Entertainment
15 Most Awkward WWE Moments
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. or WWE has been a source for wrestling entertainment since the 90s. A WWE live show is an opportunity for fans and non-fans to get up close and personal with their favorite superstars and divas. Everyone in a WWE arena can attest to the raw energy that is palpable as soon as you step foot in the door. In the age of the Internet, even fans online can join in on the action right as it is happening onstage.
With any live show, comes the unexpected. And the WWE arena is privy to a ton of mistakes, awkward moments and bloopers that cannot be deleted from the show. Coz when it is live.. Anything and everything is possible. Some bloopers remain unnoticed by viewers, but others are cringe-worthy, visible and awkward. And in true WWE form, there is nothing left to do but just go with the punches (pun intended). What makes these crazy, cringey moments all the more embarrassing is that they can be reviewed over and over, thanks to the magic of the world wide web, DVR, recorders, mobile phones and every gadget you can find.
Take a look at fifteen of the most awkward WWE moments of superstars as seen live in the arena and saved hundreds of times by a million wrestling fans all over the world.
15. The Ministry of Darkness
The Ministry of Darkness (MOD) was formed in the late 1990s. This was a group led by The Undertaker and had equally controversial wrestling superstars. These were Paul Bearer, Mideon, Gangrel, Bradshaw, Faroq, Christian, Edge and Viscera. Their storyline had a Satanic theme that usually involved make-believe scenes of human sacrifices and evil rituals.
The fans loved MOD despite their dark nature and always when the theme song of repeated gongs would play and lights would fade, fans knew that someone was getting their butt kicked in the arena. Things started to get awkward when WWE owner Vince McMahon spun the storyline to make him the leader of MOD. And that he ordered the sacrifices of several wrestlers and their families — including his own daughter Stephanie — for no apparent reason. Vinny Mac had to dip his dirty little fingers into everything.
14. Bad Dad
In 2003, the WWE franchise got creative with a spin on a rivalry between Vince McMahon and his daughter Stephanie on its SmackDown series. The “I Quit” match had Daddy Vinny Mac being brutal and unforgiving towards Stephanie. The animosity leading up to the match stemmed from Stephanie not following dads orders. The fight was not pretty by any means. How could a father do that to his daughter? Vinny Mac was MEAN!
Honestly, we all know that WWE matches are mostly scripted, but this match took us all by surprise. The McMahons took it too far and the match was awkward from start to finish. It is in fact, a classic example of entertainment psychology and the Macs held the buttons the entire time. Pushing them one by one and getting weird reactions from all of us vulnerable viewers. They played us like toys and we loved every minute of it
13. Covered in Poop
Do you remember the time when Triple H reunited with Shawn Micheals to revive Generation X? Both were hugely fighting with Vince and Shane McMahon. Triple H and Shawn wreaked havoc on the Macs and did everything they could to make their WWE lives a living hell. Prank after prank, from spray painting the WWE jet to the walls of the arena. And they always got away with it every time.
Fast forward to Triple H and Shawn in the ring together and the Macs coming out from backstage smiling. And suddenly a porta-potty appears in the ring with the pranksters. Where did THAT come from? And to top it all off, poop, or buckets of what looked like poop descended from the ceiling and poured all over a surprised Triple H and Shawn. Tell me, where did Vinny Mac order poop in the first place? And how did they plan it to drop from the arena ceiling? This wasn’t just awkward, this was a genius plan!
12. Love Triangle Gone Wrong
Love triangles are quite a normal storyline in the WWE. Stephanie McMahon, Kurt Angle, and Triple H were in one, and a few other more popular ones. One such relationship that was dragged on more than it should, was between the imports Rusev and Lana and Summer Rae and Dolph Ziggler. It can be recalled that Rusev had a good run in 2014. And due to his popularity, WWE management decided to spice things up in the love department.
The couple, Rusev and Lana have been fighting openly in matches and the heated arguments finally turned into a betrayal. Lana decided to hook up with Dolph Ziggler and in turn, Rusev got cozy with Summer Rae. It was a cringe fest of making out onstage and one-upping one another that eventually turned into a double couple fiasco. And there was a dead fish involved, too. Fishy fishy indeed.
11. Stephanie McMahon does a Janet Jackson
Stephanie and Triple H are a match made for the books. Theirs is a love story made in wrestling heaven. But with all love stories, they come with the usual humps and bumps. Both wrestling royalties have had their fair share of embarrassing WWE moments. One of which is one of the most talked about in WWE history.
This particular incident had Triple H carrying Stephanie onto the announcer’s table. Steph had on a bandage dress that was extremely tight. A dress not made for doing stunts in. In the process, a wardrobe malfunction occurred, exposing her breast to all the viewers on and off cam, not to mention the thousands watching in their homes. She handled the situation with ease and made “adjustments” to her dress. Still was an awkward situation to be in, for sure.
10. Parental Guidance
Back in 2016, parental guidance was all the rage in television. WWE did its best to remind superstars to watch their language and monitor their actions. Unfortunately, one superstar chose not to censor his tirades. And no matter how big a star the wrestler was, they decided to cut ties and set him loose.
WWE proved that even a huge a star as Hulk Hogan should follow their rules or else they get booted out of the franchise. The incident started when The Hulk made some racist comments on air. Clearly, not adhering to the company’s decision to heavily censor their stars. This resulted in his release and the exclusion of his name from all WWE promotional materials. Other superstars were not even allowed to talk about him!
9. Bloody Bill Goldberg
Almost all athletes, wrestlers included, have a certain pre-game/fight ritual that they do. Call it a good luck charm or a symbolism of sorts, it is something that they ALWAYS perform before going to a game. This was one such episode that clearly got out of hand for Bill Goldberg. In the early years of the WWE this gimmick would be cheered on and accepted, but in the age of censorship and parental guidance this awkward stint involving a bloody forehead is not television worthy.
Before going into the arena, Big Bill was psyching himself up with a ritual he has been doing since his football days. He banged his head on a door pre-match and apparently, the door won this time. Before making his way to the ring, apparently, no one noticed his bloody forehead. Fans were more than curious. Oh, Bill, you beast
8. That New York Stock Exchange Interview
In other news, Braun Strowman and Sasha Banks were out and about in 2017. They were invited to bang the gong at the New York Stock Exchange to promote WWE’s Summerslam last year. Clearly, the interviewer had little to no knowledge of the art of pro-wrestling. As was apparent in an embarrassingly weird question and answer repartee.
Braun was his usual jovial self and tried his best to answer the woman conducting the interview. Awkwardly, she was laughing at all the answers and looked like she wasn’t taking the pair seriously. The segment went viral and even created a slew of meme’s that went viral soon after. To make matters even worse, Sasha was tight-lipped and stoic the whole time! At least Braun made us happy.
7. Mickie the Fattie
This can clearly be considered character defamation or fat-shaming nowadays. Mickie James, of all people, was called fat and ugly by Layla and Michelle McCool. And Mickie is not even fat, to begin with! Nor is she anywhere near being overweight! This angle was one crazy angle for sure. WWE writers should have done a better job at creating something that was even remotely believable.
The two divas embarrass Mickie by calling her names and eventually she just flat out bawls her eyes out in the ring. It was just plain LAME. Mickie had to endure the stupidity of it all, even though she was a very talented wrestler. She did mention in interviews that the incident was one of the reasons she left WWE. And good riddance coz she deserved better! Shame on you writers!
6. Baby Hand
Mae Young, the WWE legend is sorely missed. She was a pivotal presence in the business and made everything she did look easy peasy. Even being thrown over a table and harassed by the Dudley boyz once or twice in her career. She was a legend in her time. But in 2002, her career did a little nosedive due to a storyline that just did not make sense to anyone. Just maybe Vinny Mac.
At 77-years old she and “Sexual Chocolate” Mark Henry got into a steamy relationship. That eventually got her knocked up with a child. At 77! Events went south from there on. You would wonder, “what were they thinking exploring this angle?” Why would they do this to this poor woman who had a booming career. And since she was pregnant, she had to give birth. She did produce a bouncing.. HAND?! This was just uncomfortable to watch.
5. Edge and Lita Boudoir
Lita is a class act and is also a very talented champion. She’s had belts strapped to her waist so many times we seem to have lost count. But her career was not as pretty. She had love problems and was even embroiled in a love triangle featuring Matt Hardy and Edge. This particular love angle was exploited by WWE and soon after resulted in scenes that we would much rather forget.
After a fallout with her ex, Lita and Edge hooked up, eventually bringing their romance into the arena. Writers played it up and even created a scene where a bed was brought into the ring. The boudoir set looked fresh out of a porn movie and the audience was not exactly happy about it. They were gyrating and squeezing and dry humping with kids in the audience! It was bad. Very bad
4. Down on all Fours
Nowadays, with #metoo and #timesup movements, women are getting more and more empowered to speak up. Women are now espousing better and equal rights akin to their male counterparts. One would wonder why the WWE management was able to get away with this sort of behavior from their chairman towards a revered woman wrestler.
We are talking about Vince McMahon ordering.. yes you heard it… ORDERING Trish to get down on her hands and knees. This is clearly a degrading act not only for Trish but for women in the wrestling business as well. Apparently, Vinny Mac wrote the script himself and having Trish strip down, drop on all fours and bark like a dog. This was part of the Attitude Era angle that was surely one of the cruelest ones ever thought of.
3. Natalya and her Farts
Natalya is one of the more talented champions in the women’s division. She was brutal in the ring and was a smart player, too. WWE was looking for a fighter who they could turn into someone they could pick on. This started the storyline of Natalya and her constant farting and err… Sharting.
The angle was supposed to show her farting on different occasions both backstage and in the ring. And she did just that. Even though most of them were faked. Heck, everything in the WWE is fake. Maybe Vinny Mac just wanted to make Natalya — a Hart — look bad. For what it’s worth, she did look silly and awkward. And the story was just an awful writing job.
2. Snooki the Diva
Celebrity guests are a normal occurrence in the WWE. To drum up an audience or get more ticket sales, actors were sometimes employed and given a story to follow. But not all stories are followed to a tee. There are often bloopers and unexpected outcomes that can only be deemed “going with the flow.”
To create a buzz for WrestleMania XXVII, WWE invited Snooki of the Jersey Shore fame. The wrestlers made sure everything was on the script but on this certain occasion, matters took a different route. Snooki was part of a tag team with Trish Stratus and John Morrison to face off with Dolph Ziggler and Laycool. Of course, Snooki’s team won but their winning happened in a very awkward and peculiar way. We love Snooki but she is never a match for her opponents. C’mon, who are they kidding!
1. Vinny Mac and Trish Stratus Makeout Sesh
This was more than awkward, this was gross! Vinny Mac has always created controversial and crazy angles, but he outdid himself with this one. With his paralyzed wife as a prop, he organized a makeout session right in front of his incapacitated wife. This was during the Attitude Era, that had all sorts of crazy happenings.
By dragging a hugely popular diva, he was fearlessly creating a damaging situation. McMahon was openly French kissing Trish Stratus with a helpless and comatose Linda McMahon in a wheelchair. To this day there is still no clear explanation why the Mac played it out that way. True to form, the Mac has one of the most ridiculous but genius minds in the industry.