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In an entertainment medium where large, musclebound men fight for belts, it's no wonder that there are some moments of utter hilarity that stick with fans long after the bell rings.
Sometimes the humor is from a gaffe or an accident, and sometimes it's a fully scripted event that achieves its goals of tickling the audience's funny bone. WWE has been around in its current form since the early 1980s and existed before that as the WWWF--World Wide Wrestling Federation -- under the leadership of Vince McMahon's father, Vince Sr.
With so many hilarious circumstances to choose from, it can be hard to whittle the list down to a manageable size. But that's exactly what we've done for you, our dear readers.
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Here are ten of the fan-favorite funniest events from WWE History. Enjoy!
WWE Funniest Moment #1: Kane and Daniel Bryan, Anger Management.
Long before Daniel Bryan's heel turn, he was pushing the "NO" gimmick hard. Daniel Bryan would shout NO, NO, NO to a variety of circumstances, and the WWE Universe would taunt him with chants of "YES YES YES."
In the middle of this strange mix was Kane, the big red machine who had been feuding with Daniel Bryan. But wrestling makes for strange bedfellows, and the duo soon became a tag team.
To function better as a unit, they wound up taking anger management classes together. That sounds like a cringe-worthy idea on paper, but give credit to Bryan and Kane because they pulled it off with hilarious results.
Not only did they provide a lot of great laughs for the WWE Universe, but the anger management sessions also led to the Yes movement and Bryan's catapult to superstardom.
Full credit to Kane here though for having the ability to pull off just about any gimmick with aplomb.
WWE Funniest Moment #2: Bang 3:16
Ah, the Attitude Era. There were so many things the WWE got away with during this time period which would never fly nowadays.
Perhaps the highlight of the Attitude Era was the rivalry between Stone Cold Steve Austin and the chairman of the board, Vince McMahon. The anti-establishment, foul-mouthed and beer-swilling Austin made a natural foil for the upstanding, suit-wearing voice of conformity, Vince McMahon.
Their feud lasted for years and involved many major players of the era. But there was one night when Austin decided to take care of McMahon 'once and for all.' He kidnapped McMahon and spent the entire run time of RAW concocting different ways to put an end to him. Obviously, this would never fly today.
Nor would the climax of the storyline, which saw Austin pull a gun on McMahon in the ring. Bloodthirsty fans chanted for Austin to shoot, but it turns out the whole thing was a joke; when Austin pulled the trigger, Bang 3:16 is all that came out of the barrel.
Mr McMahon's expressions were priceless and added to the hilacity of the controversial segment.
WWE Funniest Moment #3: Booker T sings "Sexy Boy."
The NWO was one of the greatest story lines and/or angles of all time in professional wrestling. Did it overstay its welcome? Absolutely, but that doesn't change the fact that at the time it turned the entire industry on its head.
The days before the internet meant that fans genuinely experienced surprise and a sort of belief that the NWO really WAS out to destroy WCW, despite being under contract with the company.
Of course, the Monday Night Wars ended with WWE purchasing World Championship Wrestling and all of its video and copyrighted material. This meant that WWE could legally use the NWO gimmick, and they did so. Booker T, long an opponent of the NWO, strangely sided with Nash and X Pac. When HBK chose to join, there was some suspicions that he wouldn't be loyal. So Booker T decided to sing HBK's theme song, Sexy Boy, albeit with some alternative lyrics.
The result is one of the zaniest moments of all time. Nash and X Pac could barely keep a straight face.
Booker had a comic timing like no other, and this is just another example of his triat.
WWE Funniest Moment #4: The Price is Wrong for Chris Jericho
Over the many years of its existence, WWE Monday Night RAW has had its share of celebrity guest stars and surprising encounters between WWE Superstars and the visiting alums of the entertainment industry.
One such moment happened when the late Bob Barker appeared on RAW for a version of the Price is Right. As Chris Jericho emerged to participate, fans braced themselves for what was sure to be an epic encounter.
Barker and Jericho did not disappoint. Even though Jericho is currently with a different company, we just couldn't leave this event off of our list. Barker stands up to the professional athlete Jericho and gets some truly excellent digs in. In fact, you can plainly witness Jericho struggling not to laugh and break his character throughout.
Y2J is one of WWE's most versatile athletes and can pull off just about anything on the mic as well. The segment was certainly hilarious and gave the fans their money's worth.
WWE Funniest Moment #5: The Shat sings WWE's greatest hits.
William Shatner has been a pop culture icon for decades. It all began for him back in the 1960s when he was cast as the lead in the original Star Trek series. As Captain James T Kirk, he led the Enterprise crew to dangerous encounters and boldly went where no man had gone before.
During its 'guest host' era, WWE RAW saw many celebrity appearances. But one of the most memorable was William Shatner. Shatner has appeared in a number of commercials where he 'sang' famous songs in a spoken word style. So of course, he wound up doing spoken word versions of many WWE Superstar theme songs.
His renditions of Sexy Boy and 619 are probably the best and one of the most hilarious and yet heart-warming moments in all of RAW history.
Shatner was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a part of the class of 2020.
WWE Funniest Moment #6: It doesn't matter what you think about Kane, Brother.
For a character alternately referred to as the Big Red Machine, the Monster, and the Devil's Favorite Demon, Kane sure gave us some laughs over the years.
For our next entry we go way back into the period shortly following the end of the Monday Night Wars. Hollywood Hogan had been drummed out of the NWO and was in need of allies to take on his former cohorts.
One ally was taken care of, because the Rock had formed a friendship based on mutual respect with the Hulkster. But as for their third man, Rock was a little skeptical that his long-time foe Kane was at the top of the list.
Then Kane appeared on screen and did hilarious impersonations of both men. This was the first real spark of character Kane had displayed, and it set the stage for times to come.
Kane was one of WWE's most versatile superstars and this is just another page from his book of awesomeness.
WWE Funniest Moment #7: This Beer's on Vince McMahon.
Peanut butter and chocolate. Pasta and red wine. Beer and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Some things just go together naturally. The sight of Stone Cold Steve Austin cracking open a "Steveweiser" and guzzling it down was as much a part of the Attitude Era as championships and divas.
Steve Austin's loving relationship with fermented hops had long been established in the WWE. So when he was gearing up for Wrestlemania 15, Austin sought to get the mental edge on his opponent The Rock in the best possible way.
During this time, The Rock was the Corporate Champ, a lackey of Vince McMahon and despised by the fans. So the fans were cheering like mad when Austin drove down to the ring on Raw in a Coors Light truck.
They were even more delighted when Austin proceeded to hose down the entire corporation with the adult beverage in one of the most hilarious moments in WWE history.
WWE Funniest Moment #8: Goldust, the Crocodile Hunter?
During an era when scores of WWE talent deserted the company in favor of WCW, Dustin Runnels stayed, despite his father the legendary Dusty Rhodes working for Turner's promotion.
Goldust's character underwent a significant change. Cultural mores had become more accepting of homosexual lifestyles, so his old gimmick pushing homophobia was nixed. Instead, he would take a cue from his Hollywood home town and dress up like famous celebrities.
His best moment was arguably when he came to RAW dressed as the now deceased Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. This meant khaki shorts, a khaki shirt, and a ridiculous yet entertaining mullet wig on his head. As Irwin, Goldust went on a search for the 'elusive NWO.' His Australian accent was so bad, it was good, and fans laughed heartily to his antics.
Goldust's description of the Big Show like he was some wild animal makes for some hilarious viewing.
Full points to Dustin for pulling this off with aplmob.
WWE Funniest Moment #9: Kurt Angle loves his cowboy hat.
These days Kurt Angle is a no-questions-asked badass and WWE Hall of Fame member. Pro wrestling's only Olympic Gold medalist paid his dues the old-fashioned way in the industry; by playing goofball characters and providing a straight man for others to bounce their personalities off of.
After Stone Cold Steve Austin turned his back on the fans and became Vince McMahon's corporate champion, he was given Angle as a lapdog/lackey. McMahon even told Austin "I know Angle's a dork, but he's your back up dork."
Austin decided to show Angle how little he thought of the former Olympian when he gave each of his 'friends' a new cowboy hat. Austin and McMahon had expensive stetson hats, but Angle was given a ridiculous straw hat obviously intended for a child. But the rib backfired when Angle actually LIKED his hat, and proceeded to wear it for weeks on television. The hat segments were so popular Kurt even referenced them in his Hall of Fame speech.
WWE Funniest Moment #10: The Rock: This is your Life.
For our final entry on the funniest WWE moments, we go back to the Attitude Era for the lovable antics of the Rock and Sock connection.
For many weeks, Mankind had attempted to get the Rock to warm up to their burgeoning friendship, with limited success. Not one to be discouraged, Mankind embarked on his most ambitious scheme yet: parodying the classic "this is your Life" television show by having significant people from the Rock's life appear in the ring on RAW.
The segment didn't go according to Mankind's plans, however, as the Rock hilariously insulted each and every person that his tag team partner brought to bear. It's funny, it's definitely not PG, and it's one of the reasons we love both the Rock and Mankind so darn much.
The Rock n Sock connection's hilarious segment can be seen here:
Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with us. We'll see you next week for another edition of WWE History!
