10 Things That Happened BEFORE Wrestling Matches WWE Won't Tell You

6. Brock Lesnar Is Ordered To Give Randy Orton Head Trauma

brock lesnar randy orton finish
WWE.com

WWE obscured the planned finish to Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton's SummerSlam 2016 match from the referee. That's how guarded everything was.

The idea was to present the match as a shoot, or at least the finish; Lesnar was to go into business for himself to further the idea that he was an uncontrollable mercenary hard-man capable of destroying anybody, even first-ballot Hall of Fame royalty, who was merely designated a "wrestler". The finish was devised by Vince and also somewhat obscured even from Orton.

Lesnar dominated a match with just one meagre hope spot before opening a hole in Orton's head with the sharp points of his elbow. Those points, Orton was told, were to be used to graze his head and draw hardway blood from a scratch. Vince per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter allegedly instructed Lesnar to make it look like he'd taken the instruction relayed to Randy too far, orchestrating a real scene of confusion and panic that extracted organic reactions from Orton and the referee.

Something went awry because it was meant to go awry, but really, this was demented carnying. Everybody got worked, but to what end?

WWE won't tell you this because Orton legitimately suffered a concussion, and it would expose their appalling negligence.

 
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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!