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When there is something that two or more sides disagree on and debate and challenge one another passionately, that’s controversy. In pro wrestling, controversy can take on multiple forms, from allegations of backstage politicking for the benefit of one’s career to the endless debate of one wrestler or another over said person’s abilities or lack thereof.
Wrestling has been full of controversial moments, storylines and persons, all of whom have caused great debate among pro wrestling fans. Even today, wrestling fans everywhere have strong debates over certain wrestlers’ personas, booking directions and overall presentation. These debates have also spilled into actual wrestling shows, where some segments of the audience will try and out-chant another because of controversy surrounding the wrestlers performing before them.
Below we’ll look at ten superstars that have fallen victim to this wave of controversy, but have managed to benefit from it instead of being consumed by it.
#10 The Rock
The Rock was a highly controversial character during his initial run, and that ended up benefitting him in a major way. His initial run, during which he was named ‘Rocky Maivia’, he was booed vociferously, much like how Roman Reigns is booed now.
That controversy led to Rocky realizing that his ‘blue chipper’ gimmick wasn’t working and that he needed to take advantage of those controversial reactions. So he dropped that babyface gimmick, became ‘The Rock’ and the rest, as they say, is history.
He ended up becoming one of the biggest babyfaces in history and without a doubt the best speaker in WWE history; yet this wouldn’t have ever happened if the Rock hadn’t taken advantage of the controversial reaction he got when he first debuted.
#9 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was a controversial character for quite some time, even though he was so wildly popular. Austin’s anti-authority gimmick, a penchant for flipping people off and on-screen alcoholism made him the perfect antihero through which millions of fans wanted to live vicariously.
But those things also made Austin quite controversial among some of wrestling’s more noted critics. Various parents’ groups and family organizations were highly critical of WWE during its peak years, and Austin was one of their most frequent targets for criticism.
Of course, WWE turned this controversy into something of their benefit and presented Austin as even more of an anti-authority badass that didn’t give a damn about what others thought of him.
So even though there were some people calling for WWE’s programming (on which Austin was the centrepiece) to be censored or cancelled, Austin and WWE took advantage of this and made more money off Austin’s success and widespread popularity.
#8 Triple H
Triple H has been a magnet for controversy for many years. From his association with D-Generation X to his involvement in the Montreal Screwjob to marrying Stephanie McMahon to his ‘reign of terror’ between 2002 and 2005, to his constant appearances with the Authority, controversy has surrounded Triple H for almost the entire length of his 20-year-plus-long career.
However, Triple H has managed to either ignore that controversy for a long time or has embraced it. When playing up the evil authority figure for many years, Triple H channelled the real anger some fans have towards him and turned it into a stronger reaction to anything he did on-screen.
While at the top of RAW during the early-2000s, HHH likely knew that people thought he was at the top due to his relationship with Stephanie, yet instead of trying to claim that he wasn’t, he ignored it and allowed those allegations of him ‘burying people’ to fester into further heat towards him, which made him into one of the biggest and most controversial top heels in recent memory.
#7 Jinder Mahal
Jinder Mahal has managed to become a highly polarizing figure among wrestling fans. His main event push and World Title reign were both issues that led to immense and passionate debate among wrestling fans.
His supporters argue that he’s a fresh face in the title picture that had been previously dominated by a select few and that his presence therein adds some much-needed diversity to it. These same people also argue that he looks like a top star and he will be necessary to WWE in the future as the company seeks to expand into international markets, especially in India.
His detractors, on the other hand, argue that Mahal is a major step down in terms of every asset other than his physique. His promo skills are said to be subpar, his charisma is believed to be virtually nonexistent, and his wrestling skills are said to be far less-developed than those of other, more established stars.
Whatever your opinion on Mahal, one cannot deny that these discussions over Mahal, his fans wanting to see him succeed, and his detractors wanting to see him lose, have led to greater interest in SmackDown.
#6 Edge
Edge caused immense controversy during his singles run. Not only did he get WWE some much-needed attention when he promised his ‘live sex celebration’, but he also gained thermonuclear heat when his real-life affair with Lita became a storyline.
Once it became common knowledge that Edge and Lita had formed an extramarital affair, fans turned on Lita hard and began to boo both of them vociferously. While people were very much buying into his heel character, he soon started getting far more vicious boos because his real-life actions resonated with people in a real way, which made them hate the man and by extension, the character.
These things helped Edge get over as a despicable character, which in turn led to more success for him than anyone ever expected from a man once described as a ‘glorified tag team wrestler’.
#5 Goldust
Goldust was one of the most controversial characters in all of the wrestling during his prime. His character was so over-the-top and boundary-pushing that many people began complaining about him on a frequent basis.
But Vince McMahon was very much of the mind that ‘any publicity is good publicity’, and so the Goldust character was doing its job perfectly. By getting people to react so strongly to his character, Goldust was bringing more attention to WWE’s product, even if that attention led to some people getting angered.
Although he wasn’t at the top of WWE by any stretch of the imagination, the controversial nature of his character led to increased viewership for WWE, which was critical during the Monday Night Wars.
#4 Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan has caused a lot of controversy over his decades-long career. He was the centrepiece of WWE’s initial golden era when they transcended into the mainstream for the first time. During the 1980s, Hogan was everywhere: doing commercials, acting in films, making appearances all over the world, and wrestled in the highest-profile matches.
But things weren’t always so rosy for Hogan. He has long been reviled as a masterful backstage politician who changed things to benefit him. He also exercised immense creative control to ensure that he made his way to the top in virtually all rivalries and storylines. Why else do you think WrestleMania IX ended with Hogan winning the WWE Championship without actually being in the match?
Hogan also courted controversy in other promotions as well. His decision to join the NWO and turning heel for the first time in nine years caused fans in attendance to actually throw garbage at him when he did this.
But while doing so, he brought WCW considerable fan interest, which enabled them to out-do WWE in the Monday Night Wars for over a year. He did the same thing in TNA by trying to change things in his vision in 2010 and onwards, but it did far more harm than good.
#3 Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns has been a magnet for controversy for almost three full years. WWE’s attempts to push him to the top of the company while silencing any and all critics have only added fuel to the fire, leading Reigns to being labelled one of, if not the single-most, controversial and despised babyfaces in the past three decades.
But despite all of that controversy, Reigns has actually achieved greater benefit than punishment. People still tune in to watch him, and those who hate him still watch his matches, albeit with the hope that he loses.
Those fans are still tuning into WWE’s product and are thus still lining Reigns’ pockets with their money, thus proving the old mantra true: any reaction is better than no reaction. Reigns might be despised by many fans, but he’s making a good living out of being hated so deeply.
#2 Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels was an instrumental figure in WWE pushing its programming in a more adult-oriented direction. Through his D-Generation X stable and increasingly raunchy storylines and promos, Michaels became a magnet for heat both from fans and from outside observers criticizing WWE for its content.
But Shawn benefitted immensely from this creative direction, as WWE became the more popular wrestling brand with its adult-oriented themes and crass humour. These things allowed Shawn – and by extension, the whole of WWE – to gain a major advantage over WCW, whose management was taking that promotion in the opposite direction at the time.
Shawn also became a reviled character in Canada following the Montreal Screwjob, and he took advantage of those controversial circumstances to draw more heat towards himself, which in turn led to greater interest in Shawn’s feuds going forward.
#1 Vince McMahon
In the end, no single person has benefitted more from controversy than Vince McMahon himself. Vince firmly believes that any reaction, positive or negative, is better than no reaction at all.
As a result, he took advantage of the controversy he has caused with his booking decisions over the years to create a sports entertainment empire that remains unmatched to this day. Vince capitalized on controversy many times over the years, from pushing wrestlers that fans rejected vocally to playing a role in controversial segments like the Montreal Screwjob.
Even these days, Vince takes advantage of any controversy he creates because he knows it will lead to more fans watching his product. Even though Eric Bischoff is the one that coined the phrase ‘controversy creates cash’, Vince McMahon appears to follow that mentality more than anyone else in the wrestling business.
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