When a nice, normal character suddenly goes into a rage, you've hit his Berserk Button.
Typically, when fans jump the rail or even flinch in a threatening manner toward a wrestler, the wrestler's first act is to beat the holy hell out of the fan. Even referees are not to be messed with.
Festus was a Gentle Giant until the bell rang, thus triggering his Berserk Button.
And it worked in reverse, too; when the bell rang again, usually after a victory, Festus visibly reverted to his gentle self. Genre Savvy opponents took advantage by ringing the bell themselves, forcing his tag team partner Jesse to ring it again to re-trigger him.
A sure way to bring out a certain wrestler to interrupt a promo is to say something that plays on his Catch Phrase. This contributor feels that the cleverest use of this was when Booker T said his own Catch Phrase, "Don't hate the playah, hate the game" to HHH who is also sometimes known as the Game.
A documentary on pro wrestling showed a clip from an interview with Leon White (Big Van Vader). He was a nice guy, but that stopped when the interviewer asked him if wrestling was fake. Leon slapped him in the head several times and said, "Does that feel fake to you?!"
Another earlier incident had David Schultz being asked by John Stossel, who was doing an investigative report on pro wrestling. According to Schultz, Vince McMahon told him to beat up Stossel, threatening to fire Schultz if he didn't.
André the Giant, normally a Gentle Giant, was taunted about his size by some mooks outside a bar in Europe; they then got into their car to drive away, but Andre grabbed the car and tipped it over, with all four of them inside it.
Another time, in the waning years of his career (his gigantism had made even standing too long painful), Andre became so disgusted with The Ultimate Warrior constantly hitting him too hard with a sloppy clothesline night after night, he simply put up his fist and Warrior ran right into it, knocking himself out. The next night, Warrior was gentle as a lamb with Andre. Back in the locker room, Bobby Heenan said Andre told him "He'll learn."
Don't ever call Homicide your "nizzle" unless you're in the mood to drink Drano.
Threatening Lacey with a railroad spike is a surefire way to have either Austin Aries or Jimmy Jacobs attempt to murder someone.
Tipping or spilling the APA's beer is just asking for them to beat your ass.
Do not, I repeat, do not, call, Damien Demento, a jobber.
Green Lantern Fan is one of the most reviled figures in wrestling, even moreso than Vince Russo. That said, if you want to infuriate a horde of smarks, bring his name up in conversation. Steve Corino absolutely hates the man, going as far as to insult his family at ROH's "Fight of the Century."
Matt Striker is slowly becoming this for Lawler, as well.
Don't touch "Dashing" Cody Rhodes' face, unless you want to see him throw a huge tantrum and run towards the nearest mirror to check his reflection.
Attacking HBK's family or faith in any way— physically, mentally, financially— is a great way to communicate to him you really don't need your bones anymore. Vince McMahon, Chris Jericho, and JBL all discovered this the hard way.
In a July 11, 2011 promo, John Cena claimed that he was an underdog to CM Punk... but then Punk retaliated that he was the underdog, while Cena was the face of the company. And then rubbed salt into the wound when he compared him to his "hometown" (West Newbury, MA, but the show was in Boston so that's what got named) - going over its underdog history as insinuators of the American Revolution and the Boston Red Sox - but saying that now they were a dynasty, they'd become the New York Yankees. Cena promptly punched him in the face.
Cena's best bud, Zack Ryder is definitely off limits. Once you go after Ryder, Cena will definitely give you an attitude adjustment, and then some. Look no further than Cena beating the holy freaking hell out of Jack Swagger on the 1/16/20 edition of Raw for proof.
Oh, good God. Don't even think about making personal attacks towards either the mother, father, or sister of CM Punk. Just ask Christian on exactly why*
Though Christian didn't even attack Punk's family, he just happened to be on the receiving end of an epic ass-kicking after Chris Jericho (the actual perpetrator) verbally mocked Punk's mother and father.
