10 Times Wrestlers Called Out Their Own BS

Chris Jericho thought little of Orange Cassidy...until his brilliance beat that take to a pulp.

HHH Paige
WWE

You tell on yourself when you clutch too dearly to a narrative.

If you can't let it go, despite almost definitive evidence to the contrary, you can all but be written off as a tedious bad faith actor. And some don't mind that. To them, it's all a grift designed to extract praise and money from a mutated fanbase. They will, after all, lap up anything. They are fanatical. But they risk diminishing their base and their profile, which again, fine - particularly if they've proven themselves unemployable elsewhere.

Wrestling Twitter is trapped in constant and exhausting battle in which figures are distorted, minimised, excused. In which language is parroted and mutated beyond its original meaning. It's a putrid experience, particularly since you can't reason with the unreasonable.

The very best thing you can do, to appear credible and not be a total ar*ehole, is to admit when you're wrong. It's a sign of maturity, of growth, even if it's a mere, shrewd PR move designed to add weight to that narrative. You can easily separate the bad faith actors from those willing to accept their flaws.

They just have to let sh*t go and own up...

10. Stephanie McMahon

HHH Paige
WWE

Mercifully, Stephanie McMahon has all but vanished as an onscreen presence in 2020, surfacing only to b*llock people for adhering to the script as if that script didn't exist - as if they, not the writers that come up with this sh*t, were the smooth-brains.

"Pulling on a referee shirt? You think that gives you authority?" Steph asked Bayley. She phrased the question as if it was the dumbest thing a human being could possibly do. Your da came up with it, you dipsh*t!

What a tremendous way of getting stars over. Just textbook.

She has however made the media rounds, during which she exercised a quite stunning self-awareness. And by self-awareness, read "Obscures root of the issue and blames some Performance Center unknowns for failing to draw numbers in unadvertised matches with no stakes". Speaking to Forbes, McMahon laid the blame for WWE's awful spring and summer entirely on the shoulders of Brendan Vink:

"We tried bringing in our developmental talent to see if that would help in terms of some type of audience but it just wasn’t enough."

Stupid Denzel Dejournette. Doesn't know how to work.

A nonsensical and unconvincing burial, McMahon without expressly saying it did essentially admit that the Performance Center shows were grim and lifeless and revealed how little depth and craft there is to WWE without the smoke and mirrors.

This is as close as a McMahon will get.

Contributor
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!