One of the joys of being a modern wrestling fan is having a lens into not only what happens during matches for fans to see, but a combination of dirt sheets, podcasts, tell-all books, and documentaries lending insights into behind the scenes happenings.
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Indeed, while any fan can trace the consequences of a match in kayfabe, fans can now dig a little deeper and have insight into how various matches impacted things backstage, including real-life heat, changing plans or policies, or opening management’s eyes to new possibilities.
10 Hulk Hogan Vs. The Undertaker, WWE Survivor Series 1991
The Undertaker had a career-defining night at Survivor Series 1991. While he had done well in his first year in WWE as a monster heel, there as every possibility of his momentum dissipating when he became one in a series of big men who ultimately fell to Hulk Hogan. Instead, The Undertaker won.
This should have been a night of celebration for the young Dead Man. However, Hulk Hogan suggested that his challenger had injured him with his Tombstone piledriver. At that point, Hogan was still far-and-away the top draw in wrestling and the idea that The Undertaker had accidentally hurt him ruined the night for him. Afterward, when he found out Hogan was apparently only politicking and looking after his spot—and never actually hurt—it led to longer term hard feelings with The Phenom never fully trusting The Hulkster again.
9 Randy Orton Vs. Kofi Kingston, WWE Raw 2010
By fall 2010, Randy Orton was an established main event wrestler, and the unlikely happened when Kofi Kingston was booked to look very competitive with him, even getting the better of some of their exchanges in an extended feud.
RELATED: The History Of Heat Between Randy Orton & Kofi Kingston In WWE, ExplainedThings went awry in a match on Raw however, when Kingston was supposed to set up The Viper to punt him in the head. Kingston purportedly blew the spot, getting to vertical base that made the intended signature spot impossible, and infuriating Orton in the process. A number of accounts suggested Kingston was slated for a big push in the months ahead, but this mistake and confrontation derailed all that. Instead, Kingston would have to wait until 2019 for his main event push.
8 Ric Flair Vs. Mr. Perfect, WWE Raw 1993
In an early episode of WWE Raw, Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair squared off with the stipulation that the loser would have to leave WWE. The match was predictably excellent as the two in-ring virtuosos capitalized on the heat of their storyline for a match that culminated in a Perfectplex, writing off The Nature Boy’s character as he defected to WCW.
An unexpected consequence of the match, however, was that WCW’s head booker, Ole Anderson deeply resented Flair cleanly putting over Perfect on national TV. Anderson thought Flair’s main event credibility was badly damaged, and the match purportedly changed the way he used The Dirtiest Player in the Game upon his return.
7 Booker T Vs. Buff Bagwell, WWE Raw 2001
After WWE bought out WCW, the prevailing narrative was that they intended to relaunch the brand as its own, separate TV property. A number of factors cut off this idea, but one of the more publicly visible ones came when Booker T defended the WCW Championship against Buff Bagwell in a WWE Raw main event.
The match came across poorly. While some of that is on the performers themselves, there are also realities like WWE presenting this match with no meaningful storyline or build—simply putting two of their rival promotions stars out there to work a standalone match. As Bagwell has highlighted in subsequent interviews, they also held the match in Tacoma, Washington—a city with little WCW history—in contrast to Atlanta, Georgia—a defining WCW market—where Raw was taking place just one week later. Whether or not Booker and Bagwell were set up for failure, the match nonetheless took disproportionate blame for WWE canceling plans to relaunch WCW and running the Invasion angle instead.
6 Bryan Danielson Vs. MJF, AEW Revolution 2023
Bryan Danielson and MJF put on a classic at Revolution 2023 when their Iron Man Match for the AEW Championship ran for over an hour. However, the quality of the match—including MJF not only winning, but shutting up those critics who doubted his in ring talent—was overshadowed in some circles by an incident outside the ring. The match included the heel throwing a drink into a child’s face.
The incident created some uproar on social media, though no punishment was publicly handed down. However, this July word leaked of several new policies in AEW, including actions that were banned or at least required explicit permission. They included “Taking drinks or food from guests in the crowd” and “physical contact with the crowd.” It’s possible these were just good, common sense rules the company wanted to establish, but reading between the lines, a number of fans presumed AEW felt a need to tighten the reigns months after MJF’s exploits.
5 Team Lakers Vs. Team Nuggets, WWE Raw 2009
The story of Mr. Kennedy’s WWE career is largely defined by big opportunities cut short by injuries, backstage conflicts, and other happenstance that derailed a prospective main event talent.
Kennedy was just one face in the crowd representing the five-man babyface team against a five-man heel team in Los Angeles, May 2009, after WWE had been displaced in Denver by the NBA Playoffs and found refuge in LA. The big story coming out of the match, though, was that Randy Orton accused Kennedy of being reckless in the ring and dropping him high on his neck. Main event star Orton going up against Kennedy seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, culminating in WWE releasing Kennedy.
4 Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels, House Show 1992
In his book, Bret Hart discussed introducing the Ladder Match concept to WWE, after it had been used in his father’s Stampede territory. The test case to prove the gimmick was The Hitman defending the Intercontinental Championship against Shawn Michaels in a Ladder Match that was never shown on TV (though it was recorded for home video).
RELATED: The History & Evolution Of The Ladder Match In WWE, ExplainedThe match came off well enough that it inspired WWE to give the gimmick another go when Michaels and Razor Ramon vied for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 10. Their encounter stole the show, but it and all the Ladder, TLC, and related matches that followed may never have happened had Hart and Michaels not quietly put on such a good match in 1992.
3 Dustin Rhodes Vs. The Blacktop Bully, WCW Uncensored 1995
After rising through the ranks and appearing to be on the cusp of main event status, Dustin Rhodes found himself caught on a mid-card treadmill in 1994 and 1995, feuding with Col. Rob Parker’s Stud Stable.
Things came to a head at the Uncensored PPV, when Rhodes faced The Blacktop Bully in a King of the Road match, in the back of a moving truck. Both men bladed without permission, and the result was not only Bully (Barry Darsow, who was more famous in gimmicks like Smash and Krusher Kruschev) but the once rising babyface star Rhode losing their jobs. Another unexpected consequence was that this personnel change led to the creation of Goldust in WWE.
2 Chris Jericho Vs. Chyna, WWE Survivor Series 1999
After Chris Jericho jumped from WCW to WWE, one of his first feuds was opposite Chyna. As Jericho described in his second book, the situation was far from ideal. Chyna was not a polished in-ring worker, and on top of that, she was in a relationship with Triple H. While The Game wasn’t yet a WWE executive, he was a rising star with political influence.
RELATED: Chyna Vs Chris Jericho: The Feud That Got Y2J In Trouble Backstage In WWEFrom Jericho’s account, Chyna and Triple H criticized him for not working safely with The Ninth Wonder of the World. So, after already getting some heat for his early promo work in WWE, Y2J found himself also walking a tight rope to put on good matches while also looking out for the ego his inexperienced opponent.
1 The Brothers Of Destruction Vs. Kronik, WWE Unforgiven 2001
Amidst the Invasion angle, The Undertaker and Kane faced off with one of late-WCW’s standout teams, Kronik. The Phenom himself purportedly advocated for the match, based on prior friendships with his opponents and wanting to build them up as big man rivals.
The bout was very poorly received, however, as the crowd never seemed to buy into Kronik as a threat, and the match dragged out for a full ten minutes, testing everyone’s patience. The match wound up being the end of the road for both members of Kronik as they were both gone from WWE within two months.
