10 Wrestlers Who Broke Kayfabe In Unusual Ways

Becky Lynch earns millions from giving the game away in Billions, and Cody pulls back the curtain.

Becky Lynch
WWE

Is kayfabe dead?

Signs were very literally there as early as 1997 when an extremely visible banner declaring the concept's demise featured at key points during WWE's incendiary In Your House: Canadian Stampede pay-per-view. And yet, on this very same card, a partisan Calgary crowd treated the local heroes as the biggest sports team to ever swing through the Saddledome. Wrestling's secrets were apparently more exposed than ever before, yet the civil war the company had smartly whipped up underneath Bret Hart and Steve Austin's legendary rivalry felt realer than just about anything else in the industry.

The magic was drummed up by dark arts practitioners, as it still is decades later. As it was in 1989, weeks and months after Vince McMahon went on record as saying it was predetermined "Sports Entertainment" in order to dodge a specific tax in New Jersey. He wasn't even the first, but he spoke loudest had the most to gain.

His churlish methods were proven the right ones. WWE continued its unabated charge across the map of North America, with existing and new punters fairly unbothered by the supposed lid-lifting. Wrestling survived the opening of a sizeable forbidden door back then, as it would and did during these particularly strange similar cases...

10. Riddle Forgets His Lines

Becky Lynch
WWE

In what might have been a turning point for Riddle's entire WWE run, an inability to stick to the intense and immense scripting of a typical edition of Monday Night Raw ended well for him following a clunky chat with Asuka.

Just days before a WrestleMania United States Championship clash with Sheamus, the 'Original Bro' scooted over to the then-Raw Women's Champion to strike up a chat about his vehicle of choice. After asking her about their prevalence in Japan, he completely forgot what he was saying, said as much, and sheepishly dipped out of shot.

Plenty of others have been fired for less, but Vince McMahon reportedly found the gaffe hilarious. Riddle's continued success ever since bears this out, with his lines being increasingly stupid and insufferable as if to legitimise the mistake as anything but.

Such is life in the strange universe WWE has cultivated - when absolutely nothing holds together, the oddest sh*t will stick.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett