10 Incredible Stories Of Wrestlers' Dedication To Their Character
6. The Good Morning Kuwait Incident
There are dozens of stories of wrestlers going nuts on outsiders who dare utter the word "fake”"in their presence. Some of the more obvious examples (Haku, David Schultz) can likely be written-off as genuine craziness, but the same can’t be said for Vader and The Undertaker, whose 1997 appearance on Good Morning Kuwait still lives in infamy.
Host Basaam Al-Othman uttered the dreaded f-word, and while ‘Taker was clearly annoyed, he at least stayed diplomatic with his answer. The same can’t be said for Vader, however, who leapt from his chair, tipped a table, and grabbed Al-Othman by the throat, screaming “does this feel fake? Does it?!”
Al-Othman did well to stay calm, but the incident landed Vader a few nights in Kuwaiti prison. The whole thing was later revealed as premeditated stunt, with everyone but Basaam in on the act, but that doesn’t change the fact that Vader essentially spent a weekend in jail for the sake of standing up for his character’s integrity. ‘The Mastodon’ was eventually allowed to leave the country after paying a fine, and wrestling was banned in Kuwait for 10 years afterwards, though it’s unclear if this was tied to the incident.