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The WWE, known as WWF before May 5, 2002, is the largest wrestling promotion in the world. The company currently holds over 550 events a year with a roster divided up into various globally traveling brands. Currently, the product is available to over 36 million viewers in over 150 countries around the world.
WWE is not just a huge name in wrestling anymore, but also a big name in the world of real movies, production, and many other fields.
Conducting business of such a large nature calls for a lot of controversies, which come with the evils of doing business on such a scale. Therefore, it is no secret that WWE is home to many major controversies too.
Since its inception, the company has been the center of many controversies and lawsuits which have had both negative and positive impacts on the company. The negatives are the loss of money, value, and bad publicity, while the positives include the media attention and the buildup of storylines around the controversies.
With that said, there are still many controversies around WWE which the company wants you to completely forget and wants to delete from its past. Here we have made a list of 6 such controversies with the company wants you to forget.
#6 The Steroid Scandal
One of the biggest scandals the WWE had to struggle with was when in 1993, McMahon was charged by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York with routinely obtaining anabolic steroids for his wrestlers and employing a Pennsylvania urologist to administer them with drugs at the WWF headquarters at "Titan Tower" in Stamford, Connecticut.
This resulted in him temporarily ceding control of the WWF to his wife Linda. It is no secret that most wrestlers were using the drug to enhance their physiques at the time.
Hulk Hogan even testified against McMahon by admitting he got the drugs from his boss. WWE had been trying to clear up their image since then and would love for the fans to forget that the Steroid Scandal even happened.
The most recent case of steroid abuse came when Roman Reigns was supposedly linked to a $10 million steroid ring.
#5 They are extremely irresponsible about healthcare
The WWE and McMahons have a mentality of “the show must go on”, regardless of what the Superstars are going through. This was apparent in the heartbreaking, tragic accidental death of Owen Hart during a pay-per-view, and it continues to this day.
The wrestlers are expected to perform even if they aren't feeling well, and even after surgeries in their recovery period.
Superstars like Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and dozens of other retired Superstars hold WWE responsible for neurological injuries they claimed to suffer by participating in its bouts and have even sued them back in 2016.
“WWE placed corporate gain over its wrestlers’ health, safety, and financial security, choosing to leave the plaintiffs severely injured and with no recourse to treat their damaged minds and bodies,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as improved medical monitoring.
#4 Using Eddie Guerrero's death as a storyline
Eddie Guerrero was a crafty, resourceful wrestler who would do anything to win a match. Despite being a heel for most of his career, he was popular in and out of the ring and was at the peak of his career as a face during 2003–2005, becoming the top wrestler on the SmackDown brand in 2004.
He passed away in November 2005 at the peak of his popularity which became one of the reasons why Vince McMahon decided to use his death in a storyline.
After some genuine tribute episodes, it wasn’t long before Eddie’s passing was used in twisted plots, such as Rey Mysterio praying to his departed friend and carrying his memory into matches.
It even went on to Randy Orton claiming that Guerrero wasn’t in Heaven, but actually in Hell. Needless to say, it was mostly tasteless and left many fans unimpressed.
Eddie’s wife Vickie Guerrero was later used in many storylines after his death and many revolved around her having affairs after Eddie’s departure.
#3 Seth Rollins' Leaked Nudes
In February 2015, Seth Rollins accidentally posted a nude selfie taken by Zahra Schreiber, a model and NXT developmental talent to Instagram and Twitter.
Following WWE website’s algorithms, the contents of the posts were automatically republished by WWE.com.
What caused an even bigger lash than his superstar status and nudes being leaked was the fact that he was engaged to someone else at that time.
His then fiancé was enraged and she decided to take revenge by posting pictures of his private parts all over social media.
There was no apparent punishment faced by Rollins by the WWE. Since then, Rollins has moved to the main roster and enjoyed unparalleled success on both Raw and SmackDown.
Unlike many other Superstars who have been buried by the WWE after controversies, Rollins has won the US Championship once, the Intercontinental Championship twice, the Raw Tag Team Championship four times, and the WWE Championship twice.
#2 Owen Hart falling to his own death
Owen Hart died in 1999 when a stunt went horribly wrong during a WWE pay-per-view event. Hooked to a harness in the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, Hart was supposed to have been lowered into the ring, but he was released from the harness prematurely and fell to his death. He was 34 and the father of two small children.
The WWF management controversially chose to continue the event. Later, Jim Ross announced the death of Hart to the home viewers during the pay-per-view, but not to the crowd in the arena.
In the weeks that followed Hart's death, the harness that Hart used on that fateful night gathered much attention, especially on the "quick release" trigger and safety latches. When someone is lowered from the rafters in a harness, there are backup latches that must be latched for safety purposes.
Four weeks after the event, the Hart family sued the WWF over how dangerous and poorly planned the stunt was, and that the harness system was defective and reached a settlement after over a year later, on November 2, 2000, which saw the WWF give the Hart family US$18 million.
The manufacturer of the harness system was also a defendant against the Hart family, but they were dismissed from the case after the settlement was reached.
#1 Chris Benoit - Double Murder and Suicide
One of WWE's most tragic moments came when Chris Benoit and his family were discovered dead in their home in June 2007. What became the bigger controversy was that when Benoit was accused of double murder, the WWE quickly washed their hands of his existence, especially when a lot of facts were surfacing that held the WWE somewhat responsible for the in-ring injuries causing damage to his brain.
Autopsy reports had shown that Benoit had the brain of an 85-year-old with severe dementia. While WWE was quick to dismiss the facts that resurfaced from the brain autopsy, many pointing to the nature of the action in the WWE causing extreme damage to the brain.
Tests conducted on Benoit's brain tissue revealed severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, damage to all four lobes of the brain and brainstem.
The doctor who conducted the autopsy alongside his colleagues concluded that repeated concussions can lead to dementia, which can contribute to severe behavioral problems.
Benoit's father said that brain damage may have been the leading cause of the double murder-suicide which the WWE dismissed as "speculative".
After his death, the WWE banned chair shots to the head. Christopher Nowinski was quoted as saying that Benoit "was one of the only guys who would take a chair shot to the back of the head ... which is stupid".
The WWE website removed all past mentions of Benoit, including all news articles relating to the specific details of the incident, as well as his biography and the video tribute comments from Benoit's peers. WWE pulled the RAW tribute episode off as well after finding about the nature of his death.
