10 Weirdest Ways To Earn A Wrestling Title Shot

4. Mock The Deceased Father Of Your Rival

Braun Strowman Nicholas
WWE.com

This does require an additional step in the form of a match, but to get to it, you need only be an hilariously insensitive a**hole to your bereaved colleague.

It's an ingenious, if cruel play. By mocking the pain that engulfs your fellow man's entire core, you draw their ire, and willingly endure a beatdown so vicious that the match-maker is faced with no option but to settle the tension in the ring. Otherwise, they risk serious injury to the stars entrusted to make money.

The Big Boss Man delivered a heartfelt eulogy to the Big Show's recently deceased father in the autumn of 1999; for whatever reason, Show misinterpreted it, and sent a dumpster tumbling into a car in which Boss Man and Prince Albert were seated. This miscommunication catalysed a grudge feud so intense that Show demanded a match of Mr. McMahon, who acquiesced under the proviso that Boss Man first defeated the Rock. He did, following interference from Albert.

So the formula is this: befriend a man named after a genital piercing, mock the "dead daddy" of the World Champion, and move up a division.

It's a tactic as ingenious as it is timeless: just last month, Sasha Banks was so unconscionably awful to Natalya that the upstanding Becky Lynch inadvertently set her next challenger.

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!