10 Wrestling Matches With Backstories You’ll NEVER Believe
8. Dean Malenko Vs. Billy Kidman
When: WCW Souled Out 2000
What Happened: WCW was mayhem by 2000, and this proves it.
Neither Dean Malenko nor Billy Kidman were originally supposed to be in this pay-per-view opener at all. WCW’s “Triple Threat Theatre” series was meant to be between Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett, but a concussion to the latter meant management changed everything last-minute.
Benoit filled in for an injured Bret Hart and worked the World Title main event, and Kidman wrestled members of The Revolution in three distinctly-different bouts. The first was a ‘Catch-As-Catch-Can’ showing vs. Malenko. Rules dictated that wrestlers weren’t allowed to leave the ring, but Dean forgot just two mins into the match so referee Charles Robinson had to call for the bell.
Malenko wasn’t even booked for a singles match on the pay-per-view initially, and probs hadn't been briefed on the stipulation. Remarkably, this botch turned out to be Dean's final WCW match before jumping to the WWF later that same month. What an absolute mess of a situation.