10 Fascinating Facts About WWE In 2013

'Twice In A Lifetime'.

WWE's seemingly ironclad "Once In A Lifetime" claim for a mega-match between John Cena and The Rock became a laughing stock once the promotion booked a sequel in 2013. Suddenly, all of that hype about fans only having one solitary chance to see the heroes clash looked rather silly. CM Punk wasn't laughing.

It'd be another year before he told Vince McMahon and Triple H to stick it, but Punk was already losing the will to fight against WWE's wishes in early-2013. To the man's credit, Punk's hard-headed approach did lead to some blistering TV opposite Rocky on Raw, but things could've been even sweeter for the so-called 'Voice Of The Voiceless' had creative stuck to their guns.

Royal Rumble history was made (and disaster averted), WWE went through a strangely inconsistent fad phase, legends like Dusty Rhodes and Jim Ross had backstage heat aplenty, and one of the most popular women on the roster was almost fired due to some pretty unexpected behaviour behind the curtain.

Also, John Cena flexed his influential muscle to change McMahon minds...

Chris Jericho knew he'd be in "pretty big trouble" if he skipped Royal Rumble.

The ex-'Y2J' wrote in one of his books that a trip to the North American Music Merchants Convention 24 hours before one of WWE’s biggest pay-per-views almost ended in disaster. Jericho got hammered with members of Avenged Sevenfold, and almost got himself arrested near the end of the night. That's when he snapped out of things.

Chris sobered up a little and realised he’d be in hot water if he dared skip the Rumble. The next night, he wrestled for nearly 48 minutes and eliminated Drew McIntyre and Brodus Clay before being tossed out of the ring by Dolph Ziggler. Jericho was in prime physical condition - nobody could've known he was nursing quite the hangover.

Jericho also kept cards close to his chest before the Rumble. He told several podcasts (including one this writer used to host) that he probably wouldn't be there for WrestleMania season. That was a dirty, rotten lie! A good one though, and believable considering his schedule with Fozzy.