10 Most Expensive Wrestling Moves Ever

2. Batista's Pricey Blade Job

Batista Chris Jericho Steel Cage
WWE.com

Taking place in November 2008, the 800th episode of WWE Raw had a steel cage contest where Batista defended the World Heavyweight Title against Chris Jericho.

The villainous Jericho would actually get the better of the Animal on this night, and part of the drama of the match was Batista kayfabe getting busted open with a pipe shot to the head. Unfortunately for Big Dave, the reality was this blood was caused by Batista deciding that a blade job was necessary for the bout.

One has to remember, this was at a time with WWE was operating under a 'no blood' policy where blading was strictly off limits. Going against this mandate, Batista took a blade to his forehead and paid a hefty price for doing so.

Following this cage match, Dave was met by a furious Vince McMahon who a week later chose to hit Batista with a hefty $100,000 fine to set an example. Not just that, McMahon handed additional $5,000 fines to Jericho, referee Mike Chioda and producer Dean Malenko.

Taking sole responsibility for this, Batista paid all of these fines - meaning that one pipe shot/blade job set the six-time World Champion back a cool $115,000.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.