5 Unwritten rules of Vince McMahon's WWE

It has been a long time since the fact was made public that pro-wrestling isn't an actual sport. WWE and several other promotions are similar to soap operas that keep the viewers hooked on their TVs every week. Storylines last for weeks on end, or even months or years in some cases, and culminate in matches at PPVs.

Despite wrestling not being an actual sport, it still has a long list of rules that need to be followed by wrestlers. For instance, in WWE, there are numerous rules that have to be followed while engaging in storylines and competing in matches.

On the other hand, there are a bunch of unwritten rules that aren't mentioned publicly and many fans don't notice how often these 'rules' are implemented.

Let's take a look at five unwritten rules of Vince McMahon's WWE that you probably didn't know, in the following slideshow.

#5 A ban on uttering the words 'title shot'

WWE has a long list of banned terms that Superstars aren't allowed to use on TV. "Title shot" is one such term that WWE has banned its Superstars from uttering on live TV.

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley once told a story about how Braun Strowman garnered backstage heat after saying he wants a "title shot" on TV.

I heard Braun Strowman say, 'I want a title shot'. Mr. McMahon's behind the curtain, at the board watching the monitor, and he goes, 'Oh god, it's not a title shot'.

Mick Foley wondered at the time what he would call it if it wasn't a title shot. Vince made it clear that it's a title match, not a title shot. A list was recently revealed that consisted of words that have been banned by WWE. The list includes words such as performer, war, faction, and strap.

#4 Referees need to oversell attacks

WWE Superstars put their bodies on the line whenever they step foot in the ring for a match. The risk of getting injured increases tenfold when its a stipulation match such as Hell In A Cell, or Elimination Chamber. We see these Superstars take brutal bumps on a regular basis, without suffering injuries. On the other hand, WWE referees aren't portrayed to be as tough as the wrestlers. Although it does make sense, things go over the top in some cases.

You must have witnessed referees falling to the mat and lying down in an unconscious state at the slightest bit of contact with a wrestler. There have been instances where a referee goes down with just a slight accidental push from a wrestler. The craziness of it aside, spots like these are an important aspect of wrestling matches and give heels ample time to hit babyfaces with a foreign object and get one step closer to victory.

For the sake of pure entertainment, referees have been portrayed as tough in rare instances The most notable example is of countless face-offs between Triple H and WWE official Earl Hebner, that usually saw The Game shoving Hebner out of frustration, and the official immediately shoving him back to a huge pop.

#3 If there's food backstage, a food fight is bound to happen

A Food fight in full swing in a backstage area!

WWE is a sports entertainment company. The weekly product isn't limited to promos and matches, and we occasionally get to witness something unusual that makes us go 'Woah'. A food fight is one such element of pro-wrestling. Whenever you see food lying somewhere at a backstage area, or even in the ring, it's almost guaranteed that the segment would end with the food getting splattered over someone's face.

It says a lot about how often this happens when WWE goes out of its way to produce an official video highlighting some of the biggest food fights in the company's history. One of the most memorable food fights happened back in 2016, which ended with Kevin Owens getting a pie thrust on his face by a mystery person. A few months ago, Lana and Bobby Lashley's wedding on WWE RAW ended with Rusev and Liv Morgan crashing the procession and Lana getting her head smeared into the cake.

#2 A ban on sneezing

Vince McMahon is known to be an incredibly dedicated professional who goes to great lengths for the sake of the business. Many deem him as a perfectionist who strives to achieve the very best he can at all times. Over the years, people close to Vince McMahon have revealed some strange, and sometimes hilarious, habits about the WWE Chairman. One of these is the fact that Vince McMahon hates sneezing.

Vince doesn't expect his employees to sneeze as he views it as a sign of weakness. Many past and present WWE employees have discussed this insane backstage rule in interviews, including former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho, who wrote about it in detail in his book.

Current AEW employee Arn Anderson also opened up recently on Vince's hatred towards sneezing.

As I saw things, a person coughing, sneezing or maybe they just came in the door and looked bad, sweating or pale, and the looks that they got, I had a whole different mentality and thought process on that, he would look at these people like he wanted them dead.

#1 All decisions ultimately go through Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon has the final say at all times

WWE is a global media giant that is slowly and steadily making its presence felt in various countries. A corporation such as WWE needs a large number of employees in every department. It's not a secret that WWE has a writing team that creates content for the weekly shows and PPVs on a regular basis. No matter what content the team churns out, everything is supposed to get approved by Vince McMahon before it goes on TV.

The boss has reversed tons of ideas and decisions that were taken by WWE Creative, with the most notable instance being him changing major match outcomes mere hours before the actual event.

Vince decided to let Seth Rollins cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the main event of WrestleMania 31, a few hours before it actually happened. Recently, Vince reportedly changed the finish to Asuka vs Nia Jax at WWE Backlash. The original ending called for Asuka to win the match, but the last-minute decision led to the bout ending in a double count-out.