5 times WWE blurred lines between kayfabe and reality

I hate to be the one to break this to all of you but, WWE? Totally fake. It's a scripted form of entertainment that simulates a type of athletic competition that couldn't really take place in "real life". Also, if this is news to you, you are - no offense - a dumb dummy. Also, I'm just joking with you guys - you already know this.

However, one of the reasons that pro wrestling has thrived over the years is its self-awareness. WWE, Impact, AEW and all other wrestling companies that uphold the "kayfabe illusion" do so because it's part of the show. In fact, if you're reading this, I'm pretty sure this doesn't need to be explained to you. So, you know... sorry for explaining it to you.

Rather than being a hindrance, however, WWE - and pro wrestling in general - has used this tip-toeing around the tightrope of reality as a way to mess with expectations, tell interesting stories, and just have fun.

For the unitiated, "kayfabe" is old carny slang for "fake" (a sort of Pig Latin-style rewording) that's meant to represent the illusion of authenticity of pro wrestling being an actual competitive sport. In the early days of the industry up until *looks at watch* - oh, maybe a couple of decades ago? - maintaining this illusion was of the utmost importance.

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Nowadays, not so much. Even before Vince McMahon went before the New York State Athletic Commission and spilled the beans on wrestling's authenticity, the majority of fans pretty much knew the jig was up.

However, keeping Kayfabe going was an integral part of the show. Otherwise, it would be like an episode of The Walking Dead taking a break to explain to you that those zombies are just people pretending.

So, here are 5 different times pro wrestling companies have taken the unusual circumstances they find themselves in and created some amazing stories.

And yes, some of these entries involve ECW and WCW, but those promotions are currently owned by WWE so they still count so shut up.

#5. CM Punk drops a pipebomb on WWE

Considering how often it's either written about or, at the very least, referenced by nitwit pro wrestling writers like myself, CM Punk's "pipebomb" is as important a moment in the history of the business as the Montreal Screwjob.

In fact, there hadn't been a promo by a single wrestler that affected the trajectory of the career of a wrestler more since Steve Austin's "Austin 3:16" speech. Well, unless you count this one:

The main event for the 2011 edition of the Money in the Bank PPV was scheduled to be WWE Champion John Cena defending his title against CM Punk. Adding a further wrinkle to the match was the fact that Punk's WWE contract expired the next day. Punk had been unhappy - and vocally so - with his status in the company and word was that he had no intention of signing a new deal.

So, WWE gave Punk a microphone and told him to go out to the ring, have a seat, and air any grievance he wanted to. And, boy howdy, did he.

The line-blurring didn't end there, however. That match, which was held in Punk's hometown of Chicago, was won by the challenger and, true to his word, Punk skedaddled out of the arena with the title.

Punk would eventually return a couple of weeks later with a new WWE deal (which was pretty much signed the night of the pay-per-view). After a storyline detour involving Kevin Nash and Triple H, he eventually held on to the WWE Championship for an astounding 434 days.

I wonder whatever happened to that guy...

#4. Lana and Rusev break up in WWE and then get engaged in real life

Chances are, if you're part of a tag team or any other type of group in WWE, that partnership is going to be split up at some point. That includes wrestlers and their managers. So, when we finally saw Rusev and Lana break up on WWE TV (the first time, anyway), nobody was particularly shocked.

Rusev's initial entry onto the main roster was that of a Bulgarian-born, Russian-sponsored "super athlete" managed by a blonde bombshell with nice legs and a suspicious Russian accent. It wasn't immediately implied that they were in a personal relationship - but as word began to spread that the two were dating behind-the-scenes, it got increasingly implied on TV.

Then, WWE decided that they were going to break the couple up, put Lana in an on-screen coupling with Dolph Ziggler (imagine that), team Rusev with Summer Rae (one of the most underrated female talents in WWE of the last ten years) and then just go with that.

Then Rusev and Lana got engaged in real life - and they weren't secret about it.

Suddenly, WWE had to scramble to explain why this couple who were at each other's throats just a week earlier were now going to get married.

All of this came back to focus during the Rusev/Bobby Lashley feud a couple of years ago. Lana and Lashley began an affair that eventually led to Rusev getting released from the company. Nowadays, Lana is in a tag team with Naomi, Rusev is known as Miro in AEW and Bobby Lashley is the current WWE Champion.

#3. WCW wrestlers The Outsiders insinuate they're WWE employees

Eric Bischoff, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash

When Kevin Nash and Scott Hall left the then-WWF/now-WWE for WCW back in 1996, they took more than just themselves. They also carried with them the characters they played in Vince McMahon's organization.

So, when Scott Hall made his shocking debut on Nitro that year, he also brought with him a pretty familiar accent.

Hall and Nash never came out and claimed to be "invaders" from WWE - and, in fact, outright denied it when asked during the Great American Bash that year. But, it was pretty obvious from that very first moment - Hall and Nash were still supposed to be employed by WWE and they were in WCW to take over.

Oh, man. If you weren't watching when it happened, I don't even know what to tell you. There was nothing like it in wrestling (well, in the Western Hemisphere, anyway) and it led into one of the greatest - if not the greatest - boom periods in the wrestling business ever.

For the crowd watching Nitro that night, however, even the "smartest" fans in the crowd had no idea what was happening. It led to plenty more "was that real or was that scripted" moments that defined the early months of the nWo.

#2. Shawn Michaels gets into a fight at a bar and it causes him to pass out in the ring

It's not an easy thing to type but, back in the mid-90s in WWE, Shawn Michaels was a jerk.

In 1995, Michaels was part of an incident at a bar in Syracuse, N.Y. that involved himself, Sean Waltman and Davey Boy Smith being confronted by a group of Army servicemen. The night ended with Michaels having to be treated in a local hospital for a torn eyelid, among other things.

You can read about the entire story right here.

WWE makes chicken salad out of... well... you know...

Following the incident (and the inevitable backstage politicking it produced) WWE turned it into an on-screen angle. During a match between Michaels and Owen Hart, Owen managed to strike Shawn with a step-up enziguri.

While the effects didn't - pun intended - "kick in" right away, Shawn (on screen, anyway) found himself passing out between the "beating" he took at the bar (according to WWE, Michaels found himself fighting off eight US marines) and the powerful kick by Hart.

Michaels would go on to coast on the babyface sympathy of the entire situation to win the Royal Rumble the next year. He then claimed the WWE Championship at WrestleMania following that.

#1. Brian Pillman tricks Eric Bischoff into letting him leave WCW for WWE

Let's talk about how Brian Pillman got to WWE. It's one of the most fascinating stories in all of pro wrestling.

There's no way a list like this doesn't include the "Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman, much less in the #1 spot. But, here he is. And, it's a #1 spot (and appropriately for Pillman) with a bullet. From calling a particular wrestler (no relation) "booker man" to pulling a gun on Stone Cold Steve Austin in WWE, Brian Pillman kept you guessing and never let up.

In fact, that "booker man" incident - Pillman was scheduled to face then-WCW booker Kevin Sullivan (again, no relation) at the February 1996 SuperBrawl VI - is what started this entire entry. Before the match could even begin, Pillman grabbed a microphone and shouted the following:

According to his autobiography, then-WCW President Eric Bischoff had concocted a plan with Pillman that would see Pillman get his release from WCW and move on to ECW, where he would build the "Loose Cannon" gimmick even more.

The intention was that after working in ECW for a certain amount of time, Pillman would re-sign with WCW an even bigger star.

Pillman did, indeed, work with ECW following this, and even cut one of his all-time greatest promos:

The joke was on WCW, however, as Pillman would take this opportunity not to return to Atlanta. He instead chose to sign what was only the second guaranteed contract ever for a wrestler in WWE history (fun fact: the first was signed by Marc Mero).

Pillman would go on to have memorable feuds with both his former Hollywood Blondes tag partner Stone Cold Steve Austin and Goldust, before passing away in 1997. While his time in WWE was cut short, the way he got to the company was legendary.