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There are many WWE stars currently living their dream by being part of the biggest wrestling promotion in the world and it could be argued that there are stars out there who would do anything for that opportunity.
Over the years, there have been several WWE stars who have felt the need to lie to the company in order to obtain a WWE contract. Whether this is lying about their age, their hidden talents or even withholding the truth because the company may not have offered the same deal.
The following list looks at six WWE stars who felt the need to lie to the company in order to be signed.
#6/5 Mike and Maria Kanellis withheld the truth from WWE
The most recent stars on this list are Mike and Maria Kanellis who were handed a five-year deal with WWE that was rumored to be worth around $500,000 per year. Interestingly, this deal was signed just a few weeks before it was made public that Maria was expecting the couple's second child.
Mike and Maria initially returned to WWE back in 2017 and were set to be the next IT Couple, until Maria fell pregnant with the couple's first child and was then sidelined for more than a year.
Mike and Maria then signed new contracts with the company in the summer of 2019 and Forbes reported that the couple failed to inform WWE about Maria's second pregnancy until after the ink on the contract was dry.
The couple was then thrust into a shocking storyline on WWE TV before they became just two of many stars who were released from the company back in April. The couple's release came just two months after they had welcomed their second child, Carver Mars.
#4 Ahmed Johnson lied to WWE about his age
Probably not the most memorable former WWE star, but Ahmed Johnson was part of WWE's roster from 1995 until 1998 when he made the move over to WCW.
Johnson made his first WWE appearance in July 1995 when he was 32 years old and has since admitted that at that age he already had a number of niggling injuries.
Of course, the former WWE star couldn't admit this to the company when it came to signing a contract so he lied about his age, and instead of telling WWE that he was born in 1963, he told them that he was born in 1972 which only made him 23.
Johnson retired from the wrestling business back in 2003 and has since gone on to obtain a degree in criminology. There were many rumors still circulating regarding his initial contract with WWE, something that Johnson finally put to bed back in 2013
“For those of you that didn't know, I was already in my thirties when I went to WWF. I lied. I was not born in 1972, or '69 or whatever the Internet says. I was born in 1963. I was already on my way to being an old man. So of course I had some injuries.”
Since his retirement, Johnson has worked for Booker T and Stevie Ray's Pro Wrestling Alliance wrestling school.
#3 The Boogeyman lied to WWE
The Boogeyman was one of the scariest WWE stars of all time, but he was also a star who felt the need to lie to WWE about his age in order to be handed a contract.
Boogeyman came to WWE through Tough Enough back in 2004, when the cut-off age for the competition at that time was 35. At the time, Boogeyman was 40 years old but he told producers that he was 30, until they asked to see his license and it was made clear that he was too old to be part of the show.
Boogeyman was then cut from the tournament, but his sheer determination meant that he was able to be re-signed by the company and sent to OVW where he trained to become The Boogeyman.
Despite beginning his WWE career at the ripe old age of 41 years old, when he made his debut back in 2005, Boogeyman was still able to have an interesting WWE career before officially retiring from the business in 2019.
#2 Santino Marella lied about his accent to WWE
Santino Marella's WWE debut is easily one of the most memorable since the former star was plucked out of the crowd in Italy and was then chosen to defeat Umaga and become Intercontinental Champion.
Whilst this later earned him the nickname "The Milan Miracle" there is more to his WWE signing than meets the eye. It appears that the former Champion was forced to lie to the company in order to be handed a contract.
Whilst talking to Chris Van Vliet, Marella revealed that WWE needed him to be able to speak Italian and when the company asked if this was possible, he said he could, but he actually couldn't.
“I get a phone call and it was Mike Bucci, who was Nova with ECW and he knew that my background – my Dad’s from Italy and Anthony Carelli is my real name – and he just called to see if I could speak Italian.
"I just repeated a couple of phrases from this tape that I would listen to and I believe it was ‘Voglio mezzo chilo di formaggio’ which means ‘I want a half kilo of cheese.’ Like the most random expression and then I said ‘My name is Anthony Carelli, where is the hotel?’ or something like that and then I could literally see them looking around at each other going, ‘sounded good, yeah, ok yeah that’s good, we’re going to fly you out tomorrow to Italy’”
Despite the mix-up, Marella went on to have an entertaining WWE career and now runs his own professional wrestling school where he is currently training his daughter.
#1 Jeff Hardy lied to WWE in order to obtain a contract
Jeff Hardy is a former World Champion but even though Hardy has reached the heights of the company in the time he has been part of WWE, he was still forced to tell a little white lie in order to get his first contract.
Hardy lied about his age in order to wrestle Razor Ramon on an episode of Monday Night RAW back in 1994. At the time, Hardy claimed he was 18 years old, a claim that was backed by a number of officials in order for him to be handed the match, when in fact he was just 16.
The following day, Hardy wrestled the 1-2-3 Kid on an episode of Superstars and then went on to work as a jobber for the company until he was given a push the following year.
The fact that Hardy's career began so early means that it has now amassed an impressive four decades. At present Hardy is still one of WWE's biggest stars and currently performs on the SmackDown brand.
