10 Times WWE Didn't Honour Major Match Stipulations

A juicy stipulation can help take a major WWE match up another level as far as intrigue goes. Whether it’s somebody’s hair or their career that’s on the line, or something else entirely, the prospect of seeing something big happen to a winner or loser is a surefire way for the promotion to drum up interest.

This is why fans who tune in or shell out their hard-earned money to see the outcome become so annoyed when WWE fail to live up to their end of the bargain.

These are 10 Times WWE Didn’t Honour Major Match Stipulations. 

10. Team Cena Vs. Team Authority - Survivor Series 2014

The main event of the 2014 Survivor Series pay-per-view was a traditional 10-man elimination tag team match pitting a team representing The Authority – Seth Rollins, Kane, Luke Harper, Mark Henry and Rusev – against a team captained by John Cena, also featuring Ryback, Erick Rowan, The Big Show and Dolph Ziggler. 

If Cena’s team lost, everyone besides Big Match John would be fired, while if Cena’s team triumphed, then The Authority would be removed from power. 

It was a thrilling contest, capped off by a tremendous performance by Dolph Ziggler and the WWE debut of Sting, who showed up to ensure the babyfaces prevailed by stopping Triple H and Scott Armstrong from cheating their way to a win. 

A day later on Raw, Triple H was fired as COO, Stephanie McMahon was fired as a principal owner of WWE, and Kane lost his Director of Operations privileges. Just one month after this, however, Seth Rollins blackmailed Cena into reinstating The Authority by threatening to curb stomp the then-retired Edge if he didn’t. 

It was nice to not have to watch The Authority for a bit, yet also demoralisingly predictable to see them return so soon.

9. Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior - WrestleMania VII

After The Ultimate Warrior repeatedly turned down his requests for a WWE Title shot, Randy Savage smashed a sceptre over the champion’s head, costing Warrior the title during his match with Sgt. Slaughter at the 1991 Royal Rumble. 

In response, Warrior challenged Macho Man to a match at WrestleMania VII, where the winner would be forced to retire. 

Warrior beat Savage in an absolute thriller, made even better by the post-match reunion between Randy and Miss Elizabeth. Instead of riding off into the sunset, Savage was back in the ring just six days later for the Super World Sports promotion. Savage then wrestled for the promotion from March 30 to mid-June 1991 before returning to WWE on house shows and dark matches from July. 

WWE explained Savage’s in-ring activity by saying that Warrior had graciously allowed Macho Man to honour his existing contract. On-screen President Jack Tunney then reinstated Savage proper after an infamous cobra bite angle with Jake Roberts in November 1991. 

8. 3-Minute Warning vs. Billy & Chuck - Unforgiven 2002

The initial WWE roster split in 2002 created natural competition between Raw and SmackDown, a competition that was fuelled by respective blue and red brand general managers Stephanie McMahon and Eric Bischoff. 

After meddling in each other’s affairs all Summer, a tag match was booked for Unforgiven, with Steph’s team of Billy and Chuck taking on Bischoff’s 3-Minute Warning. The stakes were high, as McMahon would have to partake in some ‘Hot Lesbian Action’ if her team lost, while Bischoff would have to kiss The Billion Dollar Princess’s bottom if Rosey and Jamal couldn’t get the job done. 

3-Minute Warning ended up picking up the win, but Stephanie never did engage in sexual activity with other females. Instead, Bischoff brought out ‘Hildegard’ at Unforgiven - very obviously Rikishi in drag and prosthetics - as Stephanie turned the tables and the former WCW Senior Vice President took a Stinkface.

7. Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio - Great American Bash 2005

The ultra-intense rivalry between Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero got even more personal when Latino Heat threatened to reveal a secret about Rey’s son Dominik that could tear the Mysterio family apart. Cue a very sinister scene where Eddie visited Dominik in the playground, as both the Mysterio and Guerrero families pleaded with the villain not to let the cat out of the bag.

A match was subsequently made for the Great American Bash pay-per-view, with the stipulation that if Rey won, Eddie could not tell the secret, while if Eddie won, he could spill the beans on live television.

With Dominik watching on from ringside, Mysterio won the match, but Eddie didn’t keep his mouth shut. On the very next episode of SmackDown, Eddie let everybody know that it was him and not Rey who was Dominik’s biological father. 

The former WWE Champion dropped the bombshell after conceding that, while he agreed not to reveal the secret if he lost, he had, in fact, lied. Fans shouldn’t have really been surprised since that was kind of Guerrero’s motto, and the reveal at least led to the first time the custody of a child was up for grabs in a pro wrestling match, ultimately won by Rey at SummerSlam. 

6. CM Punk vs. John Cena - Money in the Bank 2011

There was a lot on the line heading into John Cena and CM Punk’s WWE Title match at Money in the Bank 2011, notably Punk’s promise to leave the company and take the belt home with him, which he did for a whole eight days. 

What some people don’t remember is that there was another stipulation attached to the match that should have seen Cena go home as well. On the July 4 episode of Raw, Cena actually handed the WWE Title to Vince McMahon and implied he was giving it up in protest of the Straight Edge Superstar’s recent suspension.

McMahon then reluctantly agreed to reinstate Punk and book the title match, on the condition that if Cena lost at the pay-per-view, he would personally fire him in the middle of the ring. 

On Raw the night after Money in the Bank, McMahon looked set to follow through on his claim, but was unable to fire Cena after Triple H showed up and instead relieved the Chairman of his duties, a decision spearheaded by WWE’s board following several questionable decisions.

5. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash - August 18, 2003 episode of Raw

Hair vs. Hair is a great stipulation, as WWE fans undoubtedly get invested in the prospect of seeing somebody shaved bald, as the likes of Kurt Angle, CM Punk and even Vince McMahon himself have been in the past. 

WWE promised that either Chris Jericho or Kevin Nash would lose their blonde locks when they booked them in a Hair vs. Hair match on the August 18, 2003, episode of Raw. Y2J won the match, following a ref bump and with the aid of a low blow and a pair of brass knuckles, giving him the right to turn Big Sexy into Big Baldy. 

Rather than bring out the clippers, Jericho instead just cut off a chunk of Nash’s hair and ran away. Nash then emerged six days later at SummerSlam with a much shorter and smart haircut that was still long enough to spike up on the top. 

In reality, the whole reason for Nash’s trim was that he needed to get a haircut before filming his role in The Punisher.  

4. Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett - Survivor Series 2010

After a very strong debut and initially impressing during their main roster invasion, renegade rookies The Nexus were soon crushed by John Cena. In a booking decision that still rankles with some, Super Cena was the last man standing when The Nexus battled Team WWE in the main event of SummerSlam 2010. 

Despite being so handily beaten by Big Match John, The Nexus continued to target him and, at Hell in a Cell, Wade Barrett met Cena in a match with plenty at stake. 

If Cena won, The Nexus would have to disband, while if Barrett won, Cena would have to join The Nexus. In a further twist, Barrett would be disqualified and lose the match if The Nexus interfered. Despite this, the debuting Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty ensured that Wade won and Cena became a Nexus member. 

At Survivor Series, Cena was put in the middle as special referee when Barrett met WWE Champion Randy Orton, with The Nexus banned from ringside. The stipulation on that night indicated that if Barrett won, Cena could leave The Nexus, while if Orton won, Cena was fired. 

The Viper retained but Cena didn’t get fired and, after repeatedly showing up and attacking Nexus members, was officially rehired a few weeks later.

3. The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon - WrestleMania 32

As far as shocking WWE returns go, they don’t get much more surprising than Shane McMahon turning up unannounced on the February 22, 2016, edition of Raw. 

Showing his face for the first time in almost seven years, Shane went right to war with his own family during a heated segment with Vince and Stephanie McMahon. After Shane questioned his dad and sister’s running of the company in his absence, Vince agreed to hand control of Raw over to his son if he won a match of his choosing at WrestleMania. If Shane lost the match, he would have to hand over a lockbox full of his father’s secrets. 

Shane accepted and Vince announced that his ‘Mania opponent would be The Undertaker. Not only that, it would take place inside Hell in a Cell and, as Vince stipulated later, if The Deadman lost it would be his last WrestleMania outing.

‘Taker went over, but the following night on Raw, Vince decided to let his son run the flagship show anyway, while claiming it would be a ‘disaster’. Shane would then get to run the next few Raws due to fan support and he later became a permanent authority figure in charge of SmackDown. 

2. Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff - Survivor Series 2003

At the 2003 Survivor Series, the issues between co-Raw General Managers Eric Bischoff and Steve Austin came to a head in a traditional 10-man tag team match, with the stipulation that if Austin’s team won he’d have to be physically provoked in order to attack another WWE star, while if Bischoff’s team won Austin would be forced to step down as GM. 

The match was a banger, featuring a virtuoso performance by Shawn Michaels, who was left bloodied and at a three-on-one disadvantage when he managed to eliminate Christian and then Chris Jericho to leave him one-on-one with Randy Orton. Unfortunately, Batista’s interference meant that Orton got the win for Bischoff’s squad. 

Everyone involved sold the result and Austin’s apparent leaving expertly, making fans really believe that this could be the last time they saw The Texas Rattlesnake. It was the last time they would see him…for about a month, when Austin was reinstated as Raw’s ‘Sheriff’ and given express permission to beat up anyone he saw fit. 

1. Team WWE vs. Team Alliance - Survivor Series 2001

Just four months after the bungled WCW and ECW invasion of WWE began, it was time to put the storyline out of its misery. 

At Survivor Series, The Alliance (Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Shane McMahon) took on Team WWE (The Rock, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Kane and Big Show) in a Winner-Takes-All match where the promotion being represented by the losing team would go out of business and be absorbed into the other company. 

Team WWE won, meaning that Shane and Stephanie were gone. Though Stephanie was fired by Vince the next night on Raw and dragged kicking and screaming from the ring in an angle that looked designed to write her off TV long-term, she was back on-screen three weeks later and back full-time just a couple of weeks after that. 

The Billion Dollar Princess was then ‘fired’ once more after losing a handicap WWE Title match to Triple H on the March 25, 2002, edition of Raw, before being brought back as SmackDown GM around four months later.