Going on internet wrestling forums can be an awful and depressing experience sometimes. So many times, fans are quick to rag on performers, point out any tiny mistakes that are done and in general are just some of the most negative people on the planet. Thankfully, popular forum site Reddit's community of users who call themselves Squared Circle are not like that.
I'm a frequent visitor of the forum and it is so refreshing to have wrestling fans who are knowledgeable about the product, passionate, who can have civilized arguments without divulging into chaos and calling each other the scum of the earth. A gift of the community also has been the moderators' ability to contact wrestlers and have them conduct what they call an AMA, or otherwise called a "Ask Me Anything". It's exactly as it sounds as fans can ask any question and wrestlers will answer it. You know, if they choose it. Small independent names like Player Uno all the way to icons like Stone Cold Steve Austin have participated in these. The AMAs are a good treasure trove of behind the scenes secrets and stories, and here I've collected the best 15 of them just for you dear reader. Because I'm feeling nice, and I also want to get paid.
15 The Jericho On Your Back
Wrestling fans, much like any fans of other niche entertainment, can get to be a little bit crazy. I mean, we try reasoning with a 72 year-old multi-millionaire who has shown several times that he doesn't give a damn what we think. But Chris Jericho saw first hand just how crazy some wrestling fans can be.
On one of his Reddit AMA (he's done a few, but they haven't been that compelling to be honest, he trolls through most of his answers), a fan asked Jericho what was the craziest thing a fan did. Y2J said that he saw one fan tattoo his face onto his back. He also said that in a few years, it would be like having a Screech tattoo. I never saw Saved By The Bell, so do me a solid and make your own jokes.
14 Rattlesnakes Don't Fly
In today's wrestling, nearly every superstar on the WWE roster has a move where they come off the top rope. From the lightest of ladies like Sasha Banks to the heavier dudes like Kevin Owens, everyone does it. In earlier eras that wasn't as common and one guy who never did it was Stone Cold Steve Austin.
There was a reason for that as SCSA unveiled on his Reddit Ask Me Anything. In 1995, Austin injured his triceps by landing awkwardly on a simple splash off the top rope on a tour of Japan. Austin took this as a sign that he was better off staying on the mat for the rest of his career although he occasionally came off the second rope for an elbow. I think it worked out okay.
13 Undertaker Calms A Rookie
While later editions of the show can largely be seen as a joke, the original season of Tough Enough was when fans were willing to give the show a chance and it still had some credibility. The pressure was on for winner Maven to make a splash and he was feeling the pressure on WrestleMania X8 weekend. Luckily, there was an American Badass who helped him out.
In his Reddit AMA, Maven talks about how he was in his hotel room scared out of his mind for the show when he got a phone call telling him to come to the lobby.
There, Undertaker awaited him with a bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses to calm his nerves. Say it with me now; locker room leader.
12 Owen Hart: King Of Ribs
I can never get tired of Owen Hart stories. Taken from this world way too soon, nearly anybody who was around Owen Hart during his life has a story or two to tell about his legendary pranks. In Terri Runnels' Reddit AMA, she told one about his prank on somebody you gotta be brave to piss off; Harley Race.
Race makes a legendary chili and wrestlers are often invited to his house to enjoy a good bowl. Sensing a chance for mischief, "The Nugget" dumped a bottle of hot sauce into the massive vat of tomato beefy goodness. Once Race took a bite and knew what was up, he chased Hart with a stun gun and shocked him until Owen cried. Leave it to Race to get Owen back for a prank for once.
11 Fart, Owens, Fart
Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are best friends despite what the voices in Chris Jericho's head still tell him. These two have traveled the world together to improve their craft, get signed by WWE and team together at WrestleMania 34.
How did their friendship grow so strong? Flatulence, that's how.
In Kevin Owens' Reddit AMA, Owens discussed a time where he was wrestling Zayn in Italy and the former Universal Champion had to unleash some gas. He told Zayn to "wait for it" and when it hit him, Zayn couldn't handle it and got out of the ring. On the bright side, they were only wrestling in front of 50 fans so there wasn't that many people if they had to run to the exits. This is the only time a wrestler literally stunk out the joint.
10 Maven Admits To Using
When Maven first debuted in the WWE, he looked like a small yet obviously athletic performer. In fact, his dropkick was always a thing of beauty so who cared if he looked a little small. Maven however felt like he needed to get bigger in a short amount of time. And thus, he got on the juice.
In his Reddit AMA, Maven admitted that he used performance enhancing substances during his WWE tenure. He has no regrets about it either, as he feels they helped him immensely and paid his bills. He also gives his opinion on them in general and says that if done under doctor's supervision than there shouldn't be a problem with them. Makes you wonder if there will ever be a day that WWE allows their stars to openly take them... probably not.
9 Matt Hardy Is Woken, Sugar-Free
Fans have often wondered how Matt Hardy stays so woke at all times. Is he a left wing teenager with a Tumblr blog? Does he have Senor Benjamin read to him encyclopedias as he sleeps? Does the answer lay in one of his old Matt facts from 2003? Well I know for sure that the answer is not sugar.
In his first Reddit AMA (this was before he become BROKEN or WOKEN), Hardy told a story of when he was backstage about to enjoy a coffee before his match when it got bumped to an earlier slot on the card. So when he got to the ring, he took a superplex off the top rope only to have a bunch of artificial sweeteners fall out of his pockets into the ring. I wonder if those packets were scooped up by fans and sold on eBay afterwards.
8 Matt Hardy Permanent Damage
Okay so we can just take a second and realize just how insane WWE babyfaces are in cage matches? So many times they've had chances to escape the cage yet they decide to inflict some awful damage to themselves and their opponents by coming off the top of the cage. Most of the time though wrestlers are fine. This time, not so much.
In his blood feud versus Edge in 2005, one of their brutal matches took place in a steel cage at Unforgiven.
In the climax of the match, Hardy was about to escape the cage before he decided to drop the big leg (brother!) on Edge from the cage.
Hardy said in his AMA that the spot permanently damaged his hips and spine. This spot is part of the reason why Hardy moves a bit stiffly nowadays.
7 Rikishi Cleans Up Nice
It's so stupid. How could this get over. Through some pro wrestling magic, veteran performer Rikishi somehow revitalized his career in late 1999/2000 with a gimmick of dancing and rubbing his big butt in people's faces. And he didn't discriminate either as he got both men and women with his stink face. If he liked you though, he would take it easy on you.
Friends with the big man in real life, Terri Runnels had to endure a stink face on an episode of SmackDown.
Rikishi calmed her fears though as he told her beforehand that he was"extra fresh and clean" for her. Tip for all wrestlers out there; never be bad to Rikishi because you never know when you gotta take the Stinkface. It's the reaper of pro wrestling, it comes for all.
6 Good Guy Rocky
Many people know now the story of how The Rock once was just an injured football player with $7 in his pocket and then rose to the top of the WWE by 2000. Rock knew what is was like for young, broke guys. That would explain why Rock took such a liking towards Maven.
When Maven first started with the company in 2002, he had no money whatsoever and Rock knew it. Because of that, Rock decided to pay for Maven's meals, hotel expenses and car rentals for the first few months of his career. In a business with way too many awful human beings, it warms my heart every time I hear good stories like this. How can anybody hate Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson? You can't, don't try.
5 E&C and Hardys Are Milked For All Their Worth
Nobody paid for their popularity in bodily harm throughout their career than the Hardys and Edge and Christian. The amount of tables broken, ladders cracked and chairs dented across the bodies of these men makes me wonder how the aren't in full body casts forever. Especially when you have people in WWE who gave them no breaks!
At Unforgiven 2000, the Hardys and Edge and Christian put on a cracker of a match inside a steel cage.
In Matt Hardy's Reddit AMA, he says there were physically wrecked and were supposed to have the next night off on RAW.
Instead, they were booked in a ladder match and they were pissed off and upset at their performance. Maybe give them a break every once in a while, WWE. Okay?
4 Ted DiBiase Pushed Aside
You got to have quite an ego to push aside a legend like the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. The guy is a WWE Hall of Famer and a classic heel from WWE's Golden Age, who would dare be the guy who would take his spot as the nWo's manager? Well who else but one of the biggest on-screen jerks in wrestling, Eric Bischoff.
In late 1996 it was unveiled than none other than the head of WCW Bischoff was also helping the nWo behind the scenes.
He then became the mouthpiece for the group, replacing DiBiase. DiBiase said in his Reddit AMA that Bischoff just wanted the spotlight and when he saw how hot the angle was, he stepped in and stole DiBiase's spot. He might be right, but at least Bischoff was a believable jerk in the role.
3 Peering Into Personal Affairs
The storyline between Matt and Jeff Hardy that resulted in an oft-forgotten match at WrestleMania 25 is one of the darkest the company ever made. Why is that? Well one brother heavily implies that he burns down the other's house, burns him with pyrotechnics and ended his dog's life. Yeah, it was mental. It's pretty unbelievable that these brothers came up with that idea for their storyline right? Well they didn't.
In Matt Hardy's Reddit AMA, he confirms to fans that it wasn't his or Jeff's idea to include Jeff's real life house fire into the storyline. That was Vince McMahon's idea and those two swallowed that pill and rolled with it. He then went on to say that all employees have to swallow some insane decisions at some point. What, Vince McMahon making a kooky call? Never.
2 JBL's "Hazing" Explained
There have been multiple tales of John Bradshaw Layfield's bullying and just plain bizarre behavior over the years. You can read several wrestlers' autobiographies for stories like that or instead you could go to Justin Roberts' Reddit AMA.
Being in the WWE for that long, Justin Roberts saw his fair share of bullying from JBL and was also a victim.
Roberts says that it wasn't just JBL as he had a whole "cabinet" of guys that he would use to do his dirty work as well. Roberts told a couple of tidbits where he had to guard his passport with his life and how JBL bullied John Morrison and Miz for not partying hard enough for being champions. Class act that JBL.
1 The Undertaker Destroys A Pie
You know who I miss? Justin Roberts! He was a great ring announcer and a fixture of WWE programming since 2002 first working on Velocity and finally working his way up as the main ring announcer of Raw. But his greatest moment might not even be something that we saw.
In Roberts' Reddit AMA, he told a backstage story involving The Undertaker on an overseas tour in Wales. As the tale goes, Undertaker was enjoying a couple of slices of Banoffee Pie and Roberts sensed a moment to pop the Deadman, a goal of everybody in WWE. Roberts started commentating Taker eating his pie in the voice of J.R. It got The Phenom to laugh and that was pretty damn cool for Roberts. Also, WHY WAS THERE NO CAMERAS FOR THIS?!