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Kayfabe is the WWE vocabulary for all the things scripted to happen in its fictional set up. It is a product of fictional truths which have no relation to the off-screen or real life of the characters of WWE.
Breaking kayfabe then means to have certain non-fictional elements weaved into a storyline. They might be staged to look real, meaning that a real truth is being spoken, but are part of the script to make the rivalry look authentic or personal, and to make the feud much more interesting.
But some kayfabe breaking moments are unscripted and that sudden rupture of the structure of the WWE fictional set up creates enough excitement.
This list includes few of those exciting, amusing, ‘OMG’ and ‘WTF’ moments.
Unpredictable moments like Owen Hart’s accident and Jerry Lawler’s heart attack do not feature in this list as they were clearly unfortunate and sad.
This list includes moments that uncharacteristically provided entertainment, which might have been scripted (or not), but were definitely based on real life events.
10. Vince McMahon bids farewell to Macho Man
This was a sweet moment for the audience watching at home and years later, when rumours of their fallout were making rounds, this gesture by McMahon was nothing less than gallant.
Macho Man had left the then World Wrestling Federation for WCW. This displays the respect that Macho Man’s character had earned.
It was unfortunate that he passed away in May 2011 around which time there were speculations that he had finally been in talks with the company after years of separation. If and only if we could have been witness to more Macho Madness!
9. Brock Lesnar‘s botched Shooting Star Press
This might be the most famous botch of the 21st century.
This was the Wrestlemania main event in 2003. Lesnar had done it a countless number of times at OVW, but he never needed that to make him stand out in the WWE.
He was a monster, and he had everybody’s attention. It was unbelievable for the audience and it turned out to be kind of unbelievable for both Lesnar and Angle as well.
8. Shawn Michales is the Heart ‘Battery’ Kid
This happened before Wrestlemania XIV, and Michaels was in the ring cutting a promo with other members of D-Generation X and Mike Tyson, when suddenly out of the blue, he got hit on his head by a battery.
A battery on the head of the pre-Attitude Era HBK smells trouble. He walked out on his audience mid promo and after some choice words with McMahon, came back on.
7. Daniel Puder vs Kurt Angle
Puder was supposed to be squashed by Angle, but he had none of it. Angle was visibly taken aback by the guts of the then 23-year-old Puder.
Talented as they come, Puder could have had a future if it wasn’t for this, maybe. This is the most memorable Puder moment ever in the WWE. All guts but no glory.
6. Tony Schiavone announces RAW Main Event results
This is the moment that led to the demise of the WCW. Who could imagined that this quote by Tony Schiavone could become the most ironic and iconic moment in wrestling history?
On Bischoff’s instructions, the spoilers were announced by Schiavone, and it had a ripple effect as more than 600,000 people changed their channel. Years later, Schiavone revealed to Arda Ocal in an interview that he himself would have changed the channel to watch Foley win. What a humble opinion!
5. The Summer of Punk
It could have been higher on this list had it not been known that it all started with a worked shoot.
If it was completely breaking kayfabe, Punk’s mic would have been cut off sooner. But nonetheless, this was the foundation of the new unofficial era of the WWE.
This promo kicked off the usage of non-fictional details by the WWE as a stylistic device i.e. as a typical strand in their promos. This skyrocketed Punk’s career, and suddenly Cena was not invincible anymore.
Every Punk Promo since then has non-fictional references and it still gets the crowd going.
4. Booker T calls Hulk Hogan a %$^&
Oops! That was sudden. That was a blooper.
Sherri Martel’s trying to play it down but Booker T’s reaction is worth a million diamonds.
He was part of a tag team with his brother Lash, and the team was known as Harlem Heat. Years later, Vince McMahon would address John Cena in a backstage promo as a N*&^% with the camera panning across to Booker T.
That was not funny. But just for the reactions, this one is.
3. Mene Gene says the F-word
Well, he was present when the previous embarrassing moment took place.
And here, Gene loses his calm, serene, professional composure to the dislocation of a thing million times lighter than him. The Summerslam logo board sure gave Mene Gene an imaginary slam!
2. The MSG incident
Babyfaces HBK and Scott Hall hugged and that was okay but when Nash and Triple H too followed suit, now that was The Kliq.
That was not supposed to happen. That was an endearing moment considering this an adieu to each other as Nash and Hall were off to WCW.
That emotional moment cost Triple H his King of the Ring spot. How relevant is this in WWE history that that spot went to Stone Cold Steve Austin and he sure did raise hell.
1. Montreal Screwjob
If Summer of Punk is in this list, then the events preceding the Montreal Screwjob and maybe the entire year 1997 was the Year of Hart.
He had the best moments of rebellion. He gave that out of the blue expletive filled promo before Wrestlemania and he was at his rowdiest best. It was exciting.
This run by Bret Hart and CM Punk‘s run had opposite results, though. Punk went onto have the best of things and Hart had the worst of it all.
Things went haywire after the Screwjob for Hart. His career in the WCW was forgettable and he had a concussion and that triggered curtains on his career.
This incident is very relevant and iconic and imprinted in all the eras. Vince Mcmahon’s signal to ring the bell, Hart’s attempts to counter his own lock applied on him by HBK and the chaos that ensued is unforgettable.
