A lot of people in the professional wrestling business say that the best characters are the ones that stay true to the performers. The likes of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin admit that the persona you see on TV is their true personality turned way up.
This same logic can also be applied to the storylines we see on television. A feud that blurs the line between fiction and reality can make for some must-see TV that grips an audience.
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But sometimes this can go too far and is sometimes uncomfortable to watch. Whether it’s professional pride or problems stemming from their personal lives, there are a number of examples of real-life issues that have been used to build feuds on television.
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Here are 10 examples of when pro-wrestling feuds have gone too far.
#1 Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart
Probably the most infamous example of on-screen feuds that crossed over into real life is the one of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.
What began as a competitive rivalry, that saw the two men have a classic ‘Ironman’ match at WrestleMania 12, soon escalated in bitterness and got to the point where HBK and ‘The Hitman’ couldn’t stand to be in the same room as one another.
Vince McMahon did his best to keep them apart, but when they began taking shots at each other on live TV even when they were not working an angle together, he had no choice but to put them in the ring again.
The issues between Michaels and Hart had become so personal, with Bret accusing Shawn of being homosexual for posing in Playgirl and HBK suggesting that Bret had cheated on his wife with Sunny and that Bret refused to drop the WWF Championship to him in his homeland of Canada.
This led to one of the most significant moments in wrestling history, the ‘Montreal Screwjob’ at Survivor Series 1997. Although this has gone down of one of the greatest feuds in WWE history, it’s a shame it got to the point where the two men could no longer work together professionally.
#2 Charlotte vs. Paige
The most recent entrant on this list is the controversial segment between Charlotte and Paige in 2015, which used Charlotte’s brother Reid Flair’s death to further the angle.
This came in the early days of the Women’s revolution and seemed to be a cheap attempt to garner attention for the female talent on WWE’s roster. While many fans are crying out for an edgier product, the general consensus was that this promo over-stepped the mark and was in bad taste.
There was further dismay amongst fans when Ric Flair revealed he knew nothing about this segment prior to it airing on television. It is always a touchy subject to use a real life tragedy in a storyline and on this occasion, it just seemed very unnecessary.
#3 Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio
Another death that has been used by WWE was that of the late Eddie Guerrero. To be fair, the majority of times that Eddie’s death has been used has been in good taste, it helped Rey Mysterio further his career while paying tribute to his friend and also allowed the likes of Batista and Chavo Guerrero show respect to ‘Latino Heat’.
However, just three months after Eddie’s tragic passing, it was used in an angle between Mysterio and Randy Orton. Rey used the untimely death of his close friend to inspire a Royal Rumble win and World Championship victory at WrestleMania. But during this build, Orton would use Eddie’s death passing to provoke Rey.
Although this was consistent with Orton’s despicable persona at the time, it made for some uneasy viewing. In particular, his comment of “Eddie’s in Hell” rubbed fans the wrong way.
The controversial actions of Orton led to anger towards the company for writing such material rather than towards the performer, as the general feeling was that WWE had gone too far.
#4 Mickie James vs. LayCool
A feud that could have been quite powerful yet instead just came across as distasteful was the angle between Mickie James and LayCool in 2009.
Layla and Michelle McCool were portraying ‘Mean Girls’- style heels at the time and began to bully Mickie for her weight, nicknaming her “Piggy James”. First of all, Mickie was by no means overweight at the time so the angle just seemed silly, but also, James never got the payoff that would have given LayCool sufficient comeuppance for their bullying.
Instead of being a strong message to young girls on body image issues, it felt like a personal attack on Mickie that she herself admitted to being a difficult angle for her to participate in.
#5 Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley
Before their ‘I Quit’ match at SummerSlam 2006, there were genuine issues between Ric Flair and Mick Foley dating back to their time in WCW when Flair was the booker of the company.
In Foley’s 1999 autobiography, ‘Have A Nice Day’, he called out ‘The Nature Boy’ by claiming that “Ric Flair was every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it.” Flair would return the favour in his own 2004 book, where he described Foley as a “glorified stuntman”.
As opposed to some others on this list, this did lead to some great television for WWE as both men remained professional in the build to their SummerSlam bout, despite their feelings towards one another. That’s not to say that the feud wasn’t personal and the promos in the weeks prior to the match were intense, as you can see in the video below.
#6 Booker T vs. Batista
Another match from Summerslam 2006 which spilt over into a real life feud was the World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T and Batista.
Prior to this event, while shooting the pay-per-view’s commercial, Booker confronted ‘The Animal’ over some comments he made in an interview where he described Smackdown as the ‘B’ show and claimed ratings had dropped since he moved to Raw.
Batista had reportedly become very arrogant around this time, largely due to his quick push to main event status, and looked down on mid-card talents. Therefore, the former Evolution member didn’t take kindly to the veteran Booker T’s words and challenged him to a shoot fight, to which Booker obliged.
According to sources, the Hall of Famer got the better of this brawl, although both men were left bloody and bruised. Like the Flair vs. Foley match, both men were able to use their personal animosity to build an angle and have a professional match at that year’s Summerslam.
#7 CM Punk vs. The Undertaker
The build to CM Punk vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29 began rather mundanely, with Punk winning a 4-way match against Big Show, Randy Orton and Sheamus for the chance to challenge ‘Taker’s Mania streak.
The death of Undertaker’s former manager, Paul Bearer, the day after this victory was then used in the storyline to build to the match. Whether this was a desperate attempt to inject some life into this feud or a genuine way of showing respect to Bearer, whose family had given their blessing to this angle prior, remains to be seen, but it certainly made for some edgy television and questionable actions on Punk’s behalf.
Punk not only interrupted Undertaker’s tribute to his former manager but stole the symbolic urn and used it to callously mock ‘The Phenom’ in the weeks leading to WrestleMania, where ‘Taker would finally exact some revenge on him and defeat him to keep the streak alive.
The fact that Paul Bearer’s family were happy for this controversial angle to happen makes it somewhat acceptable. However, friends and fans of Bearer may not have been as keen to see him mocked so soon after his death.
#8 Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage
Hulk Hogan made many enemies outside the ring over his career, but there was no real-life feud that got more personal than his one with ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage.
In events that mimicked their WrestleMania 5 storyline, Savage became paranoid that Hogan and Miss Elizabeth were embroiled in a genuine affair. ‘Macho Man’ was reportedly very protective of his wife and any suspicions he had of a relationship brewing between her and ‘The Hulkster’ led to issues between the two on-screen rivals.
So, therefore, Savage dealt with the problem the way that all men do, by calling Hulk out on a rap album. No, seriously, you can listen to the rap below.
It’s unclear whether the ‘Mega Powers’ reconciled before Savage’s death in 2011, but what is clear is that, for a brief time at least, life imitated art and there were genuine problems between Hogan and ‘Macho Man’.
#9 CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy
CM Punk’s second entry on this list come from his 2009 feud with Jeff Hardy.
In this angle, Punk turned heel and showed a new side of his personality to the WWE audience and certainly grabbed their attention. This was the first time that Punk had used his straight edge lifestyle to look down on the rest of society, who use intoxicants and got him the heat he was looking for.
He could not have had a better opponent in this angle than Jeff Hardy, whose problems with substance abuse were well-documented. Although this seemed only to be an edgy angle to the audience with some truth thrown in to build Punk as an arrogant heel, a video emerged a year or so later of Jeff Hardy dissing CM Punk, suggesting that there were real issues between the two men.
Although CM Punk has never commented on this, it certainly seems that there were genuine ill-feelings outside of the ring, at least on Jeff Hardy’s side.
#10 Matt Hardy vs. Edge
Arguably the most bitter feud on this list is the memorable love triangle between Matt Hardy, Lita and Edge.
in 2005, Hardy’s then girlfriend of six years, Lita, began a real-life affair with Matt’s close friend, Edge. The news of this affair soon broke and made its way around the internet and Hardy refused to keep quiet on the matter. This eventually led to Hardy’s release from WWE as it seemed the three people involved could no longer work together.
Rather shockingly, however, Matt would soon return to the company and WWE would use these real-life issues to make one of the most bitter and truthful angles in pro-wrestling history.
It must have been difficult for all three of these performers to air their dirty laundry in public, but it did lead to some memorable television and helped all of their careers. Particularly Edge, who became the biggest heel in the company and won multiple World title on the back of this affair, so much for karma.
It’s amazing that things were able to remain professional between the performers on television in what has to be one of the most personal, real-life feuds ever seen in WWE.
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