Professional wrestling is in a league of its own. Unlike boxing or Mixed Martial Arts, professional wrestling isnt considered to be a combat sport. Rather, professional wrestling is an art, an extension of soap operas combined with incredible in ring performances by phenomenal athletes, who play their parts to perfection. Although what they say isnt true, and they dont try to intentionally hurt each other, professional wrestling is one of the most sought after industries in the world today.Similar to every other industry, professional wrestling is cut throat, and there are a lot of superstars waiting in the wings to take advantage of someones misfortunes. Every superstar is well aware of the fact that one small slip up can lead to a downfall in his or her career, and there are numerous other superstars waiting to jump at any opportunity. Although what happens inside the ring is scripted and planned out, sometimes the rivalries escalate and turn into reality.There have been various instances when something went wrong in a wrestling match, and what was supposed to be a work turned into a shoot, that is, what was supposed to be a well planned out wrestling match turned ugly, and became a legitimate fight between the two competitors. In this article, I take a look at five such instances, either in the WWE or in some other promotion.
#5 JBL vs. The Blue World Order
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JBL’s reputation in the WWE locker room is unflattering to say the least. He has always been known as someone who’d take liberties to make the new superstars’ lives miserable. There are numerous stories about JBL getting into showers while the new guys were bathing, or him bullying people around. JBL also had personal rivalries with a lot of superstars, and one among them was the Blue Meanie, who was a part of the Blue World Order from ECW.
During the One Night Stand PPV in ’05, JBL legitimately injured Blue Meanie, attacking him during the closing segment, which resulted in Meanie being busted open and receiving medical attention. That didn’t sit well with the boss, Vince McMahon who made a match between the two on Smackdown!, with Meanie’s associates at ringside. One of Meanie’s friends, Stevie Richards took matters into his own hands, and during the match, laid JBL out with a chair shot.
Now, in pro wrestling, there are ways to land a chair shot in such a way that it wouldn’t cause a lot of damage. Richards threw all of those rules out of the window and landed one of the hardest, most sickening chair shots you’ll ever witness! This resulted in JBL getting busted open, and Richards justified his actions, saying JBL had it coming!
#4 Earthquake vs. Koji Kitao
This has gone down as one of the most infamous, legendary wrestling matches of all time, not because of the technicality of the two grapplers, but because of the way the match panned out. Earthquake, who was a former WWE superstar, was touring Japan, and fought Kitao in Kobe. Before understanding what had happened during the bout, we also need to understand the reputation of Kitao, and the backgrounds of both the grapplers.
Earthquake is no pushover, as he was trained in Greco Roman style of wrestling, while Kitao was well known for being eccentric, and going out of character and shoot wrestling his opponents. During this match, for some reason Kitao broke kayfabe, and started shoot fighting Earthquake. When Earthquake realized what was happening, he got his guard up, and threatened to strike Kitao back. The referee had to do something, and intentionally got in between Kitao and Earthquake, and with Kitao shoving the referee, he disqualified him.
Earthquake would’ve taken down Kitao if he had tried anything illegal, but he chose not to fight him as he was in Japan, and would’ve got into a lot of trouble, thus ruining his own reputation which would result in him being blacklisted from other promotions.
#3 Perry Saturn vs. Mike Bell
Perry Saturn is known to be one of the toughest personalities inside and outside the ring, and became famous for rescuing a young girl from being raped by two thugs. His reputation wasn’t as positive before however, and all of that escalated during a dark match in the WWE when he faced a local wrestler, Mike Bell.
Perry Saturn was one of those wrestlers who had a short temper. During the bout, Mike Bell failed to execute arm drags and snapmares correctly, which infuriated Saturn, and pushed him over the edge. Saturn then threw Bell out of the ring, resulting in Bell landing on his neck badly. To make things worse, Saturn speared Bell through the steel steps, and it was a miracle that neither of the grapplers got injured! Saturn defended himself, saying that the botched moves could’ve injured him badly.
As one would expect, there were severe consequences, as Bell was never heard of again, and Perry Saturn was relegated to cheap skits and dating a mop. It is a reminder that you do not cross the boss, especially if his name happens to be Vince McMahon.
#2 Bob Holly vs. Brock Lesnar
Although technically, a fight didn’t break out between the two WWE superstars, this match arguably made Brock Lesnar a legitimate badass in the WWE. Lesnar, who had just debuted in the WWE recently, was on a meteoric rise in the organization, and won the WWE championship, also becoming the youngest WWE champion in the history of the company! Brock was also known as someone who was tough to deal with, and had a reputation as a hardhead in the company. He faced Bob Holly on an episode of Smackdown! which changed Bob Holly’s career.
During the bout, Brock Lesnar wanted to execute a powerbomb, but Bob Holly, who was known as a bully similar to JBL sandbagged Brock, refusing to push himself up and go through with the powerbomb. Lesnar, unable to get the elevation he wanted, dropped Holly right on his head, breaking his neck in the process. Holly missed a year of action due to the subsequent surgery and rehabilitation, while Lesnar went on to have a great year, winning the WWE title and having great feuds.
#1 Goldberg vs. William Regal
This match in particular almost cost WCW dearly, as it involved Goldberg, who was being pushed to the moon at this particular point in his career. Bill Goldberg was the “next big thing” in professional wrestling, possessing great strength and agility for a big guy, and was also in the midst of a great push, being undefeated for a long time. William Regal was a veteran at this point, being one of the best technical workers in WCW.
This was supposed to be yet another squash match for Goldberg, thus building his reputation as a beast, and one of the biggest names in the business. William Regal had other plans however, as he started shoot wrestling the big man. That didn’t please Goldberg, as he couldn’t get out of Regal’s holds. The finish of the bout went as planned though, as Regal lost to Goldberg, but not before making him look weak, as Bill was used to finishing his opponents easily with little to no trouble.
Things didn’t end well for Regal either, who was fired from WCW for what he did in the ring with Bill Goldberg. In the end, it did neither of the men any favors.
