10 Most Controversial Storylines Of WWE's PG Era

By the early months of 2009, WWE was hell-bent on getting Randy Orton over as a lead heel. To do that, he was programmed against Triple H in a feud that would run through WrestleMania XXV.

Realising that a straight wrestling rivalry between the two would never do big business, thanks to precedents dating back five years earlier, the decision was made to go in a radical direction.

Orton began attacking the McMahon family, picking them off one at a time. He delivered sickening punt kicks to the heads of both Vince and Shane, then shocked the world by taking Stephanie out with the RKO.

To make matters worse, he later dropped her with a DDT and planted a kiss on her as Triple H watched, restrained and helpless to do anything about it.

While male-on-female violence is never condoned, that was not the end of the controversy surrounding the story.

Orton blamed his behavior on Intermittent Explosive Disorder, a behavioural disorder in which one experiences "sudden episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behaviour or angry verbal outbursts in which you react grossly out of proportion to the situation. Road rage, domestic abuse, throwing or breaking objects, or other temper tantrums may be signs of intermittent explosive disorder" (Mayo Clinic).

For WWE to use a very real, very volatile disorder to explain away the actions of one of its on-screen characters, than have commentators like Michael Cole not only questioning the validity of it, then flippantly dismissing it, was yet another example of the company's ignorance when it comes to mental health.

Thankfully, that element of the program was dropped shortly after the words were uttered for the first time and Orton revealed that it was a ruse to avoid a lawsuit or firing.