "in Jamaican."

He said it was difficult to keep up with kayfabe, and explained that a reporter from the BBC kept pressuring him about the fact Kofi isn't a Jamaican name, and even went as far as contacting his mother to get an explanation. Kingston wasn't able to drop the accent for another year, however, as McMahon told him that he didn't think many people would read the BCC's article. Kingston said it felt like a sigh of relief to finally be able to drop the accent, and it's something that WWE has ignored on its programming since 2009.

The Royal Rumble is one of WWE's biggest, most beloved events throughout the entire year, and mistakes and mishaps, scripted or not, are things the company tends to ignore. One of the biggest mistakes that can happen in a Rumble match is a star not technically being eliminated by going over-the-top rope. There have been multiple examples of this throughout the match's history, and some are more memorable to fans than others.

Those WWE has acknowledged, quietly, however on its website, include Hornswoggle and Finlay in the 2008 match, Curtis Axel in 2015, Spike Dudley in 2004, and "Macho King" Randy Savage in 1991. In the latter example, when the buzzer rang for Savage to enter at 18 that year, he didn't show up, having gotten a case of cold feet following his interference in the Ultimate Warrior's championship defense earlier in the night. Savage, scared of repercussions by Warrior, simply decided to never enter the match.

On the women's side of Royal Rumble matches, it was Lana in 2019 who became the first woman who never technically was eliminated from the match after never getting in the ring. She was set to be the 28th entrant, but was unable to get in the ring after suffering a storyline injury earlier in the night. She was replaced by Becky Lynch that year. WWE turns these non-entrants into storylines, despite rules technically stating these stars remain in the Rumble today.

WWE often ignores the fact that the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match has only existed since 2017, but even more egregiously, to some fans, is the fact that women rarely hold the briefcase for longer than one night before cashing in the contract. It's something WWE has started to bring up more on commentary during the actual premium live event itself, but in years prior, it was rarely acknowledged by anyone.

The woman who has held the contract the longest, as of this writing, is Carmella, who held on to the case for a record 287 days before cashing in on Charlotte Flair in April 2018, becoming the first woman to cash in and win the "WWE SmackDown" Women's Championship. The most recent Miss Money in the Bank, Tiffany Stratton, is in second place for the record at 177 days.

Stratton won the MITB match on July 6, and currently is still teasing a cash-in on frenemy, WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax, on "SmackDown." The woman who has held the MITB briefcase the third-longest in its history is IYO SKY, at just 35 days before she cashed in her opportunity at SummerSlam in 2023, defeating Bianca Belair at the event.

The year 2020 was a challenge for those across the globe due to the pandemic, but WWE carried on with its shows live from the Performance Center, though, with some restrictions in place. Former Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns, however, who has battled leukemia not once, but twice in his life, decided to protect his and his family's health by taking a break from WWE during its ThunderDome era, something that the company chose to ignore explaining on its programming.

Reigns was set to take on Goldberg for the championship at WrestleMania 36, which was moved from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, to the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, but the immunocompromised star removed himself from the event. While fans assumed the change in plans was due to Reigns' health status, WWE never acknowledged it on-air.

The "Tribal Chief" had just returned to the company in February 2019, after announcing the return of his leukemia in October 2018. Reigns would test positive for COVID-19 following the height of the pandemic in January 2022, leading to him being pulled from WWE Day 1, where he was meant to challenge Brock Lesnar. Only then were his health-related disappearances acknowledged by the company.

WWE had another embarrassing goof-up back in 2015 that the company still ignores today, after quietly correcting the X-rated mistake. That year, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Paige were put together in a stable, briefly known as "The Submission Sorority." The name of the trio became a public relations nightmare for the company, as it was actually the name of an already-established adult content website.

WWE had to double back after veteran announcer Michael Cole called the group the "Submission Sorority" on an episode of "Raw," and apparently fans took to Google and found the explicit content. The website reportedly saw their overnight traffic shoot up by over 50%, and planned to send WWE a "thank you" gift.

During a Q&A at a convention that year, Paige said that she knew the name was linked to an adult website and tried to warn WWE about it. WWE corrected course with the group's name, settling on simply "PCB" for Paige, Charlotte, and Becky. Paige noted she liked the names "Team Tap" or "Miss-Fits," but the company quietly just went with their initials.

Emmalina is a failed gimmick that WWE ignores in its history, but the "transformation" of Tenille Dashwood, known in WWE as Emma, is something fans aren't likely to forget anytime soon. Back in October 2016, after Emma had been called up to the main roster from "WWE NXT" and been seemingly floundering, she disappeared from television, only for video vignettes of a new "Emmalina" character to begin airing. The videos showcased Emma's good looks and showed her off like a supermodel headed right off the catwalk to her destiny between the ropes.

The videos continued for weeks and weeks, leading in to months and months, without Emmalina ever debuting. It started to become a running joke both on commentary as well as to wrestling fans on social media. When Emmalina finally debuted, walking out to the stage, microphone in hand, on February 13, 2017 after a whopping 17 weeks of hype, she announced she would be returning to her Emma character. Emmalina walked to the back after portraying the new gimmick for only a few minutes.

Emma spoke about the failed gimmick in February 2018, and said it never fit her at all. She explained she's not like an old-school WWE Diva, and that she just wanted to wrestle. Emma said that WWE realized along the way that it wasn't for her at all. The company would later try a variation of the angle with Eva Marie.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts may be in the WWE Hall of Fame after a historic career with the company alongside Damien, but WWE has ignored the fact that the man who carried a live snake in a bag to the ring never won any championships with their company. Roberts was a fan-favorite and feuded with big names like "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant, but gold alluded him throughout his time in WWE.

Roberts held many championships throughout his career, just none with WWE or even WCW, though they are acknowledged on his Hall of Fame profile. His first was the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship in 1979, and the most recent was the EWA Heavyweight Championship in 2010.

Roberts also held multiple championships in Mid-South Wrestling and the NWA. Though retired from in-ring action, Roberts signed with AEW in 2020 as an onscreen talent, and most recently was involved in a trade between managers, with Roberts now part of a reformed La Faccion Ingobernables.

WWE often hypes up extremely short matches, with the most recent example being Natalya's 3.18 second loss against Aaliyah, which turned into a storyline for the younger star up until her release from the company in September 2023. Other historically short matches include The Rock versus Erick Rowan, a WrestleMania match where Rock beat Rowan in six seconds, the shortest Women's Championship match in WWE history, where Trish Stratus defeated Nidia in 3.8 seconds, and a squash match where Dolph Ziggler defeated Curt Hawkins in 5.5 seconds.

WWE tends to ignore its actual shortest match in history however, whether that be due to a strange gimmick or the fact it made little sense on the surface. The shortest match in WWE history featured the team of Jerry Lawler and Chris Jericho taking on Tazz and Mideon, when the latter was portraying his "Naked Mideon" gimmick, coming to the ring in what can only be described as a leather thong.

The match happened on an episode of "Raw" in September 2000, and somehow lasted only 1.8 seconds. It happened because no one knew who Tazz's mystery partner would be, including Tazz, and when Naked Mideon made his entrance, Lawler took advantage of Tazz's shock, and rolled him up before the bell even rang. The referee started counting before the bell, making the official match time just 1.8 seconds.

One of the most infamous botches in WWE history occurred in 2005, when both John Cena and Batista went over the top rope at the end of the Royal Rumble, with both sets of their feet hitting the ground simultaneously. The botch was only furthered when Vince McMahon stormed down to the ring from gorilla position, tearing not one, but both of his quads in the process.

Unable to stand, McMahon sat in the ring, barking orders to the performers and officials to restart the bout with just Cena and Batista in the ring. WWE ignores the fact this wasn't the first time this happened, however, the first time, the spot was planned.

Back in 1994, Bret Hart and Lex Luger were participants in that year's match, vying for a shot at Yokozuna's WWE Championship. WWE booked the ending of the match so that Hart would accidentally eliminate himself while getting Luger over the top rope. The pair would be announced as "co-winners," and go on to face Yokozuna at WrestleMania 10. As for the botch in 2005, Batista would go on to actually win the match and defeat Triple H at WrestleMania 21, but WWE quietly ignored the first time this had happened, when it was actually meant to take place.