5 times Superstars allegedly refused to follow the script

On WWE's most recent European tour, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens were reportedly sent home for not following the script during their segment on SmackDown. Zayn had just lost a match to Kofi Kingston, and both he and Owens were supposed to get back in the ring and take a beating from the New Day.

Neither Owens or Zayn did get back in the ring, however, and the segments ended up coming off as a little awkward. Whether Owens and Zayn forgot what they were supposed to do or purposely went off script is not currently known.

With the story currently developing, we thought it appropriate to look at five times wrestlers refused to follow the script and what the consequences ended up being for them.

---

#5 Gail Kim quits WWE during a battle royal (2011)

The recently retired Gail Kim made a truly incredible exit from her WWE career.

On the August 01, 2011, edition of Monday Night Raw, Kim was scheduled to take part in a battle royal. She was apparently feeling frustrated with how the women were being portrayed on WWE programming at the time, and when she was instructed to be eliminated from the battle royal in under a minute, Kim decided her WWE career was over.

Shortly after the battle royal started, Kim eliminated herself and quit WWE. She would go on to finish her career with Impact Wrestling.

#4 Matt Hardy doesn't "feed" for The Undertaker (2005)

The following story, while unconfirmed, floated around the rumour mill in 2005. At the time, Matt Hardy was gaining a little bit of momentum as a singles star.

According to the story, at the end of a match, Hardy was supposed to get in the ring and take either a chokeslam or a Last Ride from the Undertaker but decided to simply roll out of the ring instead.

This rumour sounds much like the current rumour going around regarding Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The rest of the story goes that Undertaker chewed Matt Hardy out backstage and Hardy just put his head down and took it.

#3 The Great Antonio vs. Antonio Inoki (1977)

A very strange match took place in Japan on December 8, 1977, at Tokyo's Sumo Hall. The legendary Antonio Inoki was scheduled to take on a wrestler by the name of the Great Antonio.

The Great Antonio was a rather eccentric character both in wrestling and later in Montreal.

For some reason, the Great Antonio seemed to forget that pro wrestling is staged. After it became clear the Great Antonio was not going to be selling any moves, Inoki quickly realized he was going to have to go off script. He ended up laying an unmerciful beating on the Great Antonio and protected his championship in the process.

#2 Austin Takes His Ball and Goes Home (2002)

In 2002, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin refused to go through with a script for Monday Night Raw that called for him to do the honours for Brock Lesnar. Austin had spent the previous couple of years working with a badly injured neck and was not happy that he was being pushed down the card.

He would later say that it made no sense for him to lose such a match with little build-up. Vince McMahon addressed the live crowd and famously said that Austin had "taken his ball and gone home".

Vince and Austin would make up the following year, however, and Austin would wrestle his last match for the company at WrestleMania 19.

#1 Dusty Rhodes Bleeds (1988)

In late 1988, Turner Broadcasting System had purchased World Championship Wrestling.

The company demanded some changes that Dusty Rhodes was simply not going to adhere to. Turner didn't want any blood on their programming and instituted a policy where bleeding in matches was banned. This just wasn't going to fly with Rhodes, and he broke the rule on the biggest WCW show of the year.

During his match with the Road Warriors at Starrcade 88, Road Warrior Animal used one of the spikes from his shoulder pad to stab Rhodes in the eye, causing a severe laceration. Following the match, Dusty Rhodes was fired and showed up a few months later in WWF.

---

Send us news tips at [email protected]