10 Wrestling Moments More Important Than You Realised
Butterfly effects that changed WWE, AEW and the entire wrestling world.
Wrestling constantly shifts, adapts and evolves.
The industry has been that way forever, and that's the beauty of it. Seismic changes like Vince McMahon scrapping Triple H's planned King Of The Ring win in 1996 (thus paving the way for Steve Austin's first real push) and WCW unthinkably turning Hulk Hogan heel the same summer are well-documented, but...what about those moments with sneaky butterfly effects?
All 10 of the examples given here will be obvious to some astute fans out there, and yet they all have one other thing in common: WWE, WCW, AEW and TNA history was totally re-shaped by them. It might not have been clear at the time they happened, but the future was re-mapped before your very eyes.
Sometimes, even the folks involved didn't see that coming themselves.
Humble managers being fired led to revolutionary promotional start-ups elsewhere, Vince McMahon's backstage anger instilled a hunger for something outside WWE's walls in a company legend, failed comebacks inspired million dollar catchphrases, an innocuous match changed women's wrestling forever and more.
These are the pro wrestling moments way more important than anyone realised at the time.
10. Christian Doesn’t Answer His Phone
That. F*cking. Chant.
"What?!" has plagued hundreds of wrestlers innocently trying to work their way through WWE's wordy scripts since 2001. It's a constant nuisance, and the kind of trolling catchphrase that makes people roll their eyes or angrily snap at live crowds to listen even 20+ years later.
Amazingly, the whole thing started because Christian wouldn't answer his phone. Steve Austin was calling his buddy, but the now-AEW star wouldn't pick up or respond to texts. So, to be a d*ck, 'Stone Cold' left a lengthy voicemail that included plenty of, "What? What? WHAT!?" banter, and both got a kick out of it.
A monster was born after that, and it netted Austin another big lump of cash on merch sales when he printed that one solitary word on a t-shirt. Who could've known that Christian...not picking up his phone would lead to millions of dollars and countless irritated workers in WWE, AEW and beyond?