5 instances when wrestlers went off script in the ring during a match

Yes, pro wrestling is scripted. In this day and age of the internet, almost every adult who watches the sport knows what kayfabe is and how exactly the business of pro wrestling works.

Wrestlers are informed in advance who the winner of the bout will be and most of the big moves in the match are decided and practised beforehand. The rest of the match goes about with wrestlers calling each move before performing it.

However, there have been instances when the wrestlers have gone off the predetermined script, sometimes sneaking in a banned move, or sometimes even changing the tone of the entire match. After all, they are performing before a live audience. Who can stop them really?

For the purposes of this list, we shall not consider shoot promos, but only off-script moments inside the WWE ring. Let's have a look at five such instances.

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#5 Brock Lesnar throws a punch

These two men had a brutal showing at Royal Rumble 2018

Starting off with the most recent instance, Braun Strowman was at the receiving end of a brutal punch by the 'Beast Incarnate' at the Royal Rumble 2018, during their triple threat bout for the Universal Championship.

During a scuffle in the middle of their match, in what looked to be an accident, Braun Strowman seemed to knee Lesner square in the temple pretty hard. Not one to take things laying down, Lesnar reacted by throwing a stiff, MMA-style punch to the side of the head to Strowman, shouting at him to "Slow the f--- down". This was no accident, as is pretty evident in the video clip of the incident.

The punch threw the big man off his game for a few moments, though he recovered pretty quickly.

Lesnar ain't happy, y'all. pic.twitter.com/cNNylNN4W3

— Emmet Russell (@AussieEmmet) January 29, 2018

#4 Punk piledrives Cena into oblivion

One of the best rivalries of the PG Era

The long-term rivalry between CM Punk and John Cena is one of the best stories ever told by WWE. The reason the fans were so invested in this storyline is that there was a touch of realism to it. Even the infamous pipebomb by CM Punk that catapulted him to greatness, came during their feud.

During one of their matches on Monday Night Raw, Punk gave Vince even more reason to be furious with him. Out of nowhere, Punk gave Cena a Piledriver in the middle of the ring, shocking the audience, since the piledriver in the form given by Punk had been banned from WWE for a long time.

After all, the exact same piledriver cut short Steve Austin's career, after Owen Hart botched the move in their match. Only The Undertaker and Kane were allowed to use the move, that too only a reverse-piledriver (or Tombstone piledriver) variant.

Vince is said to have been furious backstage. Reportedly, Cena trusted Punk enough to let him perform the move on him, and because of this both the performers were allegedly slapped with hefty fines.

You can watch the same at the 1:25 mark in the video below:

#3 The Beast goes airborne

A WrestleMania moment, if there ever was one

Back when Brock Lesnar was working full time for the WWE, he had the ability to put on wrestling clinics, way better than the squash matches we have been privy to, in the last few years.

One such match was the one between Lesnar and Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XIX. Lesnar was booked to win the championship, giving Angle time off to recover from a nagging neck injury.

Deciding to finish the match off in grand fashion, Brock went on to climb the turnbuckle and get on the top rope, to the surprise of everyone in the arena. Jumping off to try and perform a shooting star press, Lesnar slipped on the wet rope and couldn't get the required rotation, landing squarely on his neck. Though he had given himself a bad concussion, the 'Beast', living up to his moniker, went ahead to perform an F-5, finishing the match.

There has been some controversy in the aftermath, about who pushed Lesnar to perform the dangerous move. In his book, Lesnar names John Laurinaitis as the person responsible, whereas Kurt Angle, in some interviews, has taken the blame upon himself for pushing Lesnar into performing the move. In his developmental days, Lesnar had performed the very same move plenty of times but unfortunately, botched it badly at the Grandest Stage of them All.

Skip to 2:05 in the video below:

#2 Batista decides to shed some blood

'The Animal' probably preferred the PG-13 era

When WWE decided to go PG, many fans were vocally unhappy about the decision. Apparently, Batista agrees. Many things were set to change with the switch to PG, the strong language, overt sexuality and more relevant to this article, on-screen bleeding were all set to become history.

During a Steel Cage match with Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight title at the Bad Blood PPV in 2008, Batista decided to blade himself (when a wrestler hides a blade and cuts himself to start bleeding), to add more authenticity to the brutal match. Since this was not allowed in WWE anymore, Vince reportedly went ballistic.

Batista has stated in some interviews that he knew there would be consequences for his actions. Shockingly though, Vince went on to fine 'The Animal' a humongous $ 100,000 for his actions. This is what Batista has stated about the incident:

"So my fine was $100,000…My heart dropped. I thought it would be like $25,000…When he said $100,000, I was just heartbroken. I literally think that he sucked the life out of me that day. I think that's the day that I knew things were never going to be the same."

The footage of the match is not available on WWE's official YouTube channel, however, a highlight uploaded by a fan can be watched below:

#1 When Shawn Michaels surpassed himself at overselling

Legend vs Icon

Shawn Michaels has been controversy's favourite child ever since he stepped foot in the WWE. The SummerSlam 2005 match between himself and Hulk Hogan is ample proof why.

This match billed as 'Legend vs Icon' was supposed to be one of three matches between the two legends, with Shawn picking up one victory along the way. However, Hogan being Hogan, did not like the prospect of being beaten even once and allegedly changed the deal last minute such that this would be their only match, with Hogan coming out on top.

Not surprisingly, Shawn wasn't too happy. In an attempt to make his displeasure felt, Shawn oversold every move in the match, almost comically, bouncing around like a beach ball at Hogan's touch. 'The Hulkster' was visibly upset at being made to look foolish in their bout. However, backstage repercussions for Shawn's actions are not known till date.

In retrospect, Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan would have been any pro wrestling fan's dream match. Unfortunately though, their clash is remembered today only for all the wrong reasons.

Again, this match is not available on WWE's official YouTube channel, but a fan-uploaded full match video with modified audio can be watched below: