WWE mostly has storylines that are fixed. And some stories are just not fixed; they are going far from the WWE. In this article, we list the top 10 biggest real-life controversies in WWE history, from the Vince McMahon Scandal to CM Punk’s exit.
1. The Montreal Screwjob (1997)
This is the famous wrestling scandal. It happened at Survivor Series in 1997. Bret Hart was the champion then. He was leaving WWF for WCW. He did not want to give up his title in Canada, his home country. Vince McMahon had plans. He told the referee to end the match Shawn Michaels had Hart in his move, the Sharpshooter. Then the bell rang. Bret Hart lost the title. It was a betrayal, not part of the script. Bret Hart did not see it coming. The whole thing was very unfair to Bret Hart. Survivor Series 1997 will always be remembered for this. Bret Hart was really upset. He felt Vince McMahon had wronged him. This incident still makes headlines. The wrestling world still talks about it. It was a blow, to Bret Harts career. Bret Hart remains a legend. He is still loved by fans. Bret Harts legacy lives on.
2. Chris Benoit Tragedy (2007)
This was a bad weekend for sports. Chris Benoit was a wrestler and a former WWE Champion. He did something he hurt his family. Chris Benoit killed his wife Nancy. He also killed his boy Daniel who was only seven years old. After that Chris Benoit killed himself.
The WWE did not want to remember Chris Benoit so they removed him from their television shows and records. The WWE made rules about drugs because of what happened. People began to talk about how wrestling can hurt your brain they talked about concussions and brain damage. How it can affect wrestlers, like Chris Benoit.
3. Vince McMahon Scandal (2022-2024)
Vince McMahon was in trouble because of bad things people said he did. These bad things happened a time ago. In 2022 people found out that Vince McMahon paid a lot of money to keep these things quiet. We are talking about millions of dollars. This caused a lot of problems, with the law. So Vince McMahon finally quit his job at TKO, the company that owns WWE now. Vince McMahon is not working at WWE anymore because of these problems.
4. Owen Hart Tragedy (1999)
Something terrible happened at the Over the Edge event. Owen Hart was doing a stunt at the Over the Edge event. He was using a harness to lower himself down from the rafters at the Over the Edge event.. The harness did not work. Owen Hart fell into the ring in front of all the fans at the Over the Edge event. He died from the fall.
Vince McMahon decided to keep the show going at the Over the Edge event. A lot of people were really upset about that decision, at the Over the Edge event. The Over the Edge event still affects the way people think about the WWE today.
5. CM Punk’s Pipebomb and Lawsuits (2014-2022)
CM Punk left WWE in 2014. He was tired and frustrated. He also had health problems. He spoke about it on Colt Cabana’s podcast. He said WWE doctors gave him bad care. One doctor missed a staph infection, he said. This led to lawsuits between him and WWE. The fight lasted for years. Punk later came back to the company.
6. The Plane Ride from Hell (2002)
WWE wrestlers were heading home from Europe on a flight.. Things quickly got out of hand. There were fights on the plane. The situation was really bad. Ric Flair was accused of assault on this very flight. Some of the wrestlers had been drinking a lot. When the plane finally landed WWE fired people. The incident on the flight was really shocking. WWE wrestlers were involved in a lot of trouble. The flight, from Europe was supposed to be an one. It turned into a nightmare. Ric Flair and the sexual assault claims made headlines. The WWE took action. Fired some people.
The whole incident was very unfortunate.
7. The Steroid Trial (1990s)
In the 1990s the government started investigating the WWE. The government said that the WWE was giving steroids to the wrestlers. This was a problem for the WWE. Vince McMahon had to go to court because of this.
The court case was a serious thing. Vince McMahon was. He had to stand in front of a jury. The jury looked at all the evidence. They found Vince McMahon not guilty in 1994.
The WWE was very happy that Vince McMahon was found not guilty.. The trial was very expensive for the WWE. The WWE had to spend a lot of money on the trial. This almost ruined the WWE. The WWE was, in trouble because of the money they spent on the trial. The WWE and the wrestlers were very worried that the company would not survive.
8. Stone Cold Steve Austin Walks Out (2002)
Steve Austin up and left the WWE in June 2002. The reason was that he was really unhappy with what the show had in mind for him. You see the WWE wanted Steve Austin to lose to Brock Lesnar, who was a face at the time on live television. Steve Austin did not like this idea one bit. So he did what a lot of people would do in his shoes. He just walked out.
The WWE was not happy about this. They fined Steve Austin and suspended him. This whole thing put a hold on the end of Steve Austins wrestling career for a while. Steve Austin had to deal with the consequences of his actions. It was a pretty big deal, at the time.
9. Edge, Lita, and Matt Hardy (2005)
This was a real love triangle. Matt Hardy and Lita were a real couple. Lita started seeing Edge instead. WWE fired Hardy after he talked about it online. Fans got angry. WWE brought him back. Then the company used the real drama as a TV storyline.
10. The Muhammad Hassan Controversy (2005)
This guy was an American wrestler. The story was about how he was treated after what happened on 9/11.. One part of the story went way too far. Some men wore masks. Acted like they were terrorists. They even used piano wire to attack The Undertaker on television. This happened on the day as the bombings in London. The people, in charge of the network were really upset. So the WWE stopped the character. That was the end of Hassans wrestling career. The WWE did not want anything to do with the character anymore. The Undertaker was involved in the thing. Hassan was the one who played the character.
