5. Wayne Rooney Slaps King Barrett
Generally speaking, Wade Barrett has had a rough year in WWE. Traditionally, winning the promotion's 'King Of The Ring' tournament promised that those in charge at least had faith in a wrestler and were interested in pushing them near the top of the card. That wasn't the case for Barrett, who emerged victorious from the 2015 iteration of the tournament in April. Since then, the man has floundered badly. His latest exploits in the League Of Nations do show some promise, but the Englishman is still largely the whipping boy of the group. Even so, he did feature in one of the biggest celebrity moments of the year in WWE. Alongside his countryman, Wayne Rooney, Barrett received some mainstream press. In November, WWE ran their latest UK tour. During the jaunt, Monday Night Raw was filmed live in Manchester. There, Manchester United striker, Rooney slapped Barrett at ringside. The BBC and other mainstream news outlets were all over the skit, but so were fans. Screencaps popped up all over the place, including ones of Rooney looking bemused as the wrestler fell threatrically from his strike.
Jamie Kennedy
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
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