As in any other workplace, WWE also has a list of rules and regulations all of its employees have to follow at all costs. When it comes to the wrestlers, they also have to follow the standard rules of a professional wrestling match along with the new rules introduced by the company.
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However, we have seen on many occasions the WWE superstars going out of their way to violate the rules and the company itself bending the rules in their favor. This list focuses more on the latter, and with that said, let's look at ten occasions when WWE broke its own sacred rules.
10 Wildcard Rule
The sole reason behind a brand split is to allocate unique rosters to the flagship shows of WWE. As we've seen during the first brand extension, the basic rule is that wrestlers assigned to Raw cannot appear on SmackDown and vice versa, and they also had brand-specific PPVs.
But WWE went back on that rule when they introduced the Wildcard Rule back in 2019. It allowed a certain number of wrestlers from other brands to appear on the opposite shows on a given week.
The new rule didn't set very well with the fans and wrestling pundits as it completely contradicted the entire point behind the brand split.
9 American Villains
One of the unwritten rules in WWE is that there cannot be an American villain in their shows who do heel antics while pledging their allegiance to the country. Even when Sgt. Slaughter turned heel back in 1990, the company played it out as he turned on the country for its acceptance of the Russian Nikolai Volkoff.
The fans have witnessed many storylines with foreign heels going against American babyfaces, but WWE went back on this unofficial rule when Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter, under their Real American gimmicks, turned heel by repackaging themselves as xenophobic villains.
8 Wellness Policy
WWE claims to have a zero-tolerance policy for wrestlers breaking their wellness policy and has handed suspensions to even main event superstars like Roman Reigns in the past.
However, the company did turn a blind eye on some occasions when certain superstars violated the policy in the past. The list includes Brock Lesnar when he failed a drug test after his UFC 200 fight against Mark Hunt.
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However, WWE didn't take any action against Lesnar because he didn't fall under the framework of that rule as he was a part-timer at the time.
7 The Outlaw Rule
The Outlaw Rule prohibits tag team partners from pinning each other during multiple-team matches. The rule came into effect when The New Age Outlaws won a tag team championship match in the same fashion, hence, WWE named the rule in their name.
However, the company broke that rule on the September 5, 2022, episode of Raw when the referee counted the pin when Kofi Kingston tried to cover his partner Xavier Woods during the four-way number one contender's tag team match.
WWE didn't give any explanation regarding the negation of the rule, but the way the referee immediately went for the pin can mean that the spot was definitely pre-planned.
6 No-Blood Policy
WWE announced a no-blood policy in 2008 after an incident of blading involving Shawn Michaels went out of hand. It also coincided with WWE embracing a PG rating that year, and the company banned any sort of voluntary bleeding from that point onward.
There have been instances of wrestlers bleeding after that, but most of them were accidents. However, it appears that WWE relaxed that rule a bit at SummerSlam 2016 when Brock Lesnar busted Randy Orton open with stiff elbow shots to the forehead, which the fans found out to be a pre-planned spot.
5 The Banned Words
When Vince McMahon was in control of the creative decisions of WWE, he placed some rather bizarre bans on certain terms like hospital, belt, MITB briefcase, blood, kayfabe, face, heel, and even the words wrestler and professional wrestling.
The WWE superstars and the commentary team refrained from using the words during the broadcast throughout Vince McMahon's reign as the top man in the company. But it appears Triple H has broken that rule to a certain level after he took over full control of the creative process earlier this year.
After Triple H's promotion, we've heard the superstars and commentators use words like belt, briefcase, wrestlers, and professional wrestling on the shows, which is a very welcome sign.
4 Not Mentioning The Competition
It was only during the Monday Night Wars that both WWE and WCW mentioned each other during their shows. But that wasn't the case after WWE purchased WCW, as the company never mentioned any of their competitions on their shows despite the opposite side taking digs at them.
It was an unwritten rule for the wrestlers and broadcast team to follow, as there were no instances of them making direct mentions of other promotions like Impact or NJPW on the shows.
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However, WWE allowed that rule to be broken when Sami Zayn mentioned AEW on Raw and when Triple H took a dig on them during DX's Hall of Fame induction.
3 Endorsing Outside Brands
When the wrestlers sign their contracts with WWE, the company makes it very clear to them that they cannot endorse any brands other than the company's official sponsors. It was the case for many years as the wrestlers never had any separate brand endorsements while they were under contract with WWE.
However, WWE made an exception to this rule when Brock Lesnar returned to the company in 2012, as The Beast Incarnate had logos of his own sponsors on his trunks when he stepped into that year's Extreme Rules PPV to compete against John Cena.
2 Kevin Owen Vs. Roman Reigns - Royal Rumble 2021
Roman Reigns defended the Universal Championship against Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match at the 2021 Royal Rumble PPV. According to the match stipulation, the referee has to start counting the moment a wrestler is laying down. If WWE stuck to that rule at the event, Kevin Owens would've walked out as the new Universal Champion.
Owens handcuffed Reigns to a lighting trellis during the match, which prevented him from getting back on his feet. As Jey Uso interfered on Reigns' behalf, Paul Heyman was supposed to uncuff Reigns. But The Wiseman struggled to unlock the handcuffs as the referee was nearing the ten count.
Realizing the situation, the referee stopped counting and waited till Heyman released Reigns from the handcuff, which is completely in violation of the match stipulation.
1 30-Day Defense Clause
WWE's rules state that the champions have to defend their titles at least once every 30 days, and it goes for all champions in the company. WWE made sure to adhere to this rule during the earlier eras of the programming but completely ignored the concept during Brock Lesnar's World title runs during his second run.
It is also the same case with Roman Reigns' current run as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The rule break became so apparent when it happened to the world titles, but WWE has been doing the same with the mid-card titles as well, as certain champions rarely defended the tiles during their reign.
