One of the things most wrestlers thrive themselves on doing is not breaking character while in the ring, during a promo. Sometimes the retired greats would try to stay in character no matter what happens and for that the retired superstar will go down in history as one of the greatest.
As of now, we've compiled some of the best moments of wrestling superstars coming out of character that some people might not have noticed which in return makes these moments even more memorable. Everything about wrestling of this age revolves around a wrestler superstar staying in the mode of their character to sell the show and make sure the fans get what they have paid for but sometimes it doesn't go as planned and sometimes this is a scary moment and sometimes it results in a very funny moments that fans will not forget.
Today as we count down 15 moments of wrestling superstars breaking character that you didn't know about. Ask yourself one question; how hard it must be to stay in character no matter what for these wrestlers. It may really help you develop a further appreciation for them. Here are 15 times you didn't know a wrestler was breaking character on air.
15 15. Randy Orton 'What's My Line?'
Grabbing another spot on our list of wrestling superstars breaking character is one the most talked about wrestlers of his era, Randy Orton.
During a segment while speaking with Sheamus in 2013, Randy Orton just flat out forgot his next line while speaking on an upcoming match. The Viper stood there stuck until he finally asked Sheamus "What's My Line". The line is now famous and is instantly in another funny moment, but people in attendance had no clue to what was going on at all, making this moment even better. It's a little surprising seeing Orton on this list so many times considering he's such a veteran of the business by this point. We suppose though, mistakes can happen to anybody. Maybe do away with the scripted promos, WWE?
14 14. Chris Jericho Yells At Charles Robinson
Chris Jericho is known for many things from partying to being one of the most solid wrestlers of all time and throughout his long history in wrestling fans have seen this superstar do some really weird things so when Chris Jericho came out of character it seemed to the fans to fit him so well.
During a WWE Raw Is War in 2016 Chris & Adrian Neville were wrestling and things seemed to be moving very smoothly and the match seemed to be another promising show but out of no where Neville while doing a common up and over move Neville broke his ankle and honestly he is applauded greatly for keeping, it together although he kept it together Chris could not after telling the ref to end the match after a three count the ref did not listen which infuriated the superstar who then pinned Neville and took the unwanted win afterwards he proceeded to push the ref who had no clue that Neville was injured at all.
13 13. Randy Orton (Again) Star Jump
Randy Orton is known for being and doing so many things during his career as WWE superstar making Randy one the most of the major players of the post attitude WWE era.
During a WWE SmackDown match on May 20 2011 Randy Orton, the World Heavyweight Championship holder faced off against Mark Henry. As the WWE champ fought against the challenger, Shamus decided to interfere with the match, attacking the champion during the match. Soon after, Christian would join to help Randy Orton and eventually fight off the two but not before Randy could RKO Mark to set up a ridiculous celebration. It was far out of his character and Orton proceeded to do a cheerleading like maneuver star jump to bring joy & amazement to fans watching.
12 12. Goldust, Triple H & Ric Flair
One of the hilarious moments on the list by far and it comes from one of the most controversial and interesting wrestling superstars of WWE history. Dustin Rhodes comes from a wrestling family background and should be able to run off that gimmick alone but that's not the case at all. Dustin has had many different gimmicks and angles throughout his career but one that he's most remembered for is his infamous Goldust character.
During the WWE Attitude Era, Golddust was joined by Triple H and Ric Flair in the ring when he went into a promo about an upcoming match. While speaking, Goldust began to go into a scripted stutter which drove Triple H and Ric Flair out of character really quick because both began to smile and laugh immediately. Although it looked like the laughs were scripted, they were not and the two seemed to have such a hard time keeping it together.
11 11. Dean Ambrose's Excitement To Work With Jake The Snake Roberts
Nothing is more exciting is when WWE surprises fans with a return of a classic superstar from the past making for memorable segments.This comes back to 2014 and featured a visit from Jake Roberts and a new Damien.
So while Jake The Snake Roberts made his way down to the ring during his spectacular comeback entrance, for the fans watching it wasn't hard to see the amazement on Dean Ambrose's face as Jake came down to the ring which caused a distraction allowing The Outlaws & CM Punk to take advantage of the Dean and The Shield.
Dean would fall victim to CM Punk which allowed Roberts to do his classic move of putting his snake on the chest of an unconscious opponent. In this moment, Dean would break character with a big smile on face but to some it only looked as if the superstar was passed out.
10 10. Randy Orton (again): Consoling Shane McMahon's Son
While the last two Orton entries were laughing matters, this was a little more serious. Last year at Survivor Series, Shane McMahon was involved in WWE's brand vs. brand elimination tag match, taking part as the fifth member on Team SmackDown. In truly spectacular fashion, Shane was eliminated from the match after attempting a coast to coast on Roman Reigns, only to get caught with a spear in mid air for the pin. The bump was really hard on Shane as he took a big blow to the head and it seemed like he had legitimately suffered a concussion. With his kids right in the front row, it was an ugly sight for them to watch. Randy Orton, who was also in the match, took some time to tend to Shane's son and told him his dad was going to be okay. The cameras didn't quite catch the full exchange, but enough fans caught the exchange and it was a classy move on Orton's part.
9 9. Bobby Heenan: "What The F Are You Doing?!"
Brian Pillman really got into his 'Loose Cannon' gimmick, perhaps a little too much at times. At any moment it seemed Pillman could go off, but on this occasion, he unknowingly crossed a line. During Clash of the Champions in 1996, Heenan was providing commentary at ringside, like usual, but he was caught off guard by Pillman. The Loose Cannon grabbed Heenan around his neck, not knowing Heenan had recently had surgery on it. The Brain was not expecting the spot, and understandably freaked out about being grabbed by his surgically repaired neck. In response, you can hear Heenan drop an F-bomb during the exchange, and Tony Schiavone played it along as if nothing major had happened, but watching it back, we clearly see Heenan was not in character. Heenan has since said Pillman wasn't aware about his neck condition and apologized for it later.
8 8. Stephanie McMahon takes a shot at CM Punk
From his start in the WWE until his abrupt ending at WWE, CM Punk was a wrestler that was talented far beyond the ring and fans gravitated to his character just as fast as they did to the Stone Cold Steve Austin character. But just like that CM Punk was gone but he was not forgotten in the WWE universe.
CM Punk seemed to grow bad blood with the McMahon family which ultimately resulted in CM Punk leaving the WWE. Although CM Punk was long gone from the company, fans still loved the character so when a crowd of fans started to yell his name during a segment with Stephanie McMahon, she came out of character just to throw a shot at the converted UFC fighter. Stephaie definitely gives one the lowest out of character moments on this list.
7 7. Butch From The Sheepherders/Bushwhackers Steps Off Camera
Here we have another moment from the WCW vault that some of you may not have been aware of.
WCW gave us so many memorable moments that are etched in the memory of so many old-time wrestling fans around the world. WCW's demise came in early 2001 and the company is surely missed. During a promo The Sheepherders who are better known as The Bushwhackers from their WWE run, they were speaking with announcer Tony Schiavone, All of a sudden, Butch seemed to get tongue tied and a little too overexcited he was so embarrassed he tried to run off camera, breaking character but he quickly returned to redeem himself and try to make it better. But it was far too late.
6 6. Everyone During Shockmaster's Entrance
Overall what would this wrestling character breaking list be without this classic WCW moment that won't ever be forgotten?
During a promo featuring a few wrestling legends such as Sting, Sid Vicious, Ric Flair, Harlem Heat & The British Bulldog, The Shockemaster played by Fred Ottman, ran through a plaster wall and fell and knocked off his mask while everyone watched in amazement.
The wrestlers watching could be heard talking while Ric Flair can be heard laughing loudly. You can hear Davey Boy Smith blurting out "he fell flat on his a**".
Although he fell, The Shockmaster jumped to his feet quickly and continued his debut making this moment ever so memorable. This moment will be one that will be laughed about forever.
5 5. Shawn Michaels Hit With A Battery
This next moment could have caused the wrestler a serious injury and honestly I don't blame him at all for breaking character. I mean after viewing this clip, ask yourself what would you have done in this situation.
Shawn Michaels, along with the DX, stood in the middle of the ring when out of nowhere a fan threw a battery at the group of wrestlers promoting the upcoming WrestleMania XIV event. The battery happened to hit Shawn Michaels in the face. I can imagine this caused excruciating pain to the Heartbreak Kid. Michaels immediately broke character and ended his role in the promo and walked out of the ring to backstage area. Michaels could have been seriously hurt and as we said earlier, you can't blame HBK for this one.
4 4. Regal Makes Goldberg Work For His Win
Back when Goldberg was on his 173-0 run in WCW, it was very rare to see anyone ever give him a real challenge in the ring. Typical Goldberg matches would feature Goldberg doing a couple of power moves, followed by his signature spear and jackhammer before walking out with the win. However, during a match with Steven Regal which seemed like it'd be another routine victory. However, in what seems to be a huge miscommunication looking back on it, Regal was under the impression he was supposed to give Goldberg a six minute match and make it competitive. Goldberg has since said he wasn't expecting it. What resulted was two guys legitimately battling each other in the ring and getting frustrated about not being on the same page. Goldberg eventually got the win, but the competitive nature of the match drew a lot of attention to his weaknesses.
3 3. Romain Reigns Laughs At Kevin Owens
This next moment is just way too funny not to mention as it created a very funny outcome while everyone watched as Roman Reigns broke character.
During a match with Kevin Owens and John Cena, Roman Reigns was in a chinlock in the middle of the ring while Kevin Owens was on a tirade about how much money he was making. While fans seemed to be booing him during the match, listening to KO in a rage about money drove Roman to laugh and smile while being in a chinlock. This moment alone really shows how talented Owens is at talking smack. It also shows just difficult it must be for other wrestlers not to occasionally crack a smile. Although he broke character, I wonder how long he was holding in his laughter.
2 2. Triple H Consoles Kid
Back in 2015, Triple H was a regular on WWE television playing the role of the heel authority figure. While sitting at ringside, a young fan began to talk to Triple H and Hunter, being in character did what any heel is supposed to do, and fired back.
“As we were sitting ringside, the young man was behind me and he was chanting my name, over and over,” Triple H told ABC News. “It was just me being in character. I said, with eye brows up, ‘Hey, stop messing with me. I'm trying to do my job over here.’”
The 8-year-old then broke down in tears following the comment so Triple H, not wanting to ruin the young fan's experience leaned in and re-assured him it was all just an act: “I broke out of character, and put my head to his and messed his hair up. I just said, ‘Hey, buddy, it’s OK. I’m just playing around.’”
1 1. Montreal Screwjob
Sure, now we all know everybody in this incident was breaking character, but when in the moment, nobody knew exactly what was going on. Nothing like this had ever been seen quite before, so no one knew what to make of it.
Bret Hart was in a title match with Shawn Michaels during the 1997 Survivor Series. Vince McMahon ultimately didn't want Bret Hart leaving the building with the title, since his contract was coming to an end and he was worried Hart would do what Alundra Blayze did and bring one of his titles to WCW.
After the act was done (you know how it goes by now), Shawn broke character as he acted like he wasn't in on the screwjob and Bret let the fans know something was up by spitting in Vince's face and proceeding to trash the ringside area, as well as spelling out 'WCW'.