The WWE reality show Tough Enough got real while taping a 2004 segment to be featured on a SmackDown! episode. Kurt Angle, the Olympic gold medalist wrestler, finished one guy off with broken ribs and looked to the crowd for the next challenger. Daniel Puder hopped in the ring with him, and he was definitely tough enough to take Angle. Angle assumed it would be an easy take-down, but Daniel Puder’s knowledge and MMA background caught him off guard.
Puder had Angle’s shoulder in a lock on the mat in a move that meant to break Angle’s arm. The referee acted quickly, counted to three and called the match. Fans were impressed with the rookie.
Koji Kitao vs. John “Earthquake” Tenta
This scheduled showdown went completely off the rails of its script, careening into a mismatch with a grandstanding Koji Kitao dissing the sport of pro wrestling to the entire audience. It was March 1991 and WWF co-sponsored the show in Japan at the Tokyo Dome. John “Earthquake” Tenta was a former sumo wrestler as was Koji Kitao. In this match Earthquake was scripted for victory and Koji Kitao wasn’t having it.
Koji Kitao kicked the ref, grabbed the mic and announced that wrestling is fake, angry that he could take Earthquake in real life and unwilling to submit to the loss, fake or real. It was one of the strangest outcomes in wrestling history.
JBL vs. Blue Meanie
Blue Meanie, either brave or crazy, decided to stand up to the infamous Texas bully, John Bradshaw Layfield. Making matters worse, JBL was drunk. The Blue Meanie was taunting him and JBL punched him in the back of the head, landing his fist exactly on a wound that took 14 staples to close up the day before. And then JBL went at him, punching the front of his face until he was bleeding from his forehead as well. It was on June of 2005, at a scheduled PPV show.
The brawl was staged with the ring crowded, rope-to-rope, with a mob of wrestlers. The brutal attacks by JBL were not staged. The Blue Meanie considered taking legal action but received a bonus instead, going on to become friends with JBL. “JBL is cool, I’m cool with him, he’s cool with me,” the Blue Meanie told Hannibal TV for Wrestling Inc.
Vince McMahon vs. Kofi Kingston
This unscripted scuttle went down inside a private jet. Vince McMahon instigated the outside-the-ring match when he insulted Kofi Kingston with a snide jab. It came after a four-hour flight of passing the time by playing cards and drinking Jack Daniels, straight, naturally. According to Chris Jericho who witnessed the insult while disembarking the jet, Kofi Kingston was set to let the comment slide. It was his boss who hurled it, after all. But then Chris Jericho egged Kofi Kingston on, telling him he needs to defend his integrity.
“You have to go back on the plane and challenge him to a fight right now,” he said, adding, “If you go challenge him, he’ll love it and respect you for it.” Kofi Kingston was convinced. Approaching Vince McMahon, Kofi Kingston asked if he had a problem with him. “You got a problem with me?!” It escalated to challenging each other to do something about it until Vince McMahon did something about it – he double-leg grabbed Kofi Kingston. The two rolled around like a couple of puppies for a few seconds before the boss stood up chuckling. Chris Jericho said Kofi Kingston gained his respect that day, this according to Chris Jericho’s memoir, The Best in the World: At What I Have No Idea. Tragically, there is no video footage of the clash.
The Great Khali vs. Big Show
This unregulated backstage clash of the titans exploded over Khali stealing Big Show’s move. Over the years the enormous Big Show had developed this move where he would corner the opponent in the ropes, hush the crowd with his finger over his lips, and once all was silent, he’d pound the crushing blow, an overhand chop into the opponent’s chest, BOOM, the crowd loved it. On this evening, Big Show was watching the giant Khali fight. Khali stole the move, the crowd cheered. Big Show grumbled, “Khali just stole my move,” to Chris Jericho, who wrote in his memoir that he knew, at this point, there would be trouble. In the locker room backstage, Big Show confronted Khali about stealing his move.
Chris Jericho said it was like having a front row seat for King Kong versus Godzilla. The two WWE wrestlers were as big as a truck, 7-feet tall and massive. None of the other wrestlers could pull them apart. Finally, Big Show tripped over a chair and lumbered to the ground, allowing the others in the room to separate the giants. Big Show was further humbled when Vince McMahon forced him to make an apology to Khali for throwing the first blow.