5 Brutal moments we can't believe WWE allowed

The WWE has always been about exciting matches, shocking moments and larger than life characters.

From the company's early days with the likes of Hulk Hogan to the gritty times of the Attitude Era to the modern day where smaller, more athletic stars like AJ Styles, Seth Rollins and Kofi Kingston lead the way.

But for as long as professional wrestling has been around, there have been those few moments that stand out from the rest.

These moments were so brutal, so shocking that the audience, those in the arena and those watching at home have been left with their jaws' dropped.

So moments have been so brutal, we often wondered how WWE got away with them.

Here are five truly brutal moments we still can't believe WWE allowed to show.

#5. Bubba destroys Mae Young

Bubba demolished the legendary women's wrestler for two weeks on RAW.

Though Mae Young is sadly no longer with us, the legendary Superstar's legacy continues on.

The namesake of the company's annual women's competition, Mae was also a former Women's Champion, and wrestled across nine decades, from the 1930s to the 2010s.

In 2000 though, at the spry age of 77, Mae came across the Dudley Boyz, with Bubba Ray having a tendency for powerbombing women.

In one of the most shocking moments in RAW history, the future TNA World Champion powerbombed Mae off the entrance ramp through a table.

Despite the stunt obviously being a huge risk for her, Mae was thrilled about the idea, in stark contrast to Bubba backstage who was worried for her safety.

And the most shocking thing: Bubba didn't do this once. He did it twice!

#4. Edge and Foley go Hardcore

Edge and Foley showed just how hardcore they were at WrestleMania 22.

The Attitude Era was easily the most hardcore time in WWE history, but by 2006, the company was very different.

Instead of Hardcore matches, shows were more about the spectacle, with names like John Cena, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio ruling the year.

Despite this though, at WrestleMania 22 Edge and Mick Foley showed that the ideas of old were alive and well when they competed in a Hardcore match.

After Edge blamed Foley for costing him the WWE Championship, the bout was a war, with thumbtacks, chairs and even a barb wired-clad Mr. Socko.

The most iconic moment of the match came at its climax, as Edge speared Foley through a flaming table to the outside, and though both men were horrifically burned, it was the Rated-R Superstar who emerged from the flames as the victor.

#3. Kurt flies off the cage

Angle and Benoit had a brawl on RAW in 2001 inside a 15-foot high steel cage.

Kurt Angle is one of the greatest to ever enter a WWE ring.

Though his name is not held in the same lofty esteem as The Rock or 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, the Olympian's incredible in-ring ability and charisma helped immensely during the Monday Night Wars.

In one iconic moment from RAW, Angle took on Chris Benoit in a Steel Cage match, a match-type foreign to both men.

Climbing the cage, it seemed Kurt had the match won, until he stunned everyone watching with a death-defying moonsault from the top.

Unfortunately for Kurt, this would be his downfall as Benoit would roll out of the way, leaving Angle hitting the mat face first.

A shocking moment in an incredible match, you won't be seeing something like this anytime soon.

#2. Everything about Shane McMahon

Shane McMahon is worth a fortune, but you wouldn't know it by the way he treats his body.

Entering the ring as a wrestler in 1998, McMahon has been part of some iconic moments in wrestling, so many that it's hard to pick just one.

Look at his death-defying fall (backwards I might add!) from the titantron at Summerslam 2000, or his war less than a year later at the King of the Ring 2001 event, when he was thrown though glass not once, but twice.

Even in recent years, McMahon has shown he is the same daredevil fans love, with his first match back in 2016 being a war in, out, and on top the Hell in a Cell structure against The Undertaker?

And his recent bout with The Miz at WrestleMania 35 is just the latest in a long line of OMG moments.

#1. "God as my witness, he is broken in half!"

Foley and the Deadman started their iconic match on top of the cell.

What else could have been number one?

The infamous Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Mankind at King of the Ring 1998 continues to be ingrained in the minds of fans over 20 years later.

In case you've been living under a rock for the past two decades, the match is forever remembered when the Deadman, mere minutes into the bout, through Foley off the top of the cell, with Mick crashing onto the tables below.

A truly shocking moment that led many to believe they had seen Foley's life be snuffed out, Mick somehow continued, and was thrown through the cell roof later, bouncing off the hard mat.

A true must-watch match, there's a reason why fans still talk about it with awe all these years later.