6 Times WWE Superstars forgot their lines

Modern WWE operates in an entirely different way than the old days, such as The Attitude Era, for example. If the company's officials went to Stone Cold Steve Austin in the late 90s or early 2000s and offered him a script to read word-to-word, he would likely rip it apart or throw it away.

Gone are the days where superstars had that same level of leverage to simply decline the idea of reading from a script. Modern WWE is more controlled and there are no superstars on the roster who are bigger than the company itself.

In fact, it could be argued that Vince McMahon's promotion intentionally keeps it this way, which is why we will likely never see a megastar of the caliber of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, or John Cena.

This list looks at six instances where superstars completely forgot their lines. It made for some awkward moments, some hilarious, and some in cases, it turned out better than what was originally planned.

This list also highlights why WWE Superstars are likely better off learning how to cut impromptu promos on the fly and not read from scripts word-to-word:

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#6. The Miz forgets his lines not long after his WWE debut

The Miz is now one of the most established veterans on the main roster and is undoubtedly a future Hall of Famer. While he grew up as a professional wrestling fan, he didn't take the traditional route to WWE.

Instead, he was involved in reality TV with MTV and only had a year of professional wrestling experience under his belt before he joined Tough Enough in 2004. While he didn't win the tournament, he was offered a developmental contract with WWE.

Two years later, he debuted on SmackDown in various roles and was involved as the host of the Divas Search competition. When mentioning the number he was supposed to regarding the competition, he completely forgot.

Speaking on the WWE 24 documentary focused on him, The Miz revealed that he thought he was going to be fired after the promo. He apologized to Vince McMahon, and this is what happened:

“I remember going backstage thinking, ‘I’m going to get fired.’ And I walk back, I went over to Vince, I go, ‘I’m so sorry, I apologize, this will never happen again. I will make sure it will not happen again.’ He goes, ‘I know it won’t happen again.’ He took me aside and he said, ‘Bullet points, kid. You need to learn bullet points, and I know you will do better next time because you will have to do it next Friday.’ So it was like, ‘Oh, I’m not fired,’” said The Miz.

The A-Lister is one of the longest-tenured members of the roster and is the only superstar in modern WWE to become a two-time Grand Slam Champion.

#5. Braun Strowman awkwardly forgets his lines on WWE RAW when calling out Brock Lesnar

It was early 2018 and everyone was gearing up for the WWE Royal Rumble. While Braun Strowman wouldn't compete in the Men's Royal Rumble match that year, he had an opportunity against Universal Champion Brock Lesnar in a triple threat bout also involving Kane.

In early January 2018, Strowman teased a confrontation with Lesnar, and after he called out The Beast Incarnate to the ring, he seemed to awkwardly forget his lines. Bryan Alvarez confirmed on Wrestling Observer Live that The Monster Among Men did, in fact, forget his lines. He continued, saying:

“[Braun] Strowman’s a big guy, people like him. He does those trainwreck segments that everybody thinks is great. The reality is he’s not your top guy. He cannot deliver in the ring unless you’ve got gimmicks. Straight professional wrestling matches I mean he’s not top level.” (H/T Bodyslam.net)

Braun Strowman would unsuccessfully challenge for the Universal title at Royal Rumble - a bout where he famously got legitimately punched in the head by Brock Lesnar.

Strowman went on to become the Universal Champion two years later in 2020. A little over a year after that, he was released by WWE.

#4. WWE legend Randy Orton forgets his lines on the RAW after WrestleMania 29

This is perhaps the best example on this list that proves that no matter how much of a veteran one is in WWE, they're still prone to mistakes. By this point, Randy Orton was already in the company for over a decade and an established world champion-caliber performer.

At WrestleMania 29, Orton teamed up with Sheamus and The Big Show to face relative newcomers The Shield - all of whom were making their debut at The Grandest Stage of Them All.

The Shield rightly won the bout, and there was dissent between Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show. On the RAW after WrestleMania, Orton had a confrontation with The Celtic Warrior.

In what is now looked back at as a hilarious moment, The Viper forgot his lines and went up to Sheamus and quietly asked him "what's my line?" The Irish star was luckily aware and fed Orton his line. Dave Scherer of PWInsider wrote:

"Before the fans went nuts on Randy Orton and Sheamus on Monday night, the two men did a promo segment in the ring. At one point, Orton clearly forgot his line and walked over to Sheamus to ask him what it was. Sheamus told him and he delivered it."

This is perhaps the most glaring example of how any superstar, no matter how experienced, can make a mistake. It also highlights the problems with overly-scripted promos - because Randy Orton cuts good promos otherwise.

#3. Riddle forgets his lines with a priceless reaction from WWE Executives

It was not long before WWE's road to WrestleMania 37 wrapped up, and Riddle was the reigning United States Champion. He was involved in a backstage segment with then-RAW Women's Champion Asuka, and they exchanged formalities before The Original Bro asked her if scooters were big in Japan.

Mid-sentence, he seemed to forget his line and just went away, leaving Asuka with a puzzled reaction. Even the commentators seemed a bit bewildered, laughing and saying that Riddle lived in a world of his own.

This is perhaps one example on this list of how forgetting lines has made a segment more memorable. Had it not been for this moment, nobody would have been talking about it.

Speaking to Bleacher Report, Riddle revealed what happened when he forgot his lines on RAW and the reaction from WWE Executive Bruce Prichard:

“They had me talking about robot fights and Tokyo underground battle bots, there was a lot there. In my defense, they waved me over and I thought it was just a rehearsal. I was like, 'Nooooo!' I thought I messed up so bad. I was like, 'Shoot. I can't believe I did that.' But then Bruce Prichard and everybody thought it was better than what was written for me,” said Riddle.

He would go on to lose the United States Championship to Sheamus, while Asuka lost the RAW Women's title to Rhea Ripley. Given Riddle's character on and off the screen, this made for a hilarious moment.

#2. Batista forgets his lines ahead of his WWE retirement match

At WrestleMania 35, Batista called it quits to his WWE and professional wrestling career. While they could have made a big deal out of it, The Animal chose to reveal that he was retired only afterward out of respect for Kurt Angle - who also had his farewell match that night.

Batista returned to the company after nearly five years to set up his retirement match against Triple H. Although the bout itself went on to be a masterclass of pro wrestling psychology, it went under the radar.

Perhaps the most well-remembered moment of the feud was early on when Batista cut his famous "Give me what I want!" promo. For the uninitiated, he wanted to challenge The Game to a WrestleMania match and went on to repeat "Give me what I want!" numerous times, making the segment more hilarious than intense.

Batista revealed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet that he had to drag out the promo because he didn't remember his lines:

"We didn't really figure it out. We didn't talk about it. It was not written down. So there were certain things we were looking for in that promo. There were some things I had not said, so we kept dragging it out. I wasn't sure what it was, so I had to keep escalating, because once I went there, I could not go back. So we kept screaming louder and louder, I was waiting for his cue and he was waiting for my cue and we were not getting there. Finally it dawned on me I needed to say something in that promo, I don't remember exactly what it was. That's why it got bigger and bigger and bigger, it wasn't intentional," said Batista.

Footage of Batista going up to Vince McMahon backstage after the segment was shown on WWE 24, and although The Animal apologized, McMahon said that it made his anger and intensity look more authentic.

#1. Roman Reigns fumbles his lines in a promo war against WWE legend John Cena

WWE made sure to completely leave out the fact that John Cena and Roman Reigns had faced off in 2017 before their blockbuster SummerSlam 2021 main event.

The landscape and context of their 2017 and 2021 feuds were entirely different. In 2017, the company was still trying to establish Reigns as the top babyface, but their attempts continued to fail because of a forced babyface push and fan rejection.

The Tribal Chief wasn't ready to be the babyface that WWE wanted him to be, and this was exemplified none more so than during his promo battle against John Cena on RAW in 2017.

When Reigns was hitting back at Cena, there was a moment where he forgot his lines. Rather than covering it up, John Cena added to the tension of the moment by saying "I'll wait", and then "It's called a promo, if you want to be the big dog you're going to have to learn to do it".

TalkSport recounted the moment:

"[Roman] Reigns seems to forget his lines and doesn't say anything for around 30 seconds before calling Cena a "phony", a "yes man" and a "part-timer," while accusing him of "burying young talent to stay at the top of the mountain."

Overall, the segment gave a bad look to Roman Reigns while exposing how big a gap in levels there was between him and John Cena. It should be noted that at this point, Cena had been a part-timer for nearly two full years.

While Reigns was always going to get the victory at No Mercy 2017, the match didn't deliver, and the feud didn't do what the company hoped it would.

Luckily, they had the opportunity to re-do it in 2021, this time with Roman Reigns established as the top superstar. The dynamic was entirely different with him as a heel, and it felt more natural. Their bout in the main event of SummerSlam 2021 delivered as well.