Betrayal is one of those things that can always be identified with. Everybody has been wronged at some point by somebody they trusted. Betrayal is one of the constant themes that professional wrestling can use to draw people in, because we can all identify with it. We all identify with the faces that have been done wrong by the heels for no reason we can surmise. Most recently, wrestling fans have seen Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston turn against Big E…though they felt Big E already turned against them.
Every good heel needs to have a reason, and Kofi & Xavier have theirs. Big E turned his back on them. He left them behind. Big E took that desk job on the PLEs and didn’t bother messing with whatever issues Xavier & Kofi had. Yeah, Xavier & Kofi had some issues and arguments, but that made their friendship stronger. We’ve all had friendships like that. We worked through our stuff and the friendship got better in the process. You accept the good & the bad in your BFF.
Betrayal is a constant theme in professional wrestling. We see a multiple number of betrayals every week. We’ll see a few more before this gets posted. These are the ten I see as the most meaningful in the history of pro wrestling.
10. Tommaso Ciampa betrays Johnny Gargano
Gargano & Ciampa broke into NXT together, forming #DIY in 2015. They were favorites of NXT fans, especially the ones that had followed their careers on the independent circuit. The one thing that made this turn extra special was the credit logo appearing right before Ciampa did his horrible deed. Good for business, as it taught NXT viewers not to check out when the credit logo appeared.
Ciampa had some knee issues, so things got stretched out. When he came back, the heel heat couldn’t have been better. Dude came out with no music on a Takeover and fans filled it in with “F*** YOU CIAMPA”. Gargano & Ciampa have obviously been connected since then and reformed the #DIY tag team. Michael Cole even called back on this incident recently, wondering why Gargano would trust that maniac Ciampa. The reason Gargano trusts Ciampa & keeps coming back to him is what we saw at the end of that match with #DIY against the Motor City Machine Guns. They know each other better than anybody. They planted the seed in the MCMGs minds that they weren’t connected. They were.
Shout out to those that betray folks but end up realizing they shouldn’t have, and get back together.
9. Kevin Steen betrays El Generico
Steen & Generico started out in wrestling right around the same time in the same place, and eventually became a successful tag team despite their differing personalities. Steen usually seemed annoyed by Generico’s antics, but they both had each other’s back. At least until Final Battle 2009, when Steen blasted Generico with a steel chair. Steen & Generico feuded throughout 2010 in Ring of Honor and have continued crossing paths as friends and enemies ever since.
This pretty much set the stage for the rest of Kevin’s career. He went to WWE and took a different last name, but Kevin Owens has spent most of his career turning his back on whoever became a friend. Sami Zayn a couple of times, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, the list goes on & on. Owens claims to have his reasons every time, but when the same thing happens repeatedly one can surmise that KO may in fact be the problem.
8. Paul Orndorff betrays Hulk Hogan
Madison Square Garden on this day in 1986 – love this.
Paul Orndorff steals Hulk Hogan’s Real American theme song, and the MSG crowd and Gorilla Monsoon in particular are disgusted by it.
What a great heel!
pic.twitter.com/se034BRzla— Richard Land (@maskedwrestlers) August 25, 2022
This friendship was a result of betrayal. Orndorff teamed with Roddy Piper against Hogan & Mr. T at WrestleMania and was pinned after getting hit by Bob Orton Jr.’s cast. Piper & Orton blamed Orndorff for the defeat, so Paul ended up teaming with Hulk against them. They both grew up in Tampa around the same time and had plenty of other things in common that helped strengthen the friendship. So what happened? Hulk didn’t answer the phone! Paul didn’t appreciate being ignored and turned against Hulk during a tag team match. They’d fight each other for the next few months, drawing big money wherever they went.
Some will tell you that Mr. Wonderful’s turn against the Hulkster was completely justified. After all, Hogan refused to quit training and answer a phone call. I actually cut Hulk some slack there, as there weren’t smartphones or even flip phones all over the place back then. You had to be near something called a landline, and Hulk was a busy man! Brother was wrestling 380 days a year and jumping across multiple time & date zones in the process. He didn’t have time to sit by a phone and wait for Paul to give him a call. Nevermind the fact that training was what kept Hogan on top of the mountain. If it was 2024 and Hulk ghosted Paul’s texts, that wouldn’t be cool. In 1986, it was harder to get a hold of people. I’m guessing I’m not the only one who misses those days.
7. Randy Savage betrays Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan had lust in his eyes and Randy Savage snapped into him on The Main Event in 1989! Saturday Night’s Main Event returns on December 14 at 8/7c on @nbc and @peacock and we expect moments like this! #SNME pic.twitter.com/kbsY8sE7TQ
— USA Network (@USANetwork) December 12, 2024
Now, this turn I can see the justification for. We all know how protective the Macho Man was of his main squeeze, Miss Elizabeth. Probably a bit overprotective, but everybody in the WWF knew the deal. This didn’t stop the Hulkster from going all “Lust Hogan” and touching Elizabeth whenever he got the chance. It was all very strange, and Randy was troubled by the situation. Now, Hulk claimed that Randy was reading too much into things, and even had some video evidence backing him up, but it was kind of a grey area thing.
It all culminated at The Main Event, when Savage got tossed out of the ring during a tag team match and inadvertently landed on Elizabeth. Hogan had an absolute fit and carried Elizabeth backstage, staying by her side while the doctor checked on her instead of going back to the ring and helping his partner. Eventually, Hogan made his way back, but Savage was furious and left Hogan in the ring. Hulk still beat the Twin Towers by himself, but Savage attacked him in the locker room afterward, forcing the Mega Powers to explode.
Hogan & Savage did a lot of business together, whether as friends or as enemies. They had their ups & downs behind the scenes, but both men knew that they were good for each other’s careers. This won’t be the last time we see them on this list.
6. Owen Hart betrays Bret Hart
One of the finest moments in Raw history, in my opinion: Bret Hart cuts an emotional promo and reunites with Owen after 3+ years at odds
Of course, Bret had JUST turned heel, so the crowd boos it all
Owen is fantastic here.
BRET'S FACE at the end!
"Own..I love ya!" pic.twitter.com/Mnzsj61cYN
— OVP – Retro Wrestling Podcast (@ovppodcast) May 24, 2020
There haven’t been many good brother vs. brother feuds. You would think that brothers would know how to work against each other better than anyone, but most of the time it ends up awkward. Fortunately, Bret & Owen were superior workers and were able to overcome any awkwardness. As a kid in 1993 I knew Bret was great. Former WWF Champion, Intercontinental Champion and Tag Team Champion, the Hitman had done everything in the WWF. Fans who were familiar with Owen pre-WWF knew how good he was, but those who weren’t just saw a guy that’d been in a couple of middling tag teams. Owen’s highest profile moments usually involved some heel beating him up because they wanted to get Bret’s attention. He hadn’t proven himself to the youngsters and casuals that made up most of the WWF’s audience.
Owen chafed at being in Bret’s shadow. He wanted the attention for himself, and he was tired of everyone telling him how great his brother was. Owen even felt the Hart family was biased against him in favor of Bret, which considering how Bret & Owen’s siblings tended to favor whoever could give them the most, was probably accurate. After Bret’s knee injury cost him & Owen a shot at the Tag Team Championship, Owen kicked Bret’s leg out of his leg. All the Harts took sides, with Bret getting most of the family while folks like Jim Neidhart and later Davey Boy Smith that felt Bret didn’t favor them would take Owen’s side.
Eventually, Bret & Owen would reconcile. It took American wrestling fans turning against Bret to make the Hitman see the error of his ways and get his family back together. Bret, Owen, Davey Boy & the Anvil all got back on the same page. Thank goodness the American wrestling fans turned against Bret, it made for an interesting 1997 in WWF, and the reunification of a family.
5. Seth Rollins betrays the Shield
The Shield ranked right up there with the New Day as one of the greatest trios in WWE history. That wasn’t enough to placate Seth Rollins. He wanted to be the top star all by himself, even if that meant hitting his best friend in the back with a chair. Roman Reigns taking that shot changed everything for him, Rollins & their friend Dean Ambrose, who last I saw had gone completely off the deep end and was trying to poison someone by pouring cleaning liquids down their throat.
The turn worked out well for Rollins. He won the WWE Championship before Reigns & Ambrose could. Ten years later, Rollins is still one of the top stars in WWE and has won countless other championships. Of course, Roman Reigns is a bigger star that held the biggest championship for far longer. Rollins seems to hold a grudge against Reigns for the various misdeeds Reigns committed during the past several years. Would Reigns have done these things if Rollins hadn’t planted that chair in his back? After getting betrayed by his friend, Reigns turned to his family.
All three men ended up being major champions and stars of varying magnitude, so it’s tough to see this turn as anything but a success for all involved.
4. The Freebirds betray the Von Erichs
Michael Hayes was the first Freebird to arrive in Dallas, followed by Terry Gordy not long afterward. They were established as friends of the Von Erichs, though they seemed a little rough around the edges in comparison to David, Kevin & Kerry. Michael was elected to the position of guest referee for a NWA title match pitting Kerry against Ric Flair, and we saw those rough edges get in the way. Michael knocked Flair cold and wanted Kerry to get the win, but Kerry wouldn’t take the victory that way. Michael left, but not before Flair pushed Kerry into him while he was on the steps. Terry took offense and slammed the cage door into Kerry’s head. The feud was on, and World Class was never hotter.
The Von Erichs were everything that was good in the eyes of Texas wrestling fans and the Freebirds were nothing but evil…except when Devastation Inc. got involved, then the Freebirds were kinda good too. The dynamic led to huge business for Fritz Von Erich’s promotion. Had the Von Erichs’ demons not gotten in the way, who’s to say how big the territory could have gotten? I’m glad I sifted through as much of WCCW as I could on Peacock before whatever happens to all that beautiful bean footage once rights change hands.
3. Larry Zbyszko betrays Bruno Sammartino
The classic tale of student vs. teacher. Larry Z was lucky to grow up in Pittsburgh, a city that happened to be the home of the WWWF’s greatest wrestler. Bruno took Larry under his wing and taught him the ins and outs of wrestling. This would lead to Larry getting a bit too big for his britches and thinking Bruno needed to step aside. They had an “exhibition” on television where Bruno got the upper hand. Larry responded with a chair to Bruno’s head, and the feud was on.
Larry & Bruno battled all throughout the Northeast, with the climax coming at Shea Stadium. More than 38,000 people showed up to see Bruno beat Larry in a cage match. Oddly enough, Larry never came back to the territory after the feud ended. It did help establish him as a heel everywhere else he went. I think he still claims to have retired Bruno & Nick Bockwinkel from wrestling.
2. Hulk Hogan betrays WCW
It’s one thing to betray your friends. It’s another to betray the entire wrestling world, which Hogan did at Bash at the Beach 1996. After years of telling us all to say our prayers, take our vitamins and drink our milk, the Hulkster went all Hollywood on us and dropped the big leg on the Macho Man so he could join the New World Order. It was so shocking that people got mad at Bobby Heenan for telegraphing the turn on commentary, which he was just doing because he’d feuded with Hogan ever since they were in the AWA. He wasn’t smartened up prior.
It was the most shocking heel turn any of us 1990s wrestling fans had ever seen, and it was also the most financially lucrative. Hogan breaking bad and joining the NWO put WCW on top of the wrestling world. It happened at just the right time. I haven’t seen a heel turn since then that would have created so much business…maybe if John Cena did it, but we’ll never know.
1. Shawn Michaels betrays Marty Jannetty
This one stands out to me above all others for multiple reasons. From a personal perspective, I was seven years old when Shawn superkicked Marty and tossed him through that window. Wrestling stories cut deeper the younger you are and the more you believe in wrestling. Betrayals by pro wrestlers hit you harder when you’re seven than when you’re thirty-seven.
Then you consider how things worked out for both wrestlers afterward. Honestly, Shawn Michaels couldn’t have planned it any better. He cast aside his friend and tag team partner at just the right time so he could become a top singles star. By late 1992 he was Intercontinental Champion. By 1995 he was pretty much a perennial main eventer and by 1996 he was WWF Champion. Meanwhile, Marty wallowed in obscurity for most of the next couple of decades. He would beat Shawn for the IC title in 1993, but Shawn got it back within weeks and Marty returned to whatever he was doing before. Rarely do you see these things end up so one-sided.
It also had a tremendous impact on pro wrestling. Not only was it the beginning of the Heartbreak Kid, but it changed the way promoters looked at tag teams. After the Rockers split, everybody was looking for the next Shawn Michaels in any given tag team. Bret Hart also served as an example of this change in philosophy, though his split with Jim Neidhart was more amicable. This led to tag teams not sticking together as long as in the past. Had the Rock n’ Roll Express been ten years younger, they would have split up after a year because somebody would have booked Ricky Morton as the next Shawn Michaels. Same for the Midnight Express or any other great tag team pre-Rockers split.
Thanks for reading! Hit me up at [email protected] or on the social media with thoughts, comments or suggestions. Feel free to hit the comment section and tell us about which wrestling betrayal stuck with you the most. Until next time, true believers!
