7 Times WWE Was Plunged Into Chaos

Snowstorms, steroids, and seismic activity.

Chris Benoit Vince Mcmahon
ADRIAN WYLD/AP/Press Association Images

Professional wrestling, and indeed, just about every major industry you can imagine, has never stared down a peacetime crisis on the magnitude and scale of the one the world is currently enduring. Day-to-day life as we know it will be, at least for the next few months, dramatically altered, as sectors such as entertainment, hospitality and travel all adapt to the trying times.

When we emerge from the other side - and we will do so - the healing process will begin. But there is no question that the world, though it may keep turning, won't operate as it once did. Lesson will be learned and ideologies altered in the wake of the emotional and economical damage left behind.

In the context of this doom-mongering, WWE's trials and tribulations seem utterly trivial. And, quite honestly, they are. But, in a noble bid to keep people entertained as more and more of the global population enters confinement, they're keeping on keeping on. It's not ideal, and it seems inevitably temporary, but they're just about finding a way.

Though perhaps the biggest challenge the company has ever faced, it's not the first time they've been plunged into some degree of chaos. They've already learned how to ride out such storms.

7. Snowstorms

Chris Benoit Vince Mcmahon
WWE

Robert Burns wrote, more or less, that "the best laid scheme o' mice and men gang aft agley, nae thanks to the dreadful Scottish weather." What he was trying to say, probably, is that barbecues, holidays, outdoor sporting events, no matter how carefully planned, will inescapably be ruined by the meteorological whims of our great Lord.

And he was bang on, as WWE have found much to their chagrin on multiple occasions. 1993's 'Storm of the Century', which barraged the USA's east coast, forced Raw out of New York's Manhattan Center for the first time. The 15 March episode, now hosted by Gorilla Monsoon, instead aired from Poughkeepsie's Mid-Hudson Civic Center, with many of the company's top talent - including top singles champs Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels - unable to make it.

A similar snowstorm in January 2015 led to even greater disruption. With 29 million people placed under blizzard warning across the north-east, the Royal Rumble fallout Raw from Hartford, CT was postponed, whilst a SmackDown taping in the state was cancelled. To fill the time, WWE produced a special studio show from Stamford, including a re-run of the Rumble's WWE title triple threat, and a weather report from 'Mr. Sunshine' himself, JBL.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.