10 Wrestling Moments You Thought Were Kayfabe (That Were Actually Real)
7. The OG Screwjob
A solid 12 years before Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels kick-started an era stuffed full of Attitude, another jaw-dropping screwjob unfolded during a Madison Square Garden show under Vince McMahon's WWF banner.
Set to defend her Women's Championship against a masked performer known as The Spider on the night, the contest abruptly reached its conclusion when the challenger suddenly dispatched Wendi Richter by pinning her shoulders to the mat. What followed the faster than usual count was a seemingly brassed-off Richter launching a post-match beatdown on what was eventually revealed to be The Fabulous Moolah under the mask.
Yet, this post-forced-pin attack was about as real as it came, with Richter not informed of the plan beforehand that had been set into motion by McMahon after the talent was said to have refused to play ball on a new contract. P*ssed at the series of unexpected events she'd been caught in the middle of, Richter reportedly left the arena in her full gear, caught a flight out of New York, and never spoke to Moolah again in the years that followed.