10 of the Most Controversial Incidents in Pro Wrestling History

In an entertainment genre that involves men without pants fighting for a belt, it might seem that there's nothing too outrageous, or taboo, or controversial. Anything goes as long as it is entertaining.

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However, there have been numerous instances during Pro Wrestling's long, illustrious history that have crossed the line of good taste. While offending sensibilities is, in effect, a heel wrestler's job, there are certain subjects that are simply off-limits in polite social circles.

Here are ten times pro wrestling caused controversy among their own fans.

1. Mark Henry's Gerontophilia

For those of you who don't know (or are too lazy to Google) Gerontophilia is characterized as an attraction to members of the opposite sex who are much older than oneself.

If you're thinking this sounds like a terrible idea for a wrestling gimmick, you'd be right. But the WWE did just that, and ran with it for far longer than anyone could have fathomed.

When Mark Henry made his debut, he was riding the high of his World's Strongest Man title, a title he legitimately earned in competition. However, it was the Attitude Era, and everything was being taken to the extreme. Creative decided that Henry should become "Sexual Chocolate" and basically harass the Divas and female members of the audience.

Things got even worse. After Henry gained weight, the WWE punished him by putting him in an angle where he was romantically involved with Mae Young, a woman fifty years his senior. Despite a tepid reaction from fans, the angle dragged on and on. Not only did it hurt Henry's credibility as a wrestler, it also led to another of wrestling's most controversial moments.

2. Mae Young gives birth to a hand

As if Mark Henry's "Granny Fetish" storyline wasn't offensive enough, WWE decided to up the ante by having Mae Young get 'pregnant.'

Things only got worse from there. Eventually Mae Young gave 'birth' on live television, only she didn't produce a baby from her womb. Instead, a very confused and disgusted medical team extracted a gelatin-covered mannequin hand.

And then things got even WORSE, if you can imagine that. Mae Young started carrying the hand around and caring for it as if it were her baby. Mark Henry just appeared as if he wished he were somewhere else. Anywhere else.

If you really want to check out this less than glorious moment, there's a video below.

3. Goldust uses homophobia to win the Intercontinental Title

When WWE acquired Dustin Runnels's services, they had no intention of capitalizing on his famous father--Dusty Rhodes--and his legendary career.

Instead, Dustin became Goldust, the bizarre one. At first, he was intended to become an Oscar statue come to life, but gradually his character became more controversial. When he entered into a feud with Razor Ramon/Scott Hall, Goldust had swung toward using homophobia to throw his opponents off their game.

Goldust professed his 'love' for Razor Ramon, and even displayed a 'tattoo' with a heart and Razor's name inside it on an episode of Superstars.

The trashy, offensive angle mostly just stirred up homophobia among the audience, and was a waste of two talented wrestlers. WWE announcers pushed the idea that when Goldust finally beat Razor for the IC championship, it was because Ramon was so off his game from all of Goldusts's hijinks.

4. The Road Warriors gouge out Dusty Rhodes's eye

In pro wrestling, it's accepted that the performers will attack each other with steel chairs, baseball bats, two by fours, and garbage cans.

But all of those instruments have one thing in common; they are all blunt weapons. Use of an edged weapon is normally completely off limits in the ring, partially because of concern for a wrestler's safety but also because of the fear the children watching might imitate what they see on television.

That's why it was shocking when the Road Warriors ripped off a spike from their ring gear and used it to gouge out Dusty Rhodes's eye on national television. The incident was so graphic JC Productions used a mosaic to partially obscure the action. What was equally horrific to the act itself was Dusty Rhodes's screams of agony, which he sold to the hilt. The NWA received a lot of flak from the angle, and after the obligatory revenge match between Dusty Rhodes and Sting against the Road Warriors, it was never mentioned or referenced again.

5. Million Dollar Man buys a slave

After failing to buy the WWE championship, the Million Dollar Man set his sights on a new goal. He teased for weeks that he would be buying something that wars had been fought over, and that men had chased after since the dawn of time.

What, you might ask, was he talking about? It turns out he wanted to engage in human trafficking with Bobby Heenan, because Dibiase wanted to buy a slave!

The distasteful angle was made worse when they chose a person of color--in this case the Latino Hercules Hernandez--to be the slave. While the whole thing was designed to get Hercules over as a babyface after years of being a heel, fans were offended and couldn't really become emotionally invested in the product. Those fans who weren't offended found the whole concept ludicrous, as slavery has been outlawed all over the world for a century.

6. Lita has a miscarriage on live TV

Actually, there was a LOT going on with this angle that offended the sensibilities. For one, there was the 'forced marriage' angle where Kane coerced Lita into a wedding so Kane wouldn't murder Matt Hardy. Yikes.

Then WWE doubled down on offensive content. During a match with fellow seven-foot wrestler Gene Snitsky, Lita was accidentally knocked off the ring apron by the newcomer. This led to Lita, who was kayfabe pregnant with Kane's child at the time, to lose her baby on national television.

Millions of women around the world suffer miscarriages every year. Mocking their pain and suffering with a tacky wrestling angle showed poor judgment on the WWE's part, as well as having Gene Snitsky come out and taunt Lita about it week after week.

7. Vince makes Trish Stratus strip and bark like a dog

Trish had spent a great deal of time as a heel manager, but WWE was eager to use her as a babyface for their revamped women's/Divas division. The way they decided to turn her to the light side was controversial, to say the least.

It all started when Trish began 'dating' Vince McMahon, currying his favor for special treatment. However, when Trish ran afoul of Stephanie McMahon, Vince brutally dumped Trish on live TV.

Things got worse when Trish came out and begged Vince to take her back. As a condition of her returning to the fold, Vince forced Trish Stratus to act like a dog, walking on all fours and barking, and then made her strip down to her underwear.

While it was all a set up for Trish to join forces with Vince's wife Linda and get her revenge, the segment ended up being a failure. Not only did they alienate a large portion of their female fan base, the male fans in the arena cheered for Trish's humiliation, meaning the act that was meant to show how evil Vince McMahon was ended up getting him pops from the audience.

8. Val Venis is threatened with castration by an Asian gang

You'd think a wrestling porn star would be controversial enough all on his own, but you'd be wrong.

The star in question, Val Venis, made the mistake of seducing Kaientai manager Yamaguchi-san's wife. After Yamaguchi threatened to 'choppy choppy your pee pee' on live television, he then tried to make good on his threat. The fans were treated to a beaten and chained Venis in the backstage area. As Yamaguchi lifted his katana for a violent castration, the lights went out and fans were left wondering if Venis would have to find a new line of work.

The segment was replayed for years by anyone with a beef against pro wrestling as 'proof' of how immoral and degenerative the business was.

9. Austin gets crucified

In the midst of a feud with the Undertaker, Austin probably figured his biggest fear would be a Tombstone piledriver. Little did he know that he would end up crucified on national television.

While Austin was not nailed to a cross, he was chained to the Undertaker's symbol and hung above the arena. The angle offended both religious and non-religious fans alike, and is seen as one of the lower points of the Attitude Era. Despite the controversy, WWE repeated the segment with Stephanie McMahon up on the cross.

10. "Kane" is a necrophiliac

During a feud with Triple H, it was decided that the masked Kane needed an edge to get the fans on his side. The big red machine had recently crossed the line from heel to babyface, and the crowd wasn't popping for him as readily as WWE would have liked.

There were many different ideas they could have come up with to get Kane over. A title reign, saving another babyface from a beatdown, etc, but what they went with was a necrophilia angle.

Triple H donned Kane's mask and then proceeded to molest the 'corpse' of Kane's high school girlfriend Katie Vick. In reality, Triple H only got hot and bothered over a mannequin, but the angle still managed to offend just about everyone.

It's a black eye that the WWE refuses to acknowledge to this day.

There you have it; ten of the most controversial moments from wrestling history. Please comment and let us know if we forgot a moment you found to be controversial.