Anyone who has been to a WWE live show is well aware of the announcement beforehand stating video recording is explicitly prohibited. If someone is caught filming during a show it could result in their immediate ejection from the event depending on the venue.
While it might be a good idea to follow the rules most of the time, there are a handful of infamous in-ring happenings that fans would never have seen if someone hadn’t bent the rules and snuck in a camera anyway. These moments were captured by fans in attendance at WWE live shows and they graciously decided to share them with all.
We should all be grateful that these people felt the need to rebel and share these moments with the rest of the WWE Universe instead of allowing them to be lost in the sands of time.
#5 – Big Show’s Middle Rope Debacle
On September 9, 2016 Big Show was wrestling in the main-event against John Cena in Manila, Philippines. The match was going as expected until Big Show went for a splash which he had pulled off countless times before. Only this time, the second rope snapped underneath him and he was sent toppling to the canvas.
Being the consummate professionals that they are, Show and Cena carried on with the match. Cena quickly made use of the situation and ended the match soon after with an Attitude Adjustment.
After the match’s conclusion Cena played with the broken rope making light of the situation and looking astonished at what just happened. If it weren’t for fans in attendance capturing this moment in time for us all to see, it would have been lost in the ether.
#4 – Titus O’Neil Crosses The Boss
February 8th, 2016 isn’t just known as the date when Daniel Bryan hung up his boots. It is also when Titus O’Neil almost lost his job.
It is a hard and fast rule not to cross the boss, especially if your boss is Vincent Kennedy McMahon. After Daniel Bryan’s retirement speech, the locker room filled the stage to give him a proper send off with Vince and Stephanie McMahon out in front.
Nobody is quite sure why he did it, but Titus O’Neil decided to grab Vince as he was walking by him and that turned out to be a big mistake.
Later reports explained that Titus was merely suggesting that Vince let Stephanie walk in front of him, either way Vinny-Mac wasn’t a happy camper. Vince turned to Titus with a furious face and shoved him backward.
Titus was given a hefty suspension, and apparently just avoided outright termination from WWE for this innocent and misinterpreted action. Fans were bewildered why such a stiff penalty was laid out and they took to social media in droves. #FreeTitus trended on Twitter, and there were several accusations thrown at McMahon for being so stern in this instance.
One thing is for sure, that without someone in attendance capturing the happening in full, we wouldn’t have near the clarity into the sometimes furious nature of The Mac Attack as we do now.
#3 – KO Makes RR LOL
Kevin Owens is hilarious, and apparently he’s a little bit too funny for his own good at times. On December, 29th 2016 Kevin Owens had Roman Reigns in a headlock and he was trash-talking the Brooklyn crowd.
KO was spouting off about how much he makes compared to the masses, he went on about the amount of money he gets in his royalty checks, and divulged some probably accurate financial information in such a humorously taunting way, and Roman couldn’t hold it in any longer.
What followed next was Mr. Reigns laughing uncontrollably to the point where he had to cover his face with a free hand and ask assistance from the referee to block the audience’s view of him. This is the kind of occurrence that fans have heard about for years, but thanks to a fan in the crowd everyone is able to enjoy this moment as well.
#2 – The NXT Curtain Call
During the conclusion of the NXT show in Houston on July 30th, 2016 fans in attendance were treated to something special. The WWE brand extension had just recruited a handful of NXT superstars up to the main roster, and Finn Balor had just wrestled his last NXT match.
Bayley’s music hit and she came down to give a heartfelt speech saying goodbye to the Demon. Balor didn’t take all of the glory for himself though, as he turned around and delivered an earnest speech about how much NXT means to him. In the speech he also said, without saying it, that NXT is in much better hands now that Bill DeMott is no longer a part of the equation.
Bayley and Finn then welcomed the other members of the NXT roster who had been called up during the brand extension. Each one of them were emotional and it is obvious how special this milestone was for everyone involved.
Several viewpoints of this event exist thanks to fans in attendance who also realized how memorable this moment in time was.
#1 – The MSG Curtain Call
On May 19th, 1996 the WWF was at a crossroads and and the company ended up losing two top stars. Kayfabe was still alive and well, therefore it was unheard of for faces and heels to be seen intermingling in a brotherly way. However, the Kliq didn’t seem to care much about tradition or what the fans (or the office) thought for that matter.
After the main event cage match featuring Shawn Michaels and Diesel, the fans in Madison Square Garden got to see something that they never thought would happen. Razor Ramon and Triple H came to the ring to join their fellow Kliq-mates because Nash and Hall were on their way to WCW. The four men hugged in the middle of the ring and they all did the “too sweet” hand gesture.
Triple H and HBK gave a poignant send off to their friends, and fans in attendance were not only in awe, but were totally in the moment as well.
The story goes on to tell that Triple H was the only person who was really punished for this incident because Shawn was the top guy, and The Outsiders were on their way out.
However, it did result in Vince pulling Hunter’s planned King of The Ring victory from him to be replaced by Stone Cold Steve Austin. Therefore, if it weren’t for the MSG Curtain Call, then Austin 3:16 probably would never have happened. Just take a moment to consider that while you pick up the pieces of your brain off the floor because your mind just got blown.
It is a miracle that someone was able to sneak a video camera into MSG in 1996 (because video cameras haven’t always been the size a credit card). Nevertheless, it is thanks to this brave soul that the now infamous moment in time was captured for us all to see.
Manila is in the Phillipines, not Italy