5 times WWE Superstars went off-script in 2023

Over the years, WWE has put up many storylines, and most of them have become topics of discussion among fans to this day. The narrative leading to the match (or future matches) is an essential part of professional wrestling, which makes it compelling to fans.

However, there were moments when WWE Superstars broke away from what had already been planned. Albeit being unscripted spots, these have grown to become something memorable across Titanland, not to mention leave a lasting impact.

Here’s a look back at five WWE Superstars who went off-script this year.

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#5. Sami Zayn’s clever way of dropping the F-bomb during a promo

Whether WWE Superstar Sami Zayn went off-script during this promo is not certain. Nonetheless, it can still be considered as such.

This happened during an episode of SmackDown prior to last year’s Elimination Chamber. The former Honorary Uce was cutting a promo for his scheduled match against Roman Reigns at the aforementioned premium live event. While at it, Zayn found a clever way of sneaking in an F-bomb by speaking French.

Blurting out such a word is prohibited in WWE. However, Zayn got away with it and received a thunderous reaction from the hometown crowd.

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#4. Snoop Dogg’s off-script save at WrestleMania 39

2023’s WrestleMania was hailed as the highest-grossing premium live event in WWE’s history. Several matches were even highly praised by pundits, including the Undisputed WWE Tag Team match between The Usos and the tandem of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.

During Night Two of the PLE, there was a spot that featured both Snoop Dogg and The Miz, who were the hosts of the event at the time. Shane McMahon was supposed to fight the latter. Unfortunately, during the match, Shane O Mac got injured (torn quads), which resulted in the stoppage of the fight.

Snoop would come to the rescue, though, and entered the ring to deliver a couple of punches to The Miz before giving him his version of The Rock’s People’s Elbow. The Hall of Famer emerged as the victor of the impromptu match.

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#3. Santos Escobar ripping Dragon Lee's mask at Survivor Series

The 2023 Survivor Series saw the return of WWE Superstars R-Truth, Randy Orton, and even CM Punk. Similar to WrestleMania 39, the PLE also received positive reviews from critics as the matches scheduled that night were top-notch.

One of them was the singles match between Santos Escobar and Dragon Lee. The latter served as a last-minute replacement to fellow Superstar Carlito, who suffered an arm injury during his scuffle with the former in an episode of SmackDown back in November.

Come Survivor Series, Escobar and Lee would lock horns inside the ring. During the match, there was a spot where Escobar attempted to rip off Lee's mask until the referee stopped him from doing so.

Escobar would later reveal in an interview that what he did was 100 percent off-script, adding that it was just the heel in him. He believes that it is essential for the audiences to "get that feel.”

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#2. Brock Lesnar squashing referees

The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar is one of the most feared WWE Superstars due to his ferocity and brute strength. Like most Superstars, he too has a penchant for going off-script with devastating results.

A case in point was during the 2023 Royal Rumble. He was the 12th entrant of the match, with some fans expecting him to be the last man standing. However, everything went south when he got eliminated by Bobby Lashley.

Lesnar was livid that he F5’d Baron Corbin and choked a referee over the barricade. An off-script moment of chaos indeed.

A similar incident happened during last year’s Elimination Chamber. The match lasted only for almost five minutes as Lesnar delivered a low blow to Lashley, his opponent at the time. This resulted in him getting disqualified, to everyone’s disappointment.

The Beast would later on perform F5s on both The All Mighty and the referee. It was believed that the spot was part of the script. However, the second F5 to the referee on the announce table was not.

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#1. Brock Lesnar shaking Cody Rhode's hand at SummerSlam

Another off-script moment that Brock Lesnar got involved in in 2023 was during the SummerSlam PLE. Unlike the entry mentioned above, what happened after the match was the complete opposite.

The rubber match between Lesnar and Cody Rhodes was epic, to say the least, as both Superstars slugged it out to determine who gets the win. After 17 grueling minutes, The American Nightmare captured that huge W, making the score two to one.

Fans thought that Lesnar would deliver another beating to Rhodes after the match. To everyone’s surprise, though, The Beast would shake Rhodes' hand before raising his arm, suggesting that The American Nightmare earned his respect. A feel-good off-script moment.