8 Times Wrestling Carnies Got Out-Carnied

The wrasslin' business is and always has been full of carnies - a title also used for those performers often found ripping off their punters at carnivals.

Within the wrestling sphere, these shady individuals have been known to trick and cheat others within the industry for their own gain. So, it's always somewhat amusing watching one of said dodgy figures being made to enjoy a taste of their own medicine.

And in the following instances, that was certainly the case, as some of these performers hilariously took advantage of rumours, speculation, and their employer's paranoia to earn themselves more money or got around certain frustrating trademark issues with a quite ingenious solution.

It's never fun watching an honest wrestler getting deceived by their boss, former employer or colleagues in this sometimes quite ruthless business.

But when the people regularly found fooling, cheating, or scamming their way through their careers in the wrestling bubble find themselves being well and truly duped? Well, it's pretty much impossible to feel any sort of sympathy towards the dishonest carny in question.

And also, a quick shout-out to the fine folks over at r/SquaredCircle who helped inspired this very list!

Back in early 2011, TNA started to tease the return of one of the most dominant factions in the company's history: the Main Event Mafia.

But before the band, which consisted of the likes of Kurt Angle, Sting, Scott Steiner, Booker T, and Kevin Nash, could fully get back together, those last two names opted to suddenly do the unthinkable.

Right as Dixie Carter - the carny known for paying talent late and trying to lowball homegrown stars like AJ Styles - was about to bring Booker and Nash back, those two former world champs used those whispers to score themselves a nice payday to return to WWE just in time for that year's 40-person Royal Rumble. 

While Booker wasn't actually signed to a TNA deal at the time, Nash was and would be released from his contract just before making that sudden, angle-killing jump back to WWE.

The moves completely ruined that incoming Main Event Mafia reunion, with TNA then being forced to pivot and drop that particular storyline as Book, Nash, and WWE left Carter with a whole lot of main event egg on her face.