5 Most Traumatic WWE Moments Of The Early 90's

I grew up in the 1980s. Long before bicycle helmets became a requirement, we would spend our summer days outside, playing baseball, and sliding into home with shorts on.

When we didn't have a field to play in, we would play in the streets, only stopping the game to make way for oncoming traffic.

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We skinned our knees, came home with bruises, played with fireworks, went swimming on our own, and spent our days exploring.

Well before cell phones came into existence, we lived on a dream and imagination. Long before Al Gore invented the internet, our parents rolled up their sleeves and worked themselves out of the lackluster Carter economy. We waited all week for Saturday morning cartoons and along with them, professional wrestling.

We had WWF Superstars on Saturday morning and WWF Wrestling Challenge on Sunday. Both one-hour programs were directly marketed to children.

Along with GI Joe, Masters of the Universe, and Thundercats, they were a regular part of our cartoon regimen.

We were quite aware that the tale of Prince Adam was a fable, but, to us, professional wrestling was very much real.

The word 'kayfabe' was never uttered and we didn't have online dirt sheets to reveal (and ruin) plot lines. Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior were larger than life superheroes, but unlike Superman and Batman, the WWE's dynamic duo were not confined to a fictional universe.

To us, they were very much real and always inevitably confounded the forces of evil. Often led by the likes of Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan and 'The Million Dollar Man' Ted DiBiase, evil did its best, but ultimately good prevailed and all was right with the world, at least on our early morning weekend television sets.

Vince McMahon (whom we thought was only an announcer) didn't have a publicly traded company and had fewer advertisers to appease. The WWE television of the early 1990s would never be marketed to children of today.

The company wouldn't be able to get it passed focus groups and the letter writing campaigns of angry suburban moms would be enough to cause advertisers to put pressure on the company to change its ways. Things have certainly changed since then.

In the early 90s, there were moments that were truly shocking and left WWE's viewers (mostly children) with jaws agape.

Some of the most shocking moments could even be described as traumatic. We didn't have the internet to go to for comfort or spoilers.

The most traumatic moments were left as cliffhangers, at the end of a one hour show. We had to wait another seven days to find out what happened next. Seven days is a long time for the imagination, especially the imaginings of children.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I unpack the 5 Most Traumatic WWE Moments of the Early '90s.

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#5 The Ultimate Warrior Is Cursed

The Ultimate Warrior & Voodoo Priest Papa Shango

The Ultimate Warrior was Parts Unknown's answer to Hulk Hogan and he had some interesting things to say, I think.

To put it simply, much of what he said was unintelligible. We didn't really need to understand him because he wore blindingly bright neon, ran like a bat out of hell, and made an amazing Hasbro action figure. That was enough for us.

Warrior was almost always associated with the bizarre. He once mumbled on about tearing open a cockpit door and crashing Hulkamania's proverbial plane. This was before the 9/11 era, of course, and before the company was publicly traded.

Warrior once talked about nightmares being the best part of his day and pontificated on the joys of being run over by a lawnmower. After a barely clothed man in tassels openly talks about his penchant for torture, there isn't much left to shock us, right?

Enter Papa Shango. Better known for his role as The Godfather during the Attitude Era, Charles Wright first entered the WWE landscape as a terrifying voodoo priest.

The 330-pound Shango would make his way to the ring while donning a top hat, a skull that would ooze smoke, and a terrifying magical staff. His body would gyrate uncontrollably. He was our version of American Horror Story's Papa Legba, only he arrived on the scene twenty plus years earlier and dominated a children's show.

Even more terrifyingly, Shango's opponents seemed to be under a voodoo curse and Shango would vanquish the vast majority of them with relative ease. Surely this voodoo magic wouldn't work on The Ultimate Warrior, or so we thought.

Even the Warrior; however, wasn't safe from Shango's encroaching black magic. The Ultimate Warrior took to to an episode of WWE Superstars to assure children all over the world that he and his little Warriors were safe from Papa Shango's evil spells.

Warrior actually went as far as to say that his Warriors (adoring young fans) were the force behind his inability to be cursed. That's when all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, The Ultimate Warrior, under Shango's curse, began bleeding from his forehead. Of course, he didn't have normal red blood. His green lifeblood dripped all over his brand new WWF jacket. That alone was traumatic. Do you know how expensive that merchandise was?

The announcers screamed, "What is that? Where did that come from? What's going on." The crowd went silent, as children became painfully aware that despite what their Warrior had just said, they were actually powerless against Papa Shango and the forces of darkness.

Children looking for assurance from The Ultimate Warrior found none. Instead, Warrior's blood now turned red, dripped onto his palms. A mesmerized Warrior simply screamed, "Warrior," as the segment came to an end and children all around the world found their way to therapy.

#4 The Undertaker Dies and Is Resurrected

The Undertaker Addresses The Universe From His Casket

There was a time when The Undertaker was virtually unbeatable, especially when partaking in his forte: The Casket Match.

On the other hand, former WWE Champion Yokozuna suffered from claustrophobia and was terrified of caskets. The Undertaker and his manager Paul Bearer took advantage of Yokozuna's phobias and began taunting the 700 pounder with a double deep, double wide, custom made casket.

Because Vince McMahon is funny that way and apparently unsympathetic toward phobics, he booked a Casket Match between Yokozuna and Undertaker. Although Yokozuna was a superb competitor, he shouldn't have a chance against The Undertaker in a Casket Match.

Children everywhere expected The Undertaker to win. When every heel character in the WWE came to Yokozuna's aid, from Crush to an oddly clean shaven Bam Bam Bigelow, young Undertaker fans knew that someone would come to save their favorite Dead Man. It never happened.

WWE trained children to believe that when their favorite Superstars were facing an unjust and uneven onslaught, some hero would come running through the curtains to even the score. This time; however, The Undertaker was on his own.

As Paul Bearer screamed in agony, a legion of WWE's heels rolled The Undertaker into the casket and his destiny was sealed. Where was Razor Ramon? Where was Bret Hart? None of WWE's top faces seemed to care that The Undertaker was being murdered on live television.

As his casket was being rolled out by some of the most unscrupulous heels in wrestling history, smoke began to emanate from its ghostly chambers.

The familiar gong resonated throughout the arena and a picture of The Undertaker, from inside the casket, appeared on the monitor.

He opened his eyes and sent us all into therapy,

"The spirit of The Undertaker lives within the soul of all mankind. The eternal flame of life that can not be extinguished, the origin of which can not be explained. The answer lies in the everlasting spirit. Soon all mankind will witness the rebirth of The Undertaker."

As his pale white eyes rolled into the back of his head, Undertaker vowed, "I will not rest in peace." He then apparently passed away, as his bone-chilling theme song played throughout the arena and to millions of children watching on television. Yes, we paid for this and were all guilty co-conspirators to a live murder.

It wasn't over yet. In a last-ditch effort to provide us with lifelong nightmares, The Undertaker's soul (yes, his soul) resurrected and free floated from the monitor out into the arena. We weren't seeing things. The Undertaker was levitating. We had just witnessed WWE's version of the Jesus story live at the Royal Rumble and it only cost us $29.99, on top of the life long visits to the psychiatrist's office.

Imagine the school conversations the very next day, as we attempted to explain to one another what we'd just witnessed.

For those of us that attended religion class, it made for some very interesting dialogue, as well. No religion could ever claim exclusivity to the resurrection any longer, as we had all just witnessed a resurrection on live television and as we all know, everything in professional wrestling is 100% real.

#3 Earthquake Murders Damien

Earthquake, Jake 'The Snake' Roberts, and Damien

Almost everyone has a favorite pet that they have cared for and cherished as a beloved member of the family. In the early 1990s, the aptly named Jake 'The Snake' Roberts had one such pet: Damien.

Damien wasn't only beloved by Jake, but by the entire WWE Universe, as well. Children, in particular, loved the snake, who became as popular as any wrestler on the roster.

I often imagined having such a pet, one day, when I could find other people that would appreciate the love that could be shared with a 13-foot cold-blooded reptile that swallowed its prey whole. I'm still searching.

Roberts became one of the company's top faces and took advantage of the psychological edge Damien gave him. While children loved snakes, adults seemed terrified of them. This included behemoths like Earthquake.

Earthquake despised Damien and came up with a maniacal plot to take the life of Roberts' best friend.

After attacking Roberts, Earthquake finagled a way to tie Roberts down with the ropes. Roberts was helpless, as Earthquake reached for Damien's bag. Jake screamed out in agony, but no one came to his or Damien's rescue. The only answer Roberts received for his desperate cries, were a couple of stiff blows from Earthquake.

As Roberts' eyes teared up, Earthquake carefully centered the bag that housed Damien and began to jump up and down shaking the entire ring in the process.

He then ran from one rope to another and all 450 pounds of Earthquake came crashing down onto the helpless Damien. For good measure, he did this once more.

Eventually, Roberts was freed from the ropes and went to check on his reptilian friend. As we suspected, it wasn't good.

While WWE spared us from having to look at the obviously dead, squashed, boa constrictor, Roberts' reaction told us all we needed to know. Damien was dead.

WWE had just killed a pet on Saturday morning television, as children the world over sat and watched in stunned silence behind an onslaught of tears.

I went to check on my dog and hugged him tighter than ever before, but not too tight. We didn't want another Damien situation on our hands.

#2 "Macho Man" Bit By Lucifer

Macho Man Being & The Maniacal Jake Roberts

Something snapped in Jake Roberts. Perhaps it was Damien's murder (see #3 on this list) or it could have been what savvy wrestling fans knew all along, Jake Roberts was a gifted heel.

His soft-spoken demeanor, once accepted by fans, now suddenly became sinister. He started speaking of darkness, evil, and pain. Then he replaced Damien, not with another boa constrictor, but with a terrifying cobra named Lucifer, as in the Biblical Lucifer, i.e. Satan, the prince of evil.

While the wrestling world celebrated the on-screen marriage of 'Macho Man' Randy Savage and his longtime manager Miss Elizabeth, Roberts simply couldn't bring himself to join in the festivities. Instead, he presented the couple with a present, a box that when opened revealed a hissing, angry Lucifer.

The feud between Savage and Roberts intensified thereafter. After all, Roberts had done his very best to ruin Savage's wedding with a deadly and poisonous snake. He would go on to continually disrespect Savage and Elizabeth in his promos.

Once again, on Saturday morning's WWE Superstars, Roberts coaxed Randy Savage out to the ring and after briefly brawling, was able to tie 'Macho Man' down with the ropes. Savage kicked and squirmed, but to no avail. He was stuck, helpless, like a fly in a spider's web.

Roberts, ever maniacal, reached his hand into his bag and pulled out the menacing Lucifer, who looked hungry and intent to murder.

The cobra hissed and looked directly into the camera at the world's children. "Lucifer is watching," I thought. Lucifer then aggressively struck at Savage. The cobra's jaws protruded and its sharp fangs penetrated Savage's arm.

A panicked Vince McMahon told children everywhere, "That snake better be de-venomized. He better be." Are you telling me, we might be watching the murder of Randy Savage, only minutes after watching our Saturday morning cartoons? If anyone would do it, it would be Roberts.

The snake, as Vince McMahon, described began 'gnawing' on Savage's arm. Blood, which has since been edited out of the footage, was shown pouring out of Savage's bicep. Roberts seemed to be toying with Lucifer, shaking the snake, but later revealed that he had trouble getting the snake to release its bite on Savage. This was real.

Elizabeth ran to the ring. She shrieked and screamed, as Vince McMahon comforted us all in his own way, "I don't think that snake has been de-venomized. This was not supposed to happen."

When Savage was finally able to release himself from the ropes, he appeared dizzy, off balance, and undoubtedly poisoned.

Savage could barely stand and was on the brink of losing consciousness. McMahon confirmed our worst suspicions, "The poison is flowing through his veins."

The segment ended with Roberts looking into Lucifer's eyes and letting out the most wicked laugh ever seen on television.

As Roberts cackled the painful truth set in. The world's children just endured an attempted murder via cobra bite and would have to wait until next week to find out, if Roberts had been successful in killing Savage.

#1 The Ultimate Warrior Gets Locked In An Airtight Casket

Undertaker puts Warrior in the casket

Death and taxes. Those are the only two things one can be assured of in life. Both were represented in WWE. Taxes were covered by Irwin R. Schyster, but death was Undertaker's realm.

The Ultimate Warrior would make a grave mistake by appearing on Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlor in 1991.

Bearer revealed a custom made casket featuring Warrior's logo. Warrior's attention was so hyper-focused on Bearer and his enticements that he didn't notice The Undertaker sneaking out of another casket behind him.

As expected, The Undertaker attacked Warrior, incapacitating him with a stiff blow from the steel urn. What happened next is the single most traumatic WWE moment of my entire childhood.

The Undertaker slammed Warrior into the casket and with Bearer's assistance, locked it using special funeral home tools. I was terrified. We all were. The announce team didn't help matters.

A solemn Roddy Piper questioned, "How's he gonna breathe in there?" The Undertaker and Paul Bearer then simply left, leaving the Warrior alone and locked in the darkness of the airtight casket. They took the tools with them.

Officials attempted to pry Warrior from his fate, but they lacked the special instruments required to open the locked casket. The Warrior's fate was sealed in the confines of that airtight casket.

The officials found a crowbar and with all their might attempted to pry the casket open, but their efforts were fruitless. The situation was dire and things looked grave. Piper, ever the calm one, screamed, "Get him out of there."

The anxiety medication companies love this stuff. McMahon reiterated, "He has no air." Officials nervously attempted to drill air holes to get some air into the casket, as other members of the crew hammered away with whatever tools they could find.

The combined noises of the clanging and the announcers screaming were terrifying enough, but when they finally opened the casket, Warrior lay motionless. Piper narrated, "He tried to claw his way out." He tried.

The lifted lid revealed that The Ultimate Warrior was nonresponsive. He was dead on Saturday morning television.

With millions of children watching, officials tried to perform something that looked like CPR, but nothing seemed to work. Piper confirmed what we all already knew in our hearts, "He's stopped breathing." Officials began desperately pushing on Warrior's chest in a last ditch effort to get his heart pumping on its own again.

As the world waited in eager anticipation and children were praying (and crying) like never before, Warrior began coughing and more importantly breathing. All in all, Warrior was in the airtight casket for four minutes, but it seemed like hours. What was his condition? Would he ever be able to wrestle again? Would he live? We were forced to wait another week for an update.