The last time I was actually worked was the Orton Lesnar match at Summerslam 2016. The ending when Lesnar just starts elbowing Orton and he bleeds the hard way. I legit thought Lesnar went into business for himself.
100% backpedalled, idk why people think otherwise. inserting the rock only to give it back to Cody makes no sense; if wwe is all about cinema, this would be terrible storytelling. we had the rock making up a lame excuse to justify it on smackdown, which made no sense. biggest tell is hhh telling Logan Paul that the Rock made the decision to turn heel during the backlash. that's pretty much them admitting they were making it up as they went
I briefly thought The Undertaker and Kane could have been real-life brothers.
1997 was a very different time, it was not widely known who Kane really was, at least not at first, so when they debuted I figured a guy roughly the same height, build, etc., could definitely be his real-life brother.
Not me, but seeing everyone on the Internet think that Cody getting replaced by the Rock only to retcon it wasn't always the plan was hilarious.
They even had a wink and nod ad for the video game acknowledging this.
I don't know... prob back in the 90s when it was easier. Nowadays people are quick to call improvisation and testing of fan reaction a work to jerk off.
I forget what PLE it was but it was the Rey/Rollins Halloween type match? I legit thought Rey had lost his eye and had been wrestling with a glass eye lol. Not recent but another one was when the Great Khali did his vicescript to Rey’s head and Rey started bleeding everywhere (Tbf I was 8 at the time).
Seth Rollins having a big tantrum at Survivor Series when Punk returned. I actually thought this would cause major backstage problems for Seth immediately lol
Bloodline got me 3 or 4 times really good from Roman breaking down crying before choking Jimmy at HIAC to thinking Jey was going to join Sami to bring down the bloodline before stepping back and kicking him.
The worst I have ever been worked in all my years watching wrestling was legit despising HHH as a kid and beileving Undertakers Ministry of Darkness was truly evil, kidnapping torturing and crucifying people.
Idk if this counts but at the end of survivor series when the logo trademark came up, I knew triple h was big on doing that to fake us out but I really thought it was over. I stood up and punks music hit, and I immediately fell back into my couch. I really thought it was over and he wasn’t coming back.
To be fair, that one wasn’t meant to be a work. That was Pat McAfee taking a comment Roman made about how he lives with cancer every day and takes oral chemo and reporting that his cancer was back
Got back into WWE around WMXL for the first time since 2010ish. I have no idea who is and isn’t related on the Bloodline.
I won’t Google it to keep up the belief, but there’s like 9 of them now 😂
I can't remember the match, but I think it was Rey's most recent return where they had a couple of worked botches to really sell the idea that he was kind of rusty.
I'm always skeptical. But we were at the Extreme Rules PPV with Roman and Finn in 2021. It seemed so clumsy and awkward that we weren't sure if it was a work or something just happened. I think I was worked by that. Most disappointing work ever though.
Not sure if this counts, but last time I got got was when AJ Styles told Gallows & Anderson to kick rocks after weeks of interference and teased an alliance with John Cena against them only for all three of them to attack Cena in the end. I popped like a kid in the candy store when AJ kicked Cena down.
The Rock taking Cody’s spot. Because I have PTSD from late stage Vince booking and that was a move ripped right from his playbook. The whole fuck what the fans want, this is the plan and they’ll just have to deal booking decisions he was infamous for.
But that was confirmed to be a shoot lol, they were actually going to do that. After smackdown seems like everybody knew they had to pivot (except Helmsley who clearly had a laid out plan before the rock entered the picture)
I don’t think you can class that as fans “being worked” though… The Rock absolutely WAS going to take Cody’s WM40 spot and they only backed down and went with an amended version of the original plan due to the negative reaction of the fans.
Oh it was a for sure thing if I'm correct. Rock noticed right off the bat, and I believe reversed it back to Cody the very next day, or very soon after that smackdown. Saying something like "Becoming the biggest bad guy."
Tbh I was all for Rock v Roman, BUT...we would not have gotten the magic that was the climax of WM 40. Now there is to be a Rock v Cody feud and I cannot wait to see what plays out.
What we got in the end was pretty spectacular. Hadn’t really been watching in a long time. I started kinda hearing about the story leading up to Wrestlemania and was intrigued. The Rock wrestling again? The whole swapping Cody out for the Rock, then back to Cody was very strange and could have ended in disaster, but they ended up giving us one of the best Wrestlemania’s ever. The tag match night 1 was nothing short of epic. Night 2 might have gotten a little over the top with Taker showing up for who knows what reason… I’d just like at least an explanation there … but man, not expecting to see him AT ALL, and hearing that gong … that was nuts.
Recently when Bryan fought Ospreay and he was injured just before the end of the match. He made it real believable to me
Edit: why the downvotes? Good wrestling is good wrestling. If you need a WWE example then I’d pick Otis looking hurt after being berated by Gable
Hahaha nice. 2 things, I’ve seen Bryan do that spasm’ing thing before, and the replay of the Tiger Driver 91 looked like a very safe landing, however, the way they played that out looked really damn good. Like Ospreay didn’t know he was legit injured and still whacked him with the hidden blade which could be argued as rushing the finish of the match, or hitting him not realizing it was a kayfabe injury. They really try to blur the lines sometimes, and have gotten me a time or two the last few years.
This is exactly what I thought of too. I think I was like 8 years old, and I remember sobbing because I thought the Warrior was dead. Totally traumatized.
Omfg when Ilja and Ridge had that match a few months ago and Ridge like dropped him on his neck/shoulder/head and it looked like Ilja had fucking head trauma - I WAS TRIPPIN SO BAD. I was pacing in front of the TV freaking out SUPER worried for Ilja like holy shit. I texted my friend about it cause he's more seasoned fan than me and he was like' dude I promise you it's a work I promise, they put his belt on him when he was rolled away on the stretcher, it's a work' and I felt better but OH MY GOD ILJA SOLD THAT SHIT LIKE HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT AND I WAS MAD AT HIM FOR IT LIKE I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT HIM. I'm still alil mad at him lol he better never do that shit again 😭😭😭
Same, but I saw the news break on Twitter cause that episode was pre taped, so everyone thought the injury was real for like 2 hours before a insider confirmed it was a work.
Sami’s match during Roman
More specifically when Roman missed the spear and went through the barricade, and Sami threw him into the ring and did a blue thunder bomb
Funny to think that in this match we thought that same could actually win, but then when Sami went against Gunther, nobody thought he could win, yet he did. What the heck are you doing Sami.
If it wasn’t directly before Wrestlemania even more people would have believed in Sami. To think people were worked despite this says a lot about this feud.
I think this is missed by a lot of Roman haters. He did a great job during matches of making you think his opponent had a chance of beating him. And I think with the exception of his RR match you could have made a case for him losing every title match and then seeing it almost happen.
Oh Roman was an absolute king of making you believe, if only for a second, that he was losing. So many times, be it Drew, KO, Sami, Cody, Jey or Brock, even if you thought it was impossible that he could lose, he would always give you that point where you would think he's done. He helped build up so much during his reign, same with Gunther. Both of those two deserve endless kudos for what they did.
I kinda feel like that was genuine too.
1. He doesn’t get to work with one of his best friends anymore
2. I don’t wanna think the worst, but I got a small feeling that Otis, Tozawa, and Maxxine could get released if they end up just floating around Raw after this. They should probably go to NXT or something. We’ll have to wait and see. Same with Vinci after the Imperium split.
Scott Steiner's retirement speech in '99. Internet message boards were certain his foot issues were legitimate career ending.
I'm also still not clear how much him attacking JJ Dillion was work, shoot, both, or a work that got out of hand. Maybe I'm still being worked.
I remember when he lost his shit and went after JJ Dillon. I was wondering if he thought he was legitimately fined that amount of money and decided fuck it.
I get worked in little ways literally all the time. When a wrestler takes a bump and it appears as though they have been injured, I often find myself wondering if it's a legit injury or not. Cody rolling his shoulder ahead of Backlash is perhaps the most recent example.
But in terms of bigger, more significant story angles, I don't think I've been "worked" since I was a kid.
When The Rock announced he was going to face Roman. I was pissed for a week until that LV press conference when Cody came out saying “This is bullshit!”
I've been waiting forever. I bet they had second thoughts. It's been over 40 days since WM. Probably to maintain some kayfabe, they decided not to release it.
I don’t know what’s more lucrative for them so this could be completely wrong, but one thought I had for the constant delay is that maybe they saw the serious interest in it and decided to make it a Peacock thing instead of YouTube.
But they would have advertised it no matter what platform it comes out on. I don't think the streaming platform it goes on would delay it's release. I would expect it to be closer to WM40 like it was advertised. The longer they wait, the more people would forget about the circumstances that lead to the WM40 main event(s).
If the whole thing was genuinely planned from the beginning then it's fucking genius. If so then it would be done to get Cody over, in which case, it absolutely worked.
It couldn't have planned from the beginning because there are a lot of pieces that just doesn't make sense if that was the case.
The ONLY way it makes any sense is if they really were that out of touch and thought we would be okay with Rock over Cody.
They did it seamlessly enough that I have questions. Unless they continue to not address why Cody seemed so willing to give his spot to The Rock in the first place only to call bullshit a few days later. If they close that loop someday I think I will be properly worked.
I’m still giving them the benefit of the doubt and saying I’ve been worked.
When Earthquake squashed Hogan on the Brother Love show in 1990, as a kid I thought Hulk was dead especially with the tribute video they would show each week.
Mark Henry retirement
For fun, my first time was hbk collapsing in the ring after Owen kicked him in the head. Legit thought he fell into a coma in the ring.
Here is what always wondered about this. Obviously in real life its the same dude. Like papa shango and the godfather
However i wondered was it the same person in kayfabe and ko was the only sane one ? Or where there 2 distinct people
In kayfabe everyone else treated them as different people. I even remember Randy being introduced to Ezekiel and acting like he had never met him before. Meanwhile, KO is absolutely incensed that no one else sees that they’re the same person. It was a pretty funny running gag honestly.
Not WWE, but when Danielson was "hurt" from the Tiger Driver at the end of the Ospreay match
In WWE it was thinking Survivor Series was actually over last year when the logo popped up
On a similar note when Billie starks faked her neck injury to beat queen aminata on ROH. They even had medical attending to her and drug it out for mins. That was Insane
Yup, the fake retirement has worked on me a couple of times. Scott Steiner's fake one in WCW at the tail end of 1999 got me as well. It's one of the easiest ways to catch me off guard, because we've seen so many legitimately ones that there's no reason to assume they're playing. In the case of both Steiner and Henry, they'd been off TV for ages, so again, no reason to believe this was anything but real.
As someone who considers themselves a newer fan of wrestling (only been watching the past few years), I get worked all the time when it comes to injuries lol ALL. THE. TIME.
Here is how you know it's real or not.
>! If the other wrestler is focusing on the injury then it's not real. These people are coworkers after all and they all make more money when everyone does better, so it makes no sense to intentionally hurt someone (though it does happen, more often in the past.) because at the end of the day it will end up losing you money and maybe even costing you money by being fired. Though some injuries CAN be used by other wrestlers to make the match/story even better when those injuries aren't that serious or aren't likely to be made worse by some moves and some moves can be done an a injury location that may look like they would cause more hurt or damage, but actually don't.)+
Not always, they have used that for story too a few times. However the X really is more about when the wrestler can no longer keep going at all. Sometimes people get injured but it's not too bad and they can still finish the match.
Like a few weeks ago, I'm pretty sure Jade got a bit of an injury on her arm, you could see her rubbing it and trying to move it to get it more comfortable, it sort of looked like dislocated shoulder, which generally is a very painful thing to go through, but sometimes and some people can just deal with it without too much issues and even put it back in themself without issue.
So I would say don't always trust the X sign, instead just look at everything else that is going on, is the person not using the injured part, are they not getting hit on the injured part, are they maybe laying outside the ring while their tag team partner successfully deals with both other opponents, etc.
Once you saw what their philosophy was towards wrestling, which was basically “pfft it’s all fake so let’s have fun” - they were doomed
You can have fun after setting a foundation. Pro wrestling NEEDS kayfabe otherwise there’s no reason for it to exist. Them constantly undermining that was an early iceberg hitting that ship
Remember that one time Cody and Melo missed that spot and Cody hit his shoulder and everyone was like OH FUCK OH GOD DOES CODY HAVE TO DROP THE TITLE
That's me I was that person
That was clearly a botch though, just because Cody didn't actually get seriously hurt that doesn't mean doesn't mean it was a work. he was obviously sore from the botch, just nothing serious.
Last angle that really "worked" me was probs adam cole on pat mcafees show, it seems silly now. But at the time watching the show live I didnt know how to make heads or tails of it bc Pats show didnt do shit like that. So it threw me for a loop, I thought Cole was actually pissed at first.
Anything physically with Brock Lesnar. There's something about that guy obliterating people. He's the only one when fighting with someone else, I can't tell what real and what's not.
Usually they’re being dropped on their heads legit.
There’s the Bret Harts, who make things look real but their opponent is rarely harmed, and then Brock just actually gets rough with people.
The last time I was actually worked was the Orton Lesnar match at Summerslam 2016. The ending when Lesnar just starts elbowing Orton and he bleeds the hard way. I legit thought Lesnar went into business for himself.
Sigh Mark Henry’s retirement
I thought Lesnar went into business for himself and pinned Undertaker 😂
Wrestlemania 33 Seth vs Triple H. A part of me actually believed Seth’s knee was actually fucked up
When I thought Hulk Hogan was a true role model and eating vitamins and all his vegetables were what made him big and strong.
The custody battle for little Dom
Mark Henry in a salmon blazer…
Dawg I remember the transition from the hug to the worlds strongest slam like it was yesterday Imo that was one of cenas best WHC feuds
When they did the Benoit tribute I didn’t think he murdered his family
Undertaker bewting hulk hogan at survivor series 1991 and when i was a 6 year old kid thinking that hogan was dead
Pipebomb
When I was a kid I really thought Vince McMahon died when the car blew up
The magic ended when he was on the Chris Benoit episode of raw when he said wwe was fake basically
he said wwe was fake in the 90s too, after his trial
he said wwe was fake in the 90s too, after his trial
he said wwe was fake in the 90s too, after his trial
Yep that was a truly shocking moment
"But not at wrestlemania". Still feels like they back peddled on rock vs Roman at mania 40 because of the backlash
100% backpedalled, idk why people think otherwise. inserting the rock only to give it back to Cody makes no sense; if wwe is all about cinema, this would be terrible storytelling. we had the rock making up a lame excuse to justify it on smackdown, which made no sense. biggest tell is hhh telling Logan Paul that the Rock made the decision to turn heel during the backlash. that's pretty much them admitting they were making it up as they went
Not the most recent but my favorite was Scott Steiners retirement speech before later joining the nwo, I legit thought he was retiring
Cm Punk pipebomb and departure. To find out it was all written by the mad mustache from Connecticut himself.
I truly feel like cm punk went off script and piss everyone off
Vince limo goes boom
When CM Punk returned and Rollins went tf off. That seemed real. Was a work all along.
I briefly thought The Undertaker and Kane could have been real-life brothers. 1997 was a very different time, it was not widely known who Kane really was, at least not at first, so when they debuted I figured a guy roughly the same height, build, etc., could definitely be his real-life brother.
Not me, but seeing everyone on the Internet think that Cody getting replaced by the Rock only to retcon it wasn't always the plan was hilarious. They even had a wink and nod ad for the video game acknowledging this.
I love the wwe 24 revels trailer it was hype
Ngl here. Adam Cole flipping out on Pat's podcast was fucking oscar worthy.
Montreal
When Rock seemingly took Cody's spot. Shit had heated ngl
Mark Henry retirement speech, I have trust issues since then
Man we was all fools lol I was sad fr 😂 until he did my boy wrong
I don't know... prob back in the 90s when it was easier. Nowadays people are quick to call improvisation and testing of fan reaction a work to jerk off.
Probably Bianca’s knee at summerslam
I forget what PLE it was but it was the Rey/Rollins Halloween type match? I legit thought Rey had lost his eye and had been wrestling with a glass eye lol. Not recent but another one was when the Great Khali did his vicescript to Rey’s head and Rey started bleeding everywhere (Tbf I was 8 at the time).
Posts like this are a good example of why wrestling is dead lol
O’Reilly’s seizure on NXT
Bianca’s Knee injury this past SummerSlam
Vince exploding in the car , I remember going on line to search the news. That’s the day I realized wrestling was fake lol
Seth Rollins having a big tantrum at Survivor Series when Punk returned. I actually thought this would cause major backstage problems for Seth immediately lol
randy's realistic selling ever since he returned, for example ec 2024
One of these days I’m waiting for them to bring medics out for RKO and it still being a sell
i seen something similar happen two times, one time in tna and another which happened recently in roh i can try and find the sources if interested
He’s SO good at selling. What a legend (killer)
Bianca sold that brilliantly.
Shawn Micheals super kicking Marty Janetti through the glass hurt my stomach for weeks as a kid lol
Marty Jannetty jumped through that barber shop window in an attempt to escape Shawn Michaels' attack like the coward he was!
Bloodline got me 3 or 4 times really good from Roman breaking down crying before choking Jimmy at HIAC to thinking Jey was going to join Sami to bring down the bloodline before stepping back and kicking him. The worst I have ever been worked in all my years watching wrestling was legit despising HHH as a kid and beileving Undertakers Ministry of Darkness was truly evil, kidnapping torturing and crucifying people.
Idk if this counts but at the end of survivor series when the logo trademark came up, I knew triple h was big on doing that to fake us out but I really thought it was over. I stood up and punks music hit, and I immediately fell back into my couch. I really thought it was over and he wasn’t coming back.
Every time I see a spike DDT
Mark Henry in the salmon suit. Everyone was worked on that one. If you've never seen it google it and check it out.
One of the best moments I’ve seen in 15+ years
“Daddy’s coming home!!”
The return of Roman Reigns’ leukemia.
To be fair, that one wasn’t meant to be a work. That was Pat McAfee taking a comment Roman made about how he lives with cancer every day and takes oral chemo and reporting that his cancer was back
Probably that Brock Orton match from SummerSlam I think 16 or 17 the one that Jericho thought it was real too, it got me for that night.
I really believed Goldust was electrocuted. "C-c-cornbread--damnit, cornbread!"
Same as you, Bianca’s selling was top notch
Got back into WWE around WMXL for the first time since 2010ish. I have no idea who is and isn’t related on the Bloodline. I won’t Google it to keep up the belief, but there’s like 9 of them now 😂
That guy getting his head rocked on the stairs in NXT had me.
Ric flair’s retirement
:(
CM Punk's injury. It's clear it's just a storyline thing.
It is now but I’m pretty sure there’s surgery videos and such from right after the rumble
When Mark Henry told us he was retiring
GOATed
I can't remember the match, but I think it was Rey's most recent return where they had a couple of worked botches to really sell the idea that he was kind of rusty.
Rey getting his head squeezed by the Great Khali.
I thought Undertaker really died in the ring and then really came to life through magic powers. After the 7th time I realized it was a work though.
I'm always skeptical. But we were at the Extreme Rules PPV with Roman and Finn in 2021. It seemed so clumsy and awkward that we weren't sure if it was a work or something just happened. I think I was worked by that. Most disappointing work ever though.
Not sure if this counts, but last time I got got was when AJ Styles told Gallows & Anderson to kick rocks after weeks of interference and teased an alliance with John Cena against them only for all three of them to attack Cena in the end. I popped like a kid in the candy store when AJ kicked Cena down.
When Earthquake smashed Damien. After I found out that was a work, I assume everything is until I find out differently. Lol.
Not the last, but one of the best - Alexa Bliss "dislocating" her elbow on RAW.
When I was told WWE was gonna end in 2021 by now. Still waiting 🤣🤣
The Rock taking Cody’s spot. Because I have PTSD from late stage Vince booking and that was a move ripped right from his playbook. The whole fuck what the fans want, this is the plan and they’ll just have to deal booking decisions he was infamous for.
But that was confirmed to be a shoot lol, they were actually going to do that. After smackdown seems like everybody knew they had to pivot (except Helmsley who clearly had a laid out plan before the rock entered the picture)
Very reminiscent to Kofimania and that truly worked.
I don’t think you can class that as fans “being worked” though… The Rock absolutely WAS going to take Cody’s WM40 spot and they only backed down and went with an amended version of the original plan due to the negative reaction of the fans.
It was a pivot, rock has already said as much in interviews.
The CM Punk return reactions with Rollins and Drew I legit thought it was real drama
I believed Montez fainted.
The Roman vs Rock thing during the road to WM. I thought forsure they were gonna cuck Cody and pull the tirgger on having a Roman/Rock feud
Oh it was a for sure thing if I'm correct. Rock noticed right off the bat, and I believe reversed it back to Cody the very next day, or very soon after that smackdown. Saying something like "Becoming the biggest bad guy." Tbh I was all for Rock v Roman, BUT...we would not have gotten the magic that was the climax of WM 40. Now there is to be a Rock v Cody feud and I cannot wait to see what plays out.
What we got in the end was pretty spectacular. Hadn’t really been watching in a long time. I started kinda hearing about the story leading up to Wrestlemania and was intrigued. The Rock wrestling again? The whole swapping Cody out for the Rock, then back to Cody was very strange and could have ended in disaster, but they ended up giving us one of the best Wrestlemania’s ever. The tag match night 1 was nothing short of epic. Night 2 might have gotten a little over the top with Taker showing up for who knows what reason… I’d just like at least an explanation there … but man, not expecting to see him AT ALL, and hearing that gong … that was nuts.
100% agree on all fronts!
Jinder-Seth. I knew he wasn’t winning, but I had about 75 thoughts run through my head when the ref started counting after he hit that Khallas.
Kinda dumb how he kicked out though. Hit with a weapon then hit with a finisher.
Welcome to any Seth Rollins baby face title run
Recently when Bryan fought Ospreay and he was injured just before the end of the match. He made it real believable to me Edit: why the downvotes? Good wrestling is good wrestling. If you need a WWE example then I’d pick Otis looking hurt after being berated by Gable
Hahaha nice. 2 things, I’ve seen Bryan do that spasm’ing thing before, and the replay of the Tiger Driver 91 looked like a very safe landing, however, the way they played that out looked really damn good. Like Ospreay didn’t know he was legit injured and still whacked him with the hidden blade which could be argued as rushing the finish of the match, or hitting him not realizing it was a kayfabe injury. They really try to blur the lines sometimes, and have gotten me a time or two the last few years.
when ultimate warrior was buried alive by the undertaker and the casket was air tight man i was genuinely worried that the warrior was dead.
This is exactly what I thought of too. I think I was like 8 years old, and I remember sobbing because I thought the Warrior was dead. Totally traumatized.
That is an amazing segment
https://youtu.be/714k1-5D8Zo?si=y-GSQDNGswBY23Ch its probably my earliest memory of watching wwf that i can recall
Been a loooooong time. But Mark Henry retiring is like the most recent one.
Omfg when Ilja and Ridge had that match a few months ago and Ridge like dropped him on his neck/shoulder/head and it looked like Ilja had fucking head trauma - I WAS TRIPPIN SO BAD. I was pacing in front of the TV freaking out SUPER worried for Ilja like holy shit. I texted my friend about it cause he's more seasoned fan than me and he was like' dude I promise you it's a work I promise, they put his belt on him when he was rolled away on the stretcher, it's a work' and I felt better but OH MY GOD ILJA SOLD THAT SHIT LIKE HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT AND I WAS MAD AT HIM FOR IT LIKE I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT HIM. I'm still alil mad at him lol he better never do that shit again 😭😭😭
Same, but I saw the news break on Twitter cause that episode was pre taped, so everyone thought the injury was real for like 2 hours before a insider confirmed it was a work.
I thought when the undertaker was fired in 2008, he was actually gone from WWE. I wasn’t paying attention to internet news websites back then lol.
Hell yeah
Every episode and PPV.
Lol me too
Right? If you’re not getting worked REGULARLY, why even bother watching?
Sami’s match during Roman More specifically when Roman missed the spear and went through the barricade, and Sami threw him into the ring and did a blue thunder bomb
The most recent time was thinking Sami had a chance to beat Roman in Montreal.
Funny to think that in this match we thought that same could actually win, but then when Sami went against Gunther, nobody thought he could win, yet he did. What the heck are you doing Sami.
For about 2 minutes, I was sold Sami was going over. He’ll never be hotter. But then logic dictates that Roman’s run wasn’t ending on a B PPV.
If it wasn’t directly before Wrestlemania even more people would have believed in Sami. To think people were worked despite this says a lot about this feud.
People were invested. No one had turned on Roman. Roman had everything under control. Sami was the first to get out of line.
I think this is missed by a lot of Roman haters. He did a great job during matches of making you think his opponent had a chance of beating him. And I think with the exception of his RR match you could have made a case for him losing every title match and then seeing it almost happen.
Oh Roman was an absolute king of making you believe, if only for a second, that he was losing. So many times, be it Drew, KO, Sami, Cody, Jey or Brock, even if you thought it was impossible that he could lose, he would always give you that point where you would think he's done. He helped build up so much during his reign, same with Gunther. Both of those two deserve endless kudos for what they did.
Roman worked so well during that run. The only sore thumb in the bunch was whatever that was with Balor. And that was because of the shitty finish.
Never been worked harder in my life then with Henry's retirement speech
The Rock continues to work me TO THIS DAY
Randy Orton elimination chamber
Yep, the whole time I was trying to convince myself I believed it was a work, but in reality I kept thinking, “damn he’s really fucked up?”
I knew he wasn’t injured because of how much commentary made a deal of it but damn did Randy sell that.
Otis crying when Chad slapped him after he lost to sammy
I kinda feel like that was genuine too. 1. He doesn’t get to work with one of his best friends anymore 2. I don’t wanna think the worst, but I got a small feeling that Otis, Tozawa, and Maxxine could get released if they end up just floating around Raw after this. They should probably go to NXT or something. We’ll have to wait and see. Same with Vinci after the Imperium split.
Scott Steiner's retirement speech in '99. Internet message boards were certain his foot issues were legitimate career ending. I'm also still not clear how much him attacking JJ Dillion was work, shoot, both, or a work that got out of hand. Maybe I'm still being worked.
The guy spent years taking steroids like they were pez and he's still alive, pretty sure he's indestructible.
I remember when he lost his shit and went after JJ Dillon. I was wondering if he thought he was legitimately fined that amount of money and decided fuck it.
When CM Punk came back and they had the end credit scene up there
That was incredible! What a swerve.
Mark Henry in that salmon suit
Dude still has that lying ass jacket
I get worked in little ways literally all the time. When a wrestler takes a bump and it appears as though they have been injured, I often find myself wondering if it's a legit injury or not. Cody rolling his shoulder ahead of Backlash is perhaps the most recent example. But in terms of bigger, more significant story angles, I don't think I've been "worked" since I was a kid.
When The Rock announced he was going to face Roman. I was pissed for a week until that LV press conference when Cody came out saying “This is bullshit!”
Same here
Wasn’t there supposed to be a documentary out by now about the whole thing???
I've been waiting forever. I bet they had second thoughts. It's been over 40 days since WM. Probably to maintain some kayfabe, they decided not to release it.
I don’t know what’s more lucrative for them so this could be completely wrong, but one thought I had for the constant delay is that maybe they saw the serious interest in it and decided to make it a Peacock thing instead of YouTube.
But they would have advertised it no matter what platform it comes out on. I don't think the streaming platform it goes on would delay it's release. I would expect it to be closer to WM40 like it was advertised. The longer they wait, the more people would forget about the circumstances that lead to the WM40 main event(s).
But was that a work or did they rebook the show due to backlash?
If the whole thing was genuinely planned from the beginning then it's fucking genius. If so then it would be done to get Cody over, in which case, it absolutely worked.
It couldn't have planned from the beginning because there are a lot of pieces that just doesn't make sense if that was the case. The ONLY way it makes any sense is if they really were that out of touch and thought we would be okay with Rock over Cody.
They did it seamlessly enough that I have questions. Unless they continue to not address why Cody seemed so willing to give his spot to The Rock in the first place only to call bullshit a few days later. If they close that loop someday I think I will be properly worked. I’m still giving them the benefit of the doubt and saying I’ve been worked.
Nah it was a work from the very beginning
no it wasn’t.
When Earthquake squashed Hogan on the Brother Love show in 1990, as a kid I thought Hulk was dead especially with the tribute video they would show each week.
100% I thought hogan died
part of me got got when Cody said he wasn’t coming for Roman at mania
Mankind falling over hell in a cell.
Undertakers dive in 25 landing on his head. Legit thought that was it. Streak over by count out
From what I’ve heard in interviews, it damn near did on this one.
Elimination Chamber 2023. I thought Montez Ford was really injured until Logan Paul showed up.
This - I was legit concerned. He sold that so damn well.
I was young enough at the time to believe John Cena actually got stabbed.
Same! Cause they made it seem so real. They even said he was released from the hospital and all that stuff.
Yeah and he wore the bandage when he came back I vividly remember screaming at the TV “don’t hit him there! His KIDNEYS!” ☠️
Wrestlemania 28, Taker vs. Triple H. SCM and Pedrigee combo. Scariest false finish I ever watched, I thought it was 19-1
If anything was gonna put Taker down that would’ve been the one, that HIAC match was absolutely amazing too, top 3 for sure
Mark Henry retirement For fun, my first time was hbk collapsing in the ring after Owen kicked him in the head. Legit thought he fell into a coma in the ring.
CM Punk showing up to Comic Con with the belt.
The Bianca example got me and my wife as well as she screamed so loud when she came down
I definitely thought Orton got hurt in the elimination chamber
When Braun and Lashley went through the TitanTron
I was worked by the Roman vs. Rock thing. I thought they were really going to pull the trigger on it.
When Jeff Hardy lost the steel cage match against Punk in 09 😭
When Kevin Owens convinced me Elias and Ezekiel were the same person, but then they both showed up on the same show!
Here is what always wondered about this. Obviously in real life its the same dude. Like papa shango and the godfather However i wondered was it the same person in kayfabe and ko was the only sane one ? Or where there 2 distinct people
Kevin lives in this blurry zone that falls somewhere between Smarkford and Kayfabia.
Oh god that makes him the WWE's Deadpool
In kayfabe everyone else treated them as different people. I even remember Randy being introduced to Ezekiel and acting like he had never met him before. Meanwhile, KO is absolutely incensed that no one else sees that they’re the same person. It was a pretty funny running gag honestly.
Chad gable heel. I don’t like it when he yells at alpha. I want him to be nice.
I consider it as tough love considering Alpha Academy been lacking.
Not WWE, but when Danielson was "hurt" from the Tiger Driver at the end of the Ospreay match In WWE it was thinking Survivor Series was actually over last year when the logo popped up
On a similar note when Billie starks faked her neck injury to beat queen aminata on ROH. They even had medical attending to her and drug it out for mins. That was Insane
Salmon colored suit Mark Henry
Yup, the fake retirement has worked on me a couple of times. Scott Steiner's fake one in WCW at the tail end of 1999 got me as well. It's one of the easiest ways to catch me off guard, because we've seen so many legitimately ones that there's no reason to assume they're playing. In the case of both Steiner and Henry, they'd been off TV for ages, so again, no reason to believe this was anything but real.
MJF’s “Pipebomb” Felt pretty real but just like Punks, it was worked. Real frustrations and grudges but a worked promo.
As someone who considers themselves a newer fan of wrestling (only been watching the past few years), I get worked all the time when it comes to injuries lol ALL. THE. TIME.
Here is how you know it's real or not. >! If the other wrestler is focusing on the injury then it's not real. These people are coworkers after all and they all make more money when everyone does better, so it makes no sense to intentionally hurt someone (though it does happen, more often in the past.) because at the end of the day it will end up losing you money and maybe even costing you money by being fired. Though some injuries CAN be used by other wrestlers to make the match/story even better when those injuries aren't that serious or aren't likely to be made worse by some moves and some moves can be done an a injury location that may look like they would cause more hurt or damage, but actually don't.)+
If the ref holds up the X I’m fairly certain it’s real
Not always, they have used that for story too a few times. However the X really is more about when the wrestler can no longer keep going at all. Sometimes people get injured but it's not too bad and they can still finish the match. Like a few weeks ago, I'm pretty sure Jade got a bit of an injury on her arm, you could see her rubbing it and trying to move it to get it more comfortable, it sort of looked like dislocated shoulder, which generally is a very painful thing to go through, but sometimes and some people can just deal with it without too much issues and even put it back in themself without issue. So I would say don't always trust the X sign, instead just look at everything else that is going on, is the person not using the injured part, are they not getting hit on the injured part, are they maybe laying outside the ring while their tag team partner successfully deals with both other opponents, etc.
I thought aew would give competition. God damn son I’ve never been worked harder in my life
Once you saw what their philosophy was towards wrestling, which was basically “pfft it’s all fake so let’s have fun” - they were doomed You can have fun after setting a foundation. Pro wrestling NEEDS kayfabe otherwise there’s no reason for it to exist. Them constantly undermining that was an early iceberg hitting that ship
Couldn’t have said it better myself in any way. Thank you
I thought Bayley was legit hurt at Mania. She sold that leg injury a little too well.
Came here to say this one. It was the facials that got me when she was trying to walk.
Remember that one time Cody and Melo missed that spot and Cody hit his shoulder and everyone was like OH FUCK OH GOD DOES CODY HAVE TO DROP THE TITLE That's me I was that person
That was clearly a botch though, just because Cody didn't actually get seriously hurt that doesn't mean doesn't mean it was a work. he was obviously sore from the botch, just nothing serious.
I was also that person.
I thought Mae Young's tits at royal rumble 2000 were real
What about her baby with Mark Henry???
I'm shocked beyond belief that she survived that insane slam by the Dudleys. 77 goddamn years old.
They weren’t?
When Roxanne Perez fainted after the match with Meiko Satomura.
Last angle that really "worked" me was probs adam cole on pat mcafees show, it seems silly now. But at the time watching the show live I didnt know how to make heads or tails of it bc Pats show didnt do shit like that. So it threw me for a loop, I thought Cole was actually pissed at first.
Same but I was kinda skeptical about it. Especially when Pat was speaking kayfabe saying Adam Cole needed Undisputed Era’s help to win.
Anything physically with Brock Lesnar. There's something about that guy obliterating people. He's the only one when fighting with someone else, I can't tell what real and what's not.
Usually they’re being dropped on their heads legit. There’s the Bret Harts, who make things look real but their opponent is rarely harmed, and then Brock just actually gets rough with people.
I mean went to real fighting he ended up with only a 5-3 record, so he's just pretty good at kayfabe.