Did WWE Fool You? Myths You Believed as a Kid

Wrestling fans tend to become fans at a young age, and they get a bunch of myths and misunderstandings about WWE. Most of the childhood beliefs we had about wrestling was influenced by this larger-than-life characters and drama made possible by the story lines, and while many of those beliefs are now false, they will always be nostalgically believable. 

One of the biggest myths of the time, and one people still believe, was that The Undertaker and Kane were actually brothers. A lot of people thought there a real-life family feud between the two considering they had a legitimate intense on-screen fight. They were never actually brothers. Similarly, there were fans that thought wrestlers sang their own entrance music and created their own elaborate outfits. In reality, there are full teams that create entrance music and gear for wrestlers. 

Some fans thought ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) was unscripted and more “real” than WWE and other wrestling organizations at the time because of the violent and raw nature of its product. Another childhood myth is that if a wrestler lost a “Buried Alive” match, they actually remained buried underground for days, as if the matches were real. In reality, those buried alive matches were 100 percent scripted.

Many young people thought that wrestlers such as Sgt. Slaughter were actual military members, or that Big Show was André the Giant’s actual son, which is not true.

The biggest myth was that matches were not scripted or predetermined, and everything that happened in the ring was indeed a competition that was clearly meant to be a reality contest; to use belief in predetermined outcomes implies that every match was scripted does not allow for the real athleticism and risks present in wrestling. 

These myths and variations made for the childhood excitement, and they contributed to wrestling magic being a unique combination of sport, entertainment, and narrative.

This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only. WWE is a scripted form of sports entertainment, and the content should not be mistaken for factual wrestling practices.