10 Hushed Scandals That Rocked Wrestling

9.The Plane Ride From Hell

While the Plane Ride From Hell wasn’t that long ago (it occurred in 2002), it somehow escaped the eyes of the media, whereas today it would be a huge scandal making mainstream news.

The flight was during the era of the initial brand split, and the Raw brand was headed back to the United States after a grueling tour in the UK. Apparently the boys wanted to let off some steam, but a few of them took things way too far.

According to X-Pac in a shoot interview, all of these events went down: many of the wrestlers were openly indulging in a variety of drugs and alcohol. Curt Hennig attempted to wrestle Brock Lesnar, and things got so heated they slammed into the emergency door (he also alleged that on the prior flight Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon wrestled in the aisle). Ric Flair strutted up and down the aisles while naked except for his robe. Michael Hayes almost peed on Linda McMahon, and was was later punched by Bradshaw for re-opening a gash on his head. And because he hated him, X-Pac cut off Hayes’ mullet after he passed out.

The ramifications were many: Hennig was immediately let go, Scott Hall was dismissed as well for allegedly harassing a couple of flight attendants, and having to be pushed out of the airport in a wheelchair by Justin Credible. Goldust was let go too not long after (he drunkenly sang to his ex-wife Terri Runnels over the PA system), and Flair was sued by two of the flight attendants, which WWE settled out of court.

With how incredibly corporate minded the company is today, you can only imagine how much damage this would have done in the current environment, and how many other people would have been suspended or released.