With a sport like professional wrestling, and the mixture of both shoot and kayfabe stories running around, sometimes it’s hard to decipher what’s actually really going on behind the scenes. Over the years, fans with overactive imaginations have either heard or misheard stories over the years and have passed them around like a game of telephone.
However these urban legends got started, most of the time it’s probably a game some of the workers call “telephone, telegraph, tell a wrestler.” How many of these did you believe growing up? Here are the ten most ridiculous conspiracy theories about 90s wrestlers and some of the explanations behind them.
10 Two Ultimate Warriors
When The Ultimate Warrior debuted, he looked like the biggest most imposing wrestler since Hulk Hogan. He got fired right after the 1991 SummerSlam and rehired as a surprise for WrestleMania VIII. But he had shorter hair and looked leaner. This meant only one thing. It was so obvious that Jim Hellwig had passed away in the interim and this new guy under the paint was the second Ultimate Warrior, some fans even thought that the “new” Warrior was being played by Kerry Von Erich, The Texas Tornado.
9 Montreal Was A Work
If Vince McMahon is as diabolical as people and the Internet thinks he is, then he made several very cunning moves in the nineties that spelled the end of WCW. They’re also all on this list. First up — The Montreal Screwjob was a work. Even some of the boys think that it was all an elaborate ruse.
After all, everyone benefited from it — Shawn became the biggest heel in the company and Vince became the evil Boss the baby faces could rally against. After being the top heel for most of the year, Bret became a sympathetic Babyface once again on his way out.
8 Hulk’s WrestleMania Eye
Hulk Hogan had his first retirement match at WrestleMania VIII and for nearly a year was actually out of the ring. He returned to help his friend Brutus Beefcake against Money Inc. at WrestleMania IX. He showed up to the event with a black eye, a black eye that in storyline was delivered by thugs paid off by the Million Dollar Man. The supposed true story was he got it in a Jetski accident. But the going legend has been that the Macho Man popped him when he found out Liz had left him and Hulk got pulled into helping, thanks to his wife Linda.
7 Regal Shoots On Goldberg
Bill Goldberg was in the midst of compiling victory after victory. One fateful night on Nitro, Lord Steven Regal was next. But rather than a simple kick, spear, Jackhammer squash match, Regal tried to make Goldberg look better than a three move star and had a wrestling match with the guy, like any good heel would do. But the match didn’t come off like that at all and it seemed like Regal shot on the rookie. He was let go by WCW shortly afterwards. Over the years Regal has refuted this story and owned up that he released due to his substance problems.
6 Luger Wins The Gold
After failing to win the WWE title at SummerSlam, Lex Luger had to work his way back to the WWE title, which he did by being a co-winner of the Royal Rumble. The stage was set for WrestleMania X, with Luger set to win the WWE title.
Or at least that’s what a news column in New York reported the Friday before the event. The rumor has always been that Luger was inebriated at the bar and gave away the results of the main event to other bar patrons. Several people over the years, including Bruce Prichard and Luger himself has simply shot this down as not being true.
5 The Macho Man And Stephanie
Towards the end of 1994, Vince McMahon had announced on Monday Night Raw that long time star, Randy Savage had left the company. He never returned, and to date he is the only superstar that McMahon ever publicly acknowledged having left and wished him luck. Why would Savage never be welcomed back when everyone else who ever went up against McMahon was welcomed back with a red carpet celebration? The going theory has always been a torrid affair between Savage and a then very young Stephanie McMahon. Even recently, Savage's former girlfriend Gorgeous George announced that Savage told her what really happened. But she didn’t reveal what that was.
4 Vince Sent Vince To WCW
In late 1999, the WWE was rolling on all cylinders and their head writer, Vince Russo was a big part of it. His wild storylines and strong workrate from the wrestlers helped to push WWE right past WCW in the ratings. Now it was time to deliver the killing blow. In this wild theory, Vince McMahon sent Russo to WCW to completely butcher the company and allow McMahon and WWE to eventually carve it up and buy it. It stands to reason — Russo’s ideas in WWE were nowhere near as paltry as they were in WCW, but it’s all just a fantasy. McMahon had final say on all of Russo’s silliness; something that no one had in WCW.
3 ECW Was Always Owned By WWE
In the mid to late nineties, no Indy promotion was hotter than ECW. Paul Heyman would rally his roster to put on the performance of a lifetime every single night. More often than not, when guys were ready to leave, they typically went to WWE (with the exception of a handful that went to WCW). Heyman would also rip into Bischoff and WCW slightly harder than he would Vince and WWE. The more and more information about the relationship between WWE and ECW that has come out over the years has led plenty of fans to believe the promotion was secretly a subsidiary of WWE.
2 Vince Sent The Outsiders To WCW
This one was quelled pretty quickly, but in 1996 with no internet in sight, there was a contingent of fans who thought Scott Hall coming through the crowd was real. Nash coming over was real. The guys were sent over by Vince McMahon to actually invade the company.
Or both companies were actually working together. Things got even dicier when Jim Ross declares Diesel and Razor were returning to the company — a piece of video that Hall and Nash watched with WCW Brass! They were both offered more money pretty much on the spot.
1 Shawn Wasn’t That Hurt
Was it a real back injury or a wild lifestyle that spelled the supposed end of Shawn Michaels. In early 1999, HBK took what seem to many to be an ordinary bump across the casket during his match with The Undertaker. It also spelled the end of his career for a little while. The going rumor was that it wasn’t that bad, but in order to keep Shawn from leaving for WCW, Vince kept him on payroll to deal with all of his injuries and substance abuse issues while Stone Cold took over as the top guy.