10 Secret Times Wrestling TV Mirrored Real Life
From behind-the-scenes to in front of screens, these WWE stories hit close to home.
Wrestlers love to say that the best characters are just exaggerated versions of themselves.
The Attitude Era lot love it, and you can see why. Steve Austin got to turn his inner Texan up and sold himself to the world, the Hollywood career lingering within The Rock exploded from inside Dwayne Johnson long before the silver screen came calling, and Triple H was a piece of sh*t to everybody he cared about in relentless pursuit of a WWE Championship he initially didn't really deserve.
As noted, exaggerated versions of themselves.
It's certainly true of many of the industry's biggest stars, but it's interesting that this doesn't necessarily apply to real human beings in far more...normal jobs. Your writer would love to think that the best version of himself is a sincere fan writing these words right now, but the actual best was probably the 16-year-old d*ckhead wearing a Top Man shirt to a rock night in the 1990s pretending to relate to the lyrics of Last Resort by Papa Roach. That stupid pr*ck had it all to play for, and none of it felt like an act after eight alcopops. Real life encourages and actively promotes "fake it 'til you make it". The "fake" world of wrestling wants the opposite.
Perhaps there's something to this world full of carny lies needing that little bit of truth every once in a while? It certainly helped these interactions...
10. Hulk Hogan Ignroes Paul Orndorff
An iconic angle recently revisited following the sad death of Paul Orndorff, Hulk Hogan's ignoring of his newfound friend became the central catalyst for a heel turn and return of "old Mr Wonderful" to sell out buildings nationwide back in 1986.
A rich and textured tale that served as the perfect bridge between Hogan's post-WrestleMania 2 feuds and his legendary rivalry with Andre The Giant in early 1987, the story found Orndorff being forced to defend his relationship with Hogan to heels he'd once shared a side with. They argued he was a lapdog for 'The Hulkster', and his failure to prove them wrong ultimately fed into his violent betrayal.
According to many accounts of Hogan's backstage habits at the time, this wasn't far from the truth. Various accounts recall him becoming withdrawn from some of the talent as his star rose, including having his own dressing room at shows and existing more and more on Vince McMahon's level than that of his peers.
Far from the grisliest of his political choices over the years, it nonetheless marries up well this tremendous feud. Hogan innocently missing Orndorff's calls was misconstrued as the big leaguing he was doing for real.