WWE used to be a carny wild west despite being a nationally televised live show every week. Through the eighties and nineties their wrestlers acted like insane caricatures and behind the scenes, the truth was even stranger. Drugs, hazing, locker room shenanigans, constant partying and that carny atmosphere made the life unique and addictive for the guys and girls of the day, but how times have changed. Now wrestlers, performers, and backstage personnel must abide by a corporate culture, inside a publicly traded company, with little tolerance for the extravagant rowdiness of the past, even as the remnants of that former culture still hang on at the fringes. There's nothing like it anywhere else and it requires a knowledge of the rules, both unwritten and spelled out on paper.

These aren't just guidelines either, these are the ironclad rules of working in WWE that must be obeyed or you face the very real prospect of an angry 70-something year old maniac-genius screaming at you or firing you outright. Most sane people try to avoid such a fate and so the rules are enforced and followed, whether you're a megastar on the level of John Cena or you're there to be pinned and paid like Curt Hawkins. WWE has gone from loose reins on fractious mounts to tightly controlled chaos directed at singular goals. These are the scaffolding principles that govern the modern age of WWE, behind the scenes and on camera. These are the Do's and Don'ts of modern WWE.

25 Don't - Call It A Belt

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Terminology is one of the first things new members to WWE have drilled into them. Gone are the days when various descriptive names could be given to the championships everyone vied for, with full and proper monikers now mandatory. You won't hear anyone calling the Intercontinental Championship a 'strap', or a 'belt'.

You hardly hear anyone even referencing it as simply 'the gold'.

It's the entire honorific and title at all times, as it's for every championship new and old on the WWE roster. While purists enjoy that this ostensibly gives the titles prestige, it nevertheless limits wrestlers vocabulary and sometimes that conflicts with their characters as well. It's a small thing, but like most entries on this list once you notice it you'll realize a small bit of variety has been taken from mainstream wrestling.

24 Don't - Intentional Male On Female Physicality

It's completely off the table nowadays even though they used to put women through table's routinely back during the Attitude Era. Even incidental contact is frowned upon and the only instances you'll see of anything remotely like this will be at major shows, usually by happenstance instead of intention. Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan in recent years have caused Stephanie McMahon to go through some pain at WrestleMania but those are the exceptions to the rule.

WWE hasn't had an inter-gender tag team match in years for this precise reason, with mixed match tags taking over forcing only same gendered athletes to square off. The male-on-female violence issue has come to a head in society and WWE wants no spotlight on their history with the subject given their current 'Women's Revolution' and so they keep their head down and make sure nothing approaching their former rough treatment comes to pass.

23 Do - Pin Facing The Hard Camera

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You see it every week and think nothing of it, or you see it every match and it drives you a little insane as a viewer for how little sense it makes in storyline. Wrestlers flipping themselves over to the opposite side of their opponents so that when the three count comes down they're facing towards the main television camera so that the action is all uniformly captured.

A recent Raw had Nia Jax doing a dainty little breakdancing twist from one side to the other as she sought to fulfill this rule, and it looked ridiculous.

Another constant contrived pinner was Ryback whose finisher The Shellshock positioned him in exactly the wrong position for this rule, and so he always did the twisty-flip required to end up facing the camera from where he had been and would've been naturally without this rule. It's a simple TV production choice WWE enforces as much as possible and it's one of the things you notice most readily if you watch other pro wrestling companies who ignore this little detail in favor of realism.

22 Don't - Say SmackDown. It's SmackDown Live!

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WWE has taken all of its production and promotion and focused it into small avenues of marketing in order to drive up their audience and make them household names again. One of those strategies is to rename Smackdown slightly into SmackDown Live. This may not seem like a big deal but you'll likely never hear the former name again as branding is so central to the WWE culture now that it would be tantamount to swearing on air to not give the Tuesday show its full name and status. Raw doesn't need it by virtue of being a Monday Night staple but the ever-evolving 'B-Show' with it's moving timeslot and switching from pre-taped to airing live is an important step and must be acknowledged at every turn.

21 Do - Point At The WrestleMania Sign

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It's become a bit of a meme in and of itself by this point (hehe) but as soon as the Road to WrestleMania begins at the Royal Rumble, WWE has a big ol' sign in the rafters ready for anyone who has pressing 'Mania business to gesture broadly at whenever they see fit.

Winners of the Rumble, people challenging other legends without words, everyone entering the Andre Memorial Battle Royal, all point to the WrestleMania sign like it's a compulsion.

In truth it's just a clever marketing ploy and photo opportunity to create buzz over WWE's biggest show of the year, and they've taken some glorious shots in that vein. Sometimes it does get ridiculous, like this year when Ronda Rousey debuted and spent 10 minutes smiling between pointing to the sign like she'd just discovered the moon for the first time, but it's effective and an established WWE trope by now.

20 Don't - Date Company Officials

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Obviously, WWE wrestlers aren't prohibited from dating each other. We can see there are many real-life couples on the WWE roster and the company even acknowledges most of them, particularly those who take part in E!'s Total Divas. The talent is on the road for close to 300 days a year, so prohibiting them from dating co-workers would severely hurt their chances of finding love. However, the company does not allow talent to date anybody in the office or in the creative department, as that can obviously create a conflict of interest. It would also make things very awkward if there was a breakup.

Edge and Christian only went so far as to be-friend a head writer during their career and they were accused of politicking their way to better feuds. Could you imagine the outcry of a wrestler actually getting romantically involved with an official?

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This wasn't really a well-known rule before, as you'd expect wrestlers to undergo surgery without hesitation if that's what a doctor recommends. However, after Paige underwent a neck procedure, even though WWE doctors hadn't yet stated that surgery was an option. WWE pays for their wrestlers' treatments, so obviously they'd want to explore any possible avenue before coming to surgery. Given how Paige was out of action for a year, then got re-injured just a month after returning, this will probably only make the rule more heavily enforced.

So in other words, if WWE has to pay for treatment for their wrestlers, they have to know if it's necessary or the best course of action, and they want to determine it with their own doctors' go-ahead as well.

18 Do - Speak In Soundbites

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WWE, for all its faults and weaker aspects, has one arrow in its quiver that always hits the bullseye and makes fans and management happy. That is WWE's world-class promo and video production crew who put together the 3-5 minute recap segments that present the recent history fans need to know in a succinct and awesome package. WWE has decided that for those to be the best they can be, it requires the wrestlers to speak mainly in soundbites and small sentences that can be replayed a thousand times and sound cool.

Catchphrases, declarations of intent, reciting the event name and tagline over and over again, it's all a requirement.

Sometimes it works and other times it sounds awkwardly clunky and horribly forced, but it's something fans have gotten used to and the wrestlers themselves are resigned to at this point. Still, Stone Cold mentioning taglines like a parrot would have dented his mystique and so you wonder how much better it could be with less rigid treatment.

17 Don't - Say 'Wrestler/Wrestling'

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The classic Vince McMahon vendetta against wrestling while he promotes it as his core business continues. Vince may mandate that he is in the Sports Entertainment business but he cannot escape the fact that every week wrestlers get into a wrestling ring to wrestle bell to bell multiple times a night.

The closest he can get is again controlling the terminology he allows on his programming and so the words involving 'wrestling' are carefully controlled.

You get the odd instance where, say, The Revival call themselves wrestlers but it's always as a heel tactic rather than one WWE is proud of.

Even AJ Styles, commonly thought to be among the best wrestlers of this generation, is called a 'once in a generation performer' rather than wrestler.

It's another small chink in Vince's defensiveness over wrestling, but he's the boss so them's the rules.

16 Do - Stick With The Script

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Perhaps the most hotly debated topic among fans and probably within the industry as well is the reality that scripted promos lead to these non-actor athletes seeming like robots. Delivering stilted and unnatural dialogue that doesn't fit your character can ruin you as surely as a major botch or a critical loss, and it's been the hamstring that has snapped on many promising talent's careers. Even Roman Reigns, given infinite chances to improve his mic work over the last few years, struggled mightily with impossibly silly scripts that took away all the 'cool credit' he'd amassed as part of The Shield.

A few superstars earn the right to speak off the cuff and those are often the ones who took the scripts handed to them and made them sound convincing.

Your Samoa Joe's, Daniel Bryan's, and The Miz all excel at getting across the message inherent in these scripts without losing their natural charisma. It's a necessary skill and frankly the one that may separate the true top-tier athletes in Vince McMahon's eyes going forward.

15 Don't - Innuendo/Slang

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For all of WWE's recent dipping of its toe back into inflammatory language more akin to its Attitude Era forebears, sexual stuff, much like in movies, is nowhere near as permitted as violence. There was a recent example to highlight this doctrine not that long ago. Naomi referred to one of her opponents as a 'chickenhead' which on its face sounds like a PG-worthy insult. However, the connotation of that phrase meant that it was immediately scrubbed from future replays of the show and since Naomi hasn't used it again despite it getting plenty of cheers, you can bet she was informed that the word had made its way onto one of WWE's blacklists.

This one is most certainly to appease sponsors and shareholders alike, and considering WWE's track-record of using sex tastefully (it's not great), it's probably for the better.

14 Don't - Use The Same Colours

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It's one of those things you don't notice because it's only evident due to it never happening, but there are corroborating stories that confirm it. Most famously Umaga once tried to utilize a specific shade of color on his tights but due to Triple H having 'claimed' the color he was forced to change his gear and basically submit to The Game's seniority in the matter.

It didn't matter that Triple H was using a kaleidoscope of colors by that point including that particular color while Umaga was primarily featuring various greens, the marketing and logos of the men could not occupy the same hue.

You'll see it across the board in WWE that only one person on each show will feature certain colors associated with them.

Nobody else had Kane's fiery red, The Undertaker's eerie purple, or AJ Styles blue. Always slightly different shades. It's all carefully segregated and illustrates the minutiae that matter in the grand scheme of WWE.

13 Do - Finishers Facing The Hard Camera

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The cousin of the 'pin facing the camera' rule, doing your finisher facing the camera is another thing that you either don't notice or it makes your brain itch. John Cena is terrible with this, routinely going from setups were he could finish his AA move but instead nonsensically walking to the middle of the ring and turning to the televised camera side anyway. It takes away that moment of urgency and for the benefit of camera angles and photography. In WWE presentation has always trumped realism so they lean into it heavily here. Even Brock Lesnar does it with the F-5 (can you remember a time he did it not facing the camera?) so you know it doesn't matter who you are, this is a rule to be followed by all and sundry.

12 Don't - Hide Concussions

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WWE isn't looking to face the same crisis the NFL and other contact sports are having, so head injuries and specifically concussions are being treated with maximum caution.

WWE has routine Impact Testing for anyone who might've copped a knock on the noggin. 

Why? To ensure that they are not liable for any future lawsuits and that the competitor in question is given maximum care and time to recuperate fully.

This means that former storylines that used to be common like someone working through a concussion (such as a time both Dudleys were against Edge & Christian sporting "concussions") are no longer fodder for storylines or exploitation.

WWE skates on thin ice as it is with controversial topics these days and head injuries are no laughing matter, hence mandatory reporting and conclusive medical testing.

11 Do - Hold The Tag Rope

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A little thing that was gone for a long time and then mysteriously returned sometime this last decade, tag ropes are the little white cords you see dangling from the corners in tag team matches.

You have to be holding the tag rope to make a legal tag, and this stops partners from wandering halfway down the apron out of position to make tags and delegitimizing the entire process.

It's something that wasn't present for a time and fans quietly lamented it and so when it was brought back without reference and simply incorporated into the WWE landscape again, it was a pleasant surprise. It cleared up the legal tag scenario as well as added a rule to further differentiate different types of matches and that allows the separate divisions to feel unique. All positive moves and a small detail worth noticing.

10 Don't - Choke Or Spit

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No, these aren't bedroom rules, these are essentially the 'Daniel Bryan rules' that caused WWE to let him go the night the original Nexus debuted. Daniel Bryan got pinged for both of these in the one night when he used Justin Roberts tie to choke him outside the ring, and when he got back into the ring to confront John Cena he spat in his face before bellowing 'You're Not Better Than Me!". While it was a massively cool segment and a bit cathartic to see the king of the indies confront WWE's poster boy, it landed him in instant hot water that resulted in his firing for several months. The lesson was well taken as since then there have been practically zero similar incidents and no promotion of anything close to them.

9 Don't - Embarrass The Company

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This one should go without saying but when even today we're having incidents like Enzo Amore hiding a criminal charge for months on end you can understand why WWE wants to make sure this rule isn't just followed but actively prevents future screw ups.

The talents know that causing WWE's reputation to be dragged through the mud is a surefire way to being let go.

Recently another former Cruiserweight Champion in Rich Swann was let go for an incident with his wife that got into the news. The couple eventually settled the matter and the charges were dropped but Swann had done enough damage that WWE washed their hands of him instead of enduring the association. Hulk Hogan had a similar incident end his last WWE tenure, so even the most famous are not above being let go for the sake of the company.

8 Do - Catch Your Opponents

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This one should be obvious but due to significant moments where Sim Snuka (the former Deuce) and The Miz displayed terrible records in this department it has been highlighted as a rule. No doubt you've seen footage of Sim's big missing catch moment as it's the one where Undertaker flew over the top rope at WrestleMania and nearly landed on his head and neck. The Miz's efforts weren't nearly as famous but often far more detrimental to the falling opponent with Miz failing to put his body between them and the floor resulting in several superstars crashing to the mat when they'd braced to be caught instead.

The short answer here is that if someone trusts you to be there when they're diving out of the ring, you get yourself into position. If someone high profile like Roman Reigns didn't get caught during one of his excellent flying dives Vince would flay the offending catcher and he'd be justified.

7 Don't - Social Media Insanity

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Matt Hardy was the first to feel the burn from misusing social media when he went public with the Lita/Edge affair more than a decade ago. He was fired, rehired amid backlash, and generally went through the ringer. Other wrestlers have been lambasted over similar incidents, with Baron Corbin getting some reported heat over his social media stances.

As a direct line of communication between the onscreen personas, the real-life people playing them, and fans who eat that kind of contact up, WWE has instituted guidelines for behavior and actions when using internet communication.

It would not be too far a guess to assume that, like other major sporting organizations athletes, they go through directed media training to minimize their online fumbles since it only looks bad on the entire company to draw that kind of attention. It's the logical extension of behaving appropriately when representing the company, taken to the world of constant access that new media provides. WWE doesn't want to be the test case for when things go wrong.

6 Do - Shake Hands With Everyone

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This is a backstage tradition that has become somewhat common knowledge to fans because the times it isn't followed, there are repercussions. Essentially, as the story goes, when you arrive in a locker room it is expected you will seek out all your potential workmates, introduce yourself, and take advice and direction from your senior peers.

Whether this is a dying holdover from past times or still a concrete social rule isn't known at large, but a certain incident illustrates the value of not rocking the boat.

The Young Bucks of Bullet Club and The Elite fame notoriously failed to shake Booker T's hand a few years ago during a time they were considering joining the worldwide juggernaut that is WWE, and through Twitter Booker and Goldust shamed the duo for not following the unwritten protocol as dictated. The Bucks ended up not working out a deal and you have to wonder what part this social faux pas had in that eventuality.