10 Wrestling "Shoots" That Were Total Works
8. Lance Storm Vs. William Regal
Though not one of the most-publicized items on this list, a Raw match between William Regal and Lance Storm drew a fair bit of controversy during the week it took place in 2001.
On the 1 October episode of the show, Commissioner Regal booked Storm in a match against himself later in the show, and what followed was a relatively one-sided rout. Though Storm got some early offense in (which led to Regal getting a bloody nose), the Commissioner soon hit back, devastating Storm with some very fierce-looking blows. After only 1:37, the Brit locked in the Regal Stretch, forcing Storm to submit.
On his website, Storm was inundated with questions from fans as to whether things had gone as planned - many suspected that Regal got angry when Storm accidentally busted him open, leading to a very angry, very quick beating in retaliation.
Fans of real-life drama were left disappointed, however. As Storm explained, everything went according to plan - the grapplers weren't given much time to begin with, and Regal is just very, very good at making his offense look particularly painful. As for the nosebleed, the future King of the Ring was suffering from sinus problems that made him bleed in many of his matches and would require surgery in 2002.