10 Times Wrestlers Blatantly Lied To Your Face
WWE and AEW stars have told some whopping fibs over the years. Right to your face!
The wrestling biz is built on lies and pretence. After all, the whole thing is a work. The Rock kindly reminded everyone of that during WrestleMania 41 season by pointing out that eh...the storylines you watch on WWE Raw or SmackDown might not be 100% legit. Thanks for that, sir. It helps to separate jabronie marks without a life that don't know it's a work when you work a work and work yourself into a shoot, brother.
For those not in the know, the chaotic last sentence above was a (now-deleted) Hulk Hogan post on Twitter/X that whipped the community into a frenzy. It'll surprise no-one that 'Hulkamania' is here on this list too - Hogan has told some absolute whoppers over the years, but one in particular sticks out because of everything that was surrounding his career legally at the time.
He's certainly not the only wrestler who has fibbed hard though. Admittedly, some are worse than others at telling porkies. Also, it's worth saying that time does change people's opinions. Still, it is rather fun to look back on certain things workers said with retrospect and realise that they were frankly full of it.
Top stars like Rock, Hulk, John Cena, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair are all included here for your enjoyment. Some wrestlers have grown so accustomed to talking nonsense that it's second nature. They probably don't even notice that they're lying when they open their mouths.
Fans do though. Here are some of the best/worst lies in the industry, including on WWE's side and AEW's. So far!
10. Kurt Angle Chose Baron Corbin Himself
You've got to feel for Kurt Angle. The dude was a force to be reckoned with who took to pro wrestling like a duck to water during his first WWF/WWE run between 1999-2006. Then, he continued building a legacy in TNA before returning to the cosy McMahon nest for Hall Of Fame treatment and the promising lure of more tasty 'dream bouts' before winding down his career.
Then, Vince handed him Baron Corbin.
No, this isn't intended as an unnecessary takedown of Corbs as a worker, but let's face facts here: He wasn't the guy most wanted to see oppose Angle during the Olympian's last hurrah in 2019. Kurt himself even outright admitted that when quizzed by WWE's cameras for a YouTube bit after the 18 March 2019 episode of Raw - he then tried to claim that Baron was his own pick. Nah. Nah, people weren't having that. It was too see-through.
This was an innocent lie from Angle, and one designed to breed acceptance for a WrestleMania 35 match nobody wanted to see. Later, it was revealed that Kurt's claim obviously wasn't true. He was simply towing the party line and doing everything he could to appease bosses. It was a shocking misuse of a true legend's retirement.
Seeing Angle half-heartedly defend the Corbin call told fans tuning in everything. They wanted somebody else because this was actually it for Kurt's HOF career as an active wrestler. Baron was creative collateral, but here was Angle not-so-proudly claiming the duff idea as his own. Even he didn't look convinced.