10 Wildest Wrestling Hoaxes Fans Actually Fell For

7. The Big Show Death Hoax

WCW Sting Thumb
WWE.com

People who fabricate death hoaxes are amongst the lowest of the low. They are vermin. 

This sort of thing is very, very quickly debunked, but that doesn’t matter. Even if the subject of the hoax is surrounded by their family when the bullsh*t story “breaks”, that public figure in all likelihood has made connections and friends in different parts of the country or across the world. This is especially true of the nomadic professional wrestler.

The pro wrestler is a particularly cruel victim of the hoax because, while this has since improved, the death rate was alarmingly high in the 2000s. The pro wrestler death, at one point, wasn’t simply plausible: it was a grim, almost monthly inevitability. 

In December 2016, an unconscionable moron purporting to write for a WWE-affiliated blog claimed that Paul ‘The Big Show’ Wight had died in hospital after being involved in a car crash. 

The Associated Press quickly clarified that this was nonsense in a fitting turn of events. 

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!