5 Times WWE Superstars hit their opponents for real

WWE has been around in the pro-wrestling industry for several decades at this point and has been churning out content on a weekly basis for a long time now. The basic premise of WWE, and any other wrestling promotion for that matter, is to present engaging storylines in front of an audience, with these angles culminating in wrestling matches on PPVs. It goes without saying that these matches are rehearsed, scripted and Superstars are fully aware of who's coming out the victor when all is said and done.

There are exceptions though. In rare instances, Superstars go out of their way to turn things real and hit their opponents for real, even though it's possibly the most unprofessional thing they could do. Nevertheless, it has happened several times in the past, enough to create a listicle featuring those moments. Let's take a look at 5 WWE Superstars who hit their opponents for real in the ring.

---

#5 Michael Tarver and John Cena's real-life beef

Michael Tarver

Michael Tarver was one of the original rookies in NXT who had targeted John Cena during the stable's invasion of Monday Night RAW, back in 2010. Tarver didn't do much of note after Nexus' aura died down following the group's SummerSlam loss to Team WWE. By mid-2011, Tarver had been released by WWE.

Soon after he was released, Tarver posted a lengthy rant on social media and declared that WWE veteran John Cena has purposefully fractured his arm during a PPV match. Tarver also stated that Cena laughed about the same in a backstage area, and nothing came of it. Cena never responded to Tarver's accusations. and the story died down soon after. After his WWE stint, Tarver actively wrestled in the NWA, NJPW, and a handful of independent promotions.

#4 Daniel Puder shoots on Kurt Angle

Daniel Puder and Kurt Angle

In late 2004, Daniel Puder was involved in a SmackDown segment with Kurt Angle, which was the beginning of the end of the former's WWE career. Kurt Angle had challenged the Tough Enough rookies to a squat thrust competition, with Chris Nawrocki winning the match and bagging a shoot fight against Angle. Kurt ended up breaking Nawrocki's ribs, and proceeded to challenge the other finalists.

Puder accepted the challenge and not many fans were aware at the time that he had a legit MMA background. Angle took Puder down in a matter of seconds, but this was followed by the latter locking Angle in a Kimura lock. Angle tried to score a pin as one of the WWE officials realized the seriousness of the situation. Jim Korderas was the one to make the quick pin, even though Puder's shoulders were nowhere close to the mat. Angle and Puder rose immediately after, and the former WWE Champion went on to confront the rookie and talk to him off-mic. Angle was genuinely looking angry at what had just happened with Puder.

#3 Daniel Puder is 'punished' for his deeds

Puder gets the beating of his life

Daniel Puder could have become an incredible wrestler and would probably have had a long and successful stint in WWE, if the Kurt Angle incident hadn't happened. Puder's actions on that fateful night on SmackDown weren't taken lightly by WWE, and the rookie paid a heavy price for what he did to Angle. Puder was one of the early entrants in the 2005 Royal Rumble match. He came out, picked up a mic, and talked trash for a while before making his way to the ring.

WWE veterans Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero immediately launched a brutal attack on Puder and both hit him with some pretty nasty chops to the chest. Things got more uncomfortable when Hardcore Holly came out, and he hit Puder with some more chops. Puder was then thrown out of the ring, and this was it in terms of his WWE career. The runner up, The Miz, went on to have an incredibly successful career and even headlined WrestleMania as WWE Champion.

#2 JBL busts Blue Meanie open

Blue Meanie and JBL

ECW One Night Stand 2005 was WWE's attempt to cash in on the promotion's popularity, and the decision to have a one-off PPV turned out to be the right one. The show was a major hit and led to more such events in the years to follow. The ending to the event saw a brawl featuring ECW veterans and WWE Superstars representing both RAW and SmackDown.

In the past, ECW's Blue Meanie had been targeting JBL in interviews, and had called him a backstage bully. This didn't sit well with the former WWE Champion, and he decided to teach Meanie a lesson. The opportunity came during the brawl, and JBL hit him for real.

He started throwing shots. He did the hockey thing, pulling my shirt over my face [and] began throwing live rounds. He [had] a fistful of rings, so I was like, ‘I ain’t going to take this!’, so I snatched a headlock as much as I could on a 6’6” man and I started throwing punches back. We kind of got pulled apart.

Meanie was given double pay for the night, and also had a brief stint with the company on SmackDown.

#1 Brock Lesnar gives it back to Braun Strowman with full force

Strowman and Lesnar on WWE RAW

Brock Lesnar met Kane and Braun Strowman in a Universal title Triple Threat match at the 2018 WWE Royal Rumble PPV. At one point during the match, things got real pretty quick as Strowman seemed to hit Lesnar with a stiff knee to the face. Lesnar, completely taken aback by this very-real shot, decided to give it back to Strowman. Moments later, Lesnar punched Strowman right in the face.

The match ended with Lesnar coming out the victor and still the WWE Universal Champion. The incident made waves on social media, and Strowman went on to recall what happened backstage after the sequence.

We laughed about it afterwards. It is what it is. We got to the back and I said ‘Hey, my bad” he said the same thing and we went about our business.

The incident was a clear signal from Lesnar that he wouldn't mind roughing a Superstar up if they decided to get real with him during a match.