History Fridge / WWE

* Many complain that Dean hasn't defended his US title as much as a he should, but it makes perfect sense given that they were with Wrestling/TheAuthority between August of 2013 and April of 2014. They protected him and made sure he didn't have as many defenses in order to avoid a repeat of Seth's and Roman's loss of their Tag Team titles in the hand of Wrestling/CodyRhodes and Wrestling/{{Goldust}}. Said loss happened because the Authority wanted to punish Cody and Goldust. Right after their defection, Dean had to defend his US title in a Fatal Four Way.

* On the September 2nd, 2013 episode of Raw, we find out that Triple H approved the match between CM Punk vs Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman. Why? Punk's obsession with Paul Heyman borders on Tunnel Vision. He is ignoring everything else that is going on in the company. Think about it; Triple H ''wants'' Punk's focus to be on Paul Heyman. Remember Punks promo on Raw that kick-started the Summer of Punk? Imagen if Punk started to focus on what was happening to Daniel Bryan?

* Some fans were pretty miffed at first when, after a few weeks of Wrestling/JustinGabriel taking "All About the Power" as his theme song, David Otunga and Michael [=McGillicutty=] would take it on and Gabriel would switch to a production theme, because of the drums and chanting fitting the African-rooted Gabriel. But the lyrics are all about someone feeling powerful, like they're head and shoulders above any adversaries. Not only was this far more {{heel}} than {{face}} (Gabriel was in the middle of a HeelFaceTurn), it fit Otunga's character to a tee, both in a political sense (Harvard law grad) and in a physical sense (bodybuilder). Where this starts ''really'' going into FridgeBrilliance is the similarities between Otunga and BarackObama: both are Harvard graduates. Both have African sounding last names that start with 'O' and and end with 'a'. And both have ''Kenyan fathers''. Suddenly the African-sounding theme doesn't belong to Gabriel so much after all. However, he actually is ''from'' there, specifically UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica, as opposed to the American-born Otunga.

** And the change in his relationship with the Little Jimmy entity inside his head shortly after his face turn was his strange way of recognizing the fans' re-acceptance of him after he was stabbed InTheBack by TheMiz over JohnCena's words.

* Many complain that Dean hasn't defended his US title as much as a he should, but it makes perfect sense given that they were with Wrestling/TheAuthority between August of 2013 and April of 2014. They protected him and made sure he didn't have as many defenses in order to avoid a repeat of Seth's and Roman's loss of their Tag Team titles in the hand of Wrestling/CodyRhodes and Wrestling{{Goldust}}. Said loss happened because the Authority wanted to punish Cody and Goldust. Right after their defection, Dean had to defend his US title in a Fatal Four Way.

* An episode of ''Raw'' ended with Kane having EveTorres cornered backstage, cowering and screaming. The next week she passionately kisses JohnCena in the "heat of the moment". The next week she reveals she had been using JohnCena and ZackRyder all along. She gets dubbed a "Hoeski" and publicly shamed by Cena. It's heavily implied that Kane ''raped'' her. We could have been booing the actions of a rape victim - who had possibly gone mad from the experience.

* Wrestling/SinCara vs. Sin Cara. Of course Wrestling/[{Hunico}} (Fake Sin Cara) would be peeved that Sin Cara (Mistico) took his identity... because Hunico actually -did- wrestle under the name (but different identity and lesser known) of Mistico as well. A nice little touch for those who know the history of the two wrestlers.

* Wrestling/Shield might not be directly connected to CM Punk, but one need only look at their attire (which matches the outfit Punk wears in the advertisement for [[VideoGame/{{WWE}} WWE '13]]) and their entrance video (which features a lot of imagery that's all too similar to the "Revolution is Coming" viral ads that appeared on WWE.com prior to the announcement of WWE '13) to see some connections between the group and Punk.

* Young Bo Rotundo's happy-go-lucky PrettyBoy persona and push to the top of NXT in the middle of 2013 in front of a vocal college audience that can't stand such a figure, followed by his subsequent heel turn as the developmental brand's main heel by playing his character straight as a [[StepfordSmiler delusional]] [[InformedAbility undertalented]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing phony]], seems like a happy accident and may very well be one. One would think the FridgeBrilliance would come in when one realizes that Bo's character is exactly what a lot of people think of another, similar man WWE propelled to the top—this being the current face of the machine himself, Wrestling/JohnCena. But then it hit me. Since the start of FCW's transition into NXT Wrestling, his ring name has been ''Wrestling/BoDallas''. What's the significance of this? Well, Dallas also happens to be the name of a [[Series/{{Dallas}} classic pop-iconic soap opera]] (as well as its modern-day next-generation revival) involving a cast of characters who are [[StepfordSmiler generally good at putting on a public face]] [[BigScrewedUpFamily but whose world under the surface for the most part is]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing wrought with scheming and conniving up the nines]]. That's pretty much Bo to a tee! But…the show's not actually set ''in Dallas'', right? Well. Neither is Bo. Furthermore, his first NXT theme and stage graphics played up the whole "Dallas/western" theme, possibly hinting at the connection, and his current theme, while awesome, contains lyrics that veer back and forth between {{Determinator}} and TheDreaded. This whole turn of events may have been a possibility since the Wrestling/WadeBarrett feud was {{aborted|Arc}}.

* Young Bo Rotundo's happy-go-lucky PrettyBoy persona and push to the top of NXT in the middle of 2013 in front of a vocal college audience that can't stand such a figure, followed by his subsequent heel turn as the developmental brand's main heel by playing his character straight as a [[StepfordSmiler delusional]] [[InformedAbility undertalented]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing phony]], seems like a happy accident and may very well be one. One would think the FridgeBrilliance would come in when one realizes that Bo's character is exactly what a lot of people think of another, similar man WWE propelled to the top—this being the current face of the machine himself, Wrestling/JohnCena. But then it hit me. Since the start of FCW's transition into NXT Wrestling, his ring name has been ''Wrestling/BoDallas''. What's the significance of this? Well, Dallas also happens to be the name of a [[Series/{{Dallas}} classic pop-iconic soap opera]] (as well as its modern-day next-generation revival) involving a cast of characters who are [[StepfordSmiling generally good at putting on a public face]] [[BigScrewedUpFamily but whose world under the surface for the most part is]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing wrought with scheming and conniving up the nines]]. That's pretty much Bo to a tee! But…the show's not actually set ''in Dallas'', right? Well. Neither is Bo. Furthermore, his first NXT theme and stage graphics played up the whole "Dallas/western" theme, possibly hinting at the connection, and his current theme, while awesome, contains lyrics that veer back and forth between {{Determinator}} and TheDreaded. This whole turn of events may have been a possibility since the Wrestling/WadeBarrett feud was {{aborted|Arc}}.

** I'm sure they meant the stipulation.

* Rikishi's twin sons were called the Uso Brothers, or Wrestling/TheUsos for short, when they came up in FCW, then when they were called up to the main roster shorthand became the official name. I had a little bit of trouble understanding why, until I found out that "uso" in Samoan language means "brother". Meaning "Uso Brother" would roughly translate to "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Brother Brother]]". The long name practically parodied Wrestling/HulkHogan's VerbalTic. - SomeoneElse17

* Rikishi's twin sons were called the Uso Brothers, or the Usos for short, when they came up in FCW, then when they were called up to the main roster shorthand became the official name. I had a little bit of trouble understanding why, until I found out that "uso" in Samoan language menas "brother". Meaning "Uso Brother" would roughly translate to "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Brother Brother]]". The long name practically parodied Wrestling/HulkHogan's VerbalTic. - SomeoneElse17

* Why is Wrestling/AntonioCesaro's finisher called the Neutralizer? It's not just because it renders his opponents inactive, it's because he's from Switzerland, which is known for neutrality.

** The voice of the Divas was Wrestling/BethPhoenix, a heel. While the rest of the majority consisted of heels, rookies who wouldn't be too sure who to follow (Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}}, Wrestling/AJLee), {{True Neutral}}s (Aksana), or [[DesignatedHero faces by default]] (Alicia Fox). Also at that point, Alicia hadn't joined forces with Eve and Kelly so she had no strong allies to stand up to Beth.

* The return of [[DwayneJohnson The Rock.]] Before he comes out, there is a short 'lights out' sequence with just random ambient sound playing, punctuated by sparking sound effects. Random filler? Used to set the mood for the 'lights going out'? Nope. The sparks are because of the return of the ''most electrifying man in [[strike:sports]] all entertainment''.
* TheMiz wanting JohnCena to state that he was Awesome if Alex Riley defeated him in a cage match. Compared to what Cena has gone through the past year or so, pretty lame right? But considering that Cena has focused more on [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]] than Miz (Despite facing the latter at Wrestlemania for the world title), one could get the sense that despite all that has happened Cena ''still'' thinks of TheMiz as a joke. So while the stipulation may sound tame, but when you consider the possibility of having the one guy who, despite your accomplishments, always saw you as a joke state that you're not. All of a sudden, Miz' stipulation doesn't sound so lame.
* Rikishi's twin sons were called the Uso Brothers, or the Usos for short, when they came up in FCW, then when they were called up to the main roster shorthand became the official name. I had a little bit of trouble understanding why, until I found out that "uso" in Samoan language menas "brother". Meaning "Uso Brother" would roughly translate to "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Brother Brother]]". The long name practically parodied HulkHogan's VerbalTic. - SomeoneElse17
* How does [[RonKillings R-Truth]] go from retaliating against JohnMorrison for taking away his title shot, to becoming a {{mad eye}}d {{conspiracy theorist}} [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes arachnophobiac]]? Question came to mind a couple of times, and some thought was put into it, but it didn't completely click until Truth's interview on August 8th, 2011 comparing Morrison to a spider heading into their match later that night. Let's think back to the night Truth turned heel. JohnMorrison, a guy whose LeParkour training has made him so acrobatic some people have described him as "SpiderMan-like", as well as R-Truth's best friend for a good little while, comes out one night with complete sour grapes and questions R-Truth's worth as a number one contender to try to goad him into putting his ''Extreme Rules'' title shot on the line. Truth sees through it, ''and tells John as much'', but then the London crowd ''[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor still wants him to give John the match]]''. [[WhatAnIdiot So he makes the choice he knows is the stupid one because he values the opinions of the WWE Universe so much at the time, and of course he ends up paying for it.]] Not until that point, after he effectively just let them '''take away his dream''', does the notion click in his head that [[AwfulTruth neither Morrison nor the fans have ever been as loyal to him as he has to them]]. If such an experience didn't cause him to snap, question, and turn against his entire previous world view, he might as well have changed his name from R-Truth to I.M. Fool. And him hating the animal John was essentially said to be synonymous with during most of their friendship, shows how eccentric and strange his mind has become. It only helps this theory that the FaceHeelTurn itself was perhaps the most brilliantly-done FreakOut in recent wrestling memory.
** The turn caused by Morrison also explains where the Little Jimmy thing comes from. What's Morrison? A Jim Morrison inspired wrestler. Who took advantage of his trust and friendship and took away his shot? Morrison. In effect, Truth describing everyone as Jimmys is basically saying he sees everyone as being just like John - people that betrayed his loyalty and devotion. He's basically saying that the WWE universe as a whole has betrayed him as John did. In this sense, he's -right-!

* The whole storyline starting from CMPunk's shoot and leading to TripleH's term as COO may seem like it was just a spontaneous moment that caught fire and reshaped the fabric of WWE storylines. But the truth is, no it's not. This is exactly what WWE has been going for since the [[TheNexus NXT Riot]] on June 7, 2010 in Miami.

## [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]]'s return angle was basically Rock, Cena, and to a lesser point Miz calling each other out for perceived undeserved high status within the WWE system (Cena's only TheHero because kids and women love him, Rock's a glorified fad who skipped out to Hollywood, Miz is nothing more than a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity media-pleasing weasel]] - it shouldn't take too long to find people who feel any of those three ways).
## MarkHenry's monster heel turn was based on fifteen years of being disrespected and not taken seriously on any sort of a long-term basis by the WWE (which honestly is far less debatable than whether what he brings to the table deserves a championship level push). This has been hinted at in all the trash talk he shouted about being unstoppable and unhappy when he was done destroying somebody, until it was finally made canon outright heading into his title match with RandyOrton.
## R-Truth's conspiracy theory angle started with his best friend's highway robbery of his dream as detailed above, but basically the way he perceives it is the WWE system is holding him back for the whims of JohnCena, TripleH, and apparently also CMPunk.
## Likewise, Orton being given a free shot at {{Christian}}'s World Heavyweight Championship the second he got on Smackdown on Christian's first show as the champ based on an obvious popularity contest, while forcing Christian to work for rematches despite the fact polling the peeps worked in his favor as well and even rejecting Christian's claims to rematches based on missed calls by referees. Seeing WWE basically support his dream basically get ripped away from him in a flash, Christian felt forced to resort to cowardly measures of his past and then some in order to ever get it again. He even points to the "unseen forces" in WWE management protecting Orton because he's their golden boy, very similarly to what's been going on with Cena.
** The essentially binding storyline thread in all this is that there is a huge bubble of discontent within the WWE that has just been building and building, with the likes of Orton and Cena seemingly oblivious to most of it because their success has put them on a pedestal to where they're the oblivious main profiteers of the system, and in the summer of 2011 we've just seen it explode with the ousting of VinceMcMahon from power and the absolute chaos surrounding TripleH's run as COO. And there is a real conspiracy ''somewhere'' in all of this. ''Somebody'' is taking advantage in an attempt to [[TakeOverTheWorld rule the WWE]], and KevinNash and the [[NewWorldOrder nWo]] name are possibly involved. The mystery of who the players and the mastermind really are, however, is just beginning to get solved as we speak. This isn't a WMG, by the way, because a lot of this is pretty much canon. The lead-up just seems to go a lot farther back than a three-month-rule thing if one looks under the surface.
* Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara. Of course Hunico (Fake Sin Cara) would be peeved that Sin Cara (Mistico) took his identity... because Hunico actually -did- wrestle under the name (but different identity and lesser known) of Mistico as well. A nice little touch for those who know the history of the two wrestlers.
* The "Vote of No Confidence" for TripleH certainly left some scratching their heads considering that even the faces walked out on him could be more understandable considering:
** Not all of the present Superstars (JohnCena, CMPunk, and RandyOrton) and Divas (KellyKelly and EveTorres) were there to vote.
** All the heels would obviously be against TripleH given that he's [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure a Face authority figure]] rather than a heel one, which meant that they wouldn't be able to get any advantages in their favor against a face and would most likely be on the receiving end of LaserGuidedKarma.
** The faces on both Raw and Smackdowns were midcarders (Air Boom, DanielBryan) who were outnumbered by the heels (who may or may not pressure them into seeing things their way until they reached their DespairEventHorizon).
** The voice of the Divas was BethPhoenix, a heel. While the rest of the majority consisted of heels, rookies who wouldn't be too sure who to follow (Kaitlyn, [[ChickBusters AJ]]), {{True Neutral}}s (Aksana), or [[DesignatedHero faces by default]] (AliciaFox). Also at that point, Alicia hadn't joined forces with Eve and Kelly so she had no strong allies to stand up to Beth.
** The referees, announcers, and cameramen (with a [[BookerT few]] [[JerryLawler exceptions]]) are defenseless and wouldn't be able to defend themselves. However, one of said exceptions actually ''led the strike'', despite being unquestionably pro-babyface 98 percent of the time, which also probably influenced the midcard face wrestlers a bit as well.

* [[CorruptCorporateExecutive John Laurinaitis]] being the first person to welcome the returning BrockLesnar doesn't make sense to the viewer at first... until you realize that he is still the Executive VP of Talent Relations, whose very job is to look for talent that would help carry WWE into the future. Also, he brought in one of the hottest free agents in the business and fans have been clamoring for WWE to bring Brock back, so he wants to have that in his resume so he can help out his own image.
** Not to mention that it soon became clear that Laurinaitis wanted Lesnar as his {{Dragon}}.
* Some fans were pretty miffed at first when, after a few weeks of Justin Gabriel taking "All About the Power" as his theme song, David Otunga and Michael [=McGillicutty=] would take it on and Gabriel would switch to a production theme, because of the drums and chanting fitting the African-rooted Gabriel. But the lyrics are all about someone feeling powerful, like they're head and shoulders above any adversaries. Not only was this far more {{heel}} than {{face}} (Gabriel was in the middle of a HeelFaceTurn), it fit Otunga's character to a tee, both in a political sense (Harvard law grad) and in a physical sense (bodybuilder). Where this starts ''really'' going into FridgeBrilliance is the similarities between Otunga and BarackObama: both are Harvard graduates. Both have African sounding last names that start with 'O' and and end with 'a'. And both have ''Kenyan fathers''. Suddenly the African-sounding theme doesn't belong to Gabriel so much after all.
** This only gets better after he splits from his team with Michael, keeps the theme, and becomes eventually [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Johnny Ace]]'s AmoralAttorney. His character embraces both his Harvard law and bodybuilding roots (the latter via constant posing in his entrance and even matches), showing just how fitting the song is for him. But it goes further than that. John Laurinaitis has had no theme song through much of his current run, only recently taking on politician style entrance theme music. Why haven't Otunga and Wrestling/EveTorres changed their music since becoming Johnny's staff? For Eve it's obviously because her distracting beauty and ability to use it is how she has such a commanding place, but for Otunga it's probably deeper than that. Laurinaitis's politician music represents his disingenuous "People Power" campaign…but Otunga's represents what John and his staff ''really'' think.

* Why is Antonio Cesaro's finisher called the Neutralizer? It's not just because it renders his opponents inactive, it's because he's from Switzerland, which is known for neutrality.
* The Shield might not be directly connected to CM Punk, but one need only look at their attire (which matches the outfit Punk wears in the advertisement for [[SmackDownVsRaw WWE '13]]) and their entrance video (which features a lot of imagery that's all too similar to the "Revolution is Coming" viral ads that appeared on WWE.com prior to the announcement of WWE '13) to see some connections between the group and Punk.
* This troper thinks its a nice touch that the [[UnrelatedBrothers brothers]] Kane and TheUndertaker have the same Texan accent.
* Aksana being the one who attacked Kaitlyn at Night of Champions. She was the only other Diva in the building that night (she accompanied Antonio Cesaro for his title match). She put the wig on and attacked Kaitlyn before going out with Cesaro, who could provide an alibi for her if she was suspected. Also BethPhoenix being a suspect. She's a fairly muscular girl, as is Aksana and Kaitlyn would have been able to see that her attacker was solidly built.

* Why have none of [[RonKillings R-Truth's]] recent appearances [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse made so much as a mention of Little Jimmy?]] Well, if you listened to R-Truth's last couple of promos mentioning Little Jimmy (mainly bit pieces as he's been mostly a Jobber in the last year), Truth outright states that Jimmy was going through puberty. Little Jimmy no longer appears because he's ''grown up and "moved out" of R-Truth's imagination.''
* On the September 2nd, 2013 episode of Raw, we find out that Triple H approved the match between CM Punk vs Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman. Why? Punk obsession with Paul Heyman borders on Tunnel Vision. He is ignoring everything else that is going on in the company. Think about it; Triple H ''wants'' Punk's focus to be on Paul Heyman. Remember Punks promo on Raw that kick-started the Summer of Punk? Imagen if Punk started to focus on what was happening to Daniel Bryan?

* The theme for NXT Season 5 is "Redemption," meaning that the rookies from the past [[strike:four]] three seasons[[hottip:*:Not counting the all-Diva season]] have a chance to earn a spot in Season 6, each with new pros such as Chavo Guerrero, JTG and Hornswoggle (which is stupid). The returning rookies? Titus O'Neil, Lucky Cannon, Connor O'Brien, Byron Saxton, Jacob Novak, and ...[[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Darren Young]]? Considering that not only was he part of [[TheNexus The (original) Nexus]], but he was already a regular on "[[BShow Superstars]]" and even has had own theme music.

** The voice of the Divas was BethPhoenix, a heel. While the rest of the majority consisted of heels, rookies who wouldn't be too sure who to follow (Kaitlyn, [[ChickBusters AJ]]), {{True Neutral}}s (Aksana), or [[DesignatedHero faces by default]] (AliciaFox).

## [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]]'s return angle was basically Rock, Cena, and to a lesser point Miz calling each other out for perceived undeserved high status within the WWE system (Cena's only TheHero because kids and women love him, Rock's a glorified fad who skipped out to Hollywood, Miz is nothing more than a [[VillainWithGoodPublicity media-pleasing weasel]] - [[YourMileageMayVary it shouldn't take too long to find people who feel any of those three ways]]).