WWE's magic comes from their ability to take reality and mix it together with storytelling all in the form of entertainment. There are very few things that are more dramatic and entertaining than someone committing criminal acts. WWE drew thin lines in the Attitude Era of professional wrestling and those lines didn't get much thicker during the Ruthless Aggression Era.
RELATED: 9 Criminal Acts Of The WWE Attitude Era
Some of today's most important stars were involved in some risky storylines during that time period. Now, if they were to commit those crimes in the real world they would do some series jail time, but since it happened in WWE, it made for very exciting television.
10 Invading Orton's Home
In a 2009 storyline, former members of Evolution Triple H and Randy Orton, were involved in a very personal storyline that brought in both of their families. Randy Orton was feuding with the McMahons as a whole, and together with his faction Legacy, they made the McMahons' lives hell. Randy attacked the whole McMahon family, including Stephanie.
Triple H wanted to add fuel to the fire that was this feud and showed up at Randy Orton's home while he was doing an interview with his wife. The two brawled all over the Orton's property. This eventually led to a match between the McMahons and Legacy.
9 Stabbing Of John Cena
John Cena was one of the faces of the Ruthless Aggression Era and was still a rising star in 2004. He won the United States Championship and started to work a program with Carlito. John Cena was going to work on the movie The Marine and needed time off from his on-screen role. In effort to still make Cena look strong, they decided to write him off television in a way that fit his persona.
That is where WWE launched a storyline where Carlito's henchman Jesus would run into Cena at a nightclub and stab him. Cena was then off TV for a while and Carlito cemented himself as a bad guy in the company. No charges were filed because Cena returned later on and handled the situation in his own way.
8 Kendrick The Streaker
Brian Kendrick was a cruiserweight star in during the Ruthless Aggression Era, but he was also half of the one of the greatest tag teams of that time. He won multiple Tag Team Championships with his partner Paul London before his career fizzled out.
During the early days of his career he was known as Spanky and would run around SmackDown as a streaker. He would make for an entertaining segment and really embraced the character.
7 Burying People Alive
One of the oddest and most gruesome matches in WWE history has to be a Buried Alive match. A match that mainly centered around The Undertaker's career made for an illegal action that most people wouldn't wish on their worst enemy. To win this match you throw your opponent in a grave then bury them alive.
One of which that happened in 2003 ended with Kane burying The Undertaker alive causing Vince McMahon to win the match. Another incident was when The Undertaker would bury his manager Paul Bearer alive in a cement crypt.
6 Kane's Illegal Acts
Kane had a fair share of illegal actions that took place during this time period. Once he took his mask off, he went even crazier than he was before. He would go on to do things like lighting Jim Ross on fire during an interview.
RELATED: Top 15 Crimes Wrestlers Committed That Would Get Them Arrested in Real Life
Kane would stalk Lita and force her to be in a relationship with him. He harassed her and made her life miserable. He took RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff and choke slammed him off a 20-foot ledge, nearly crippling him. In one of the worst acts, he took Shane McMahon and attached his testicles to a car battery to induce unbelievable pain.
5 Brock Lesnar And The Undertaker
Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker have one of the most storied rivalries in the history of WWE. The two have fought on numerous occasions, one of which lead to Lesnar ending The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak.
What started it all was when a young Brock Lesnar threatened Taker's pregnant wife, Sara. While Lesnar was a rising star, he cornered Sara and even went as far as putting his hands around her throat. This added a personal aspect to their feud and would go on to spark the rivalry.
4 Vandalism
In one of the more none violent crimes committed during the Ruthless Aggression Era, vandalism was something that happened quite a few times. D-Generation X's Triple H and Shawn Michaels were notorious vandals during their time in the Attitude Era, and that followed them once they reunited years later.
RELATED: 10 Times Props Were Vandalized & Destroyed In WWE History
DX would go one to vandalize things like Vince McMahon's corporate office building, his private jet, and many other WWE related properties. John Cena was working a storyline with JBL where he vandalized JBL's limo. JBL would go on to have him "arrested" for this act.
3 Kidnappings
Kidnappings are one of the worst crimes that someone could commit. Criminals could get a lot of jail time for even attempting to kidnap someone, but in WWE, it has happened a few times. Edge in a program with Kane would kidnap his manager Paul Bearer.
This segment actually led to Kane accidentally "murdering" Bearer, which is another thing to add to the list of crimes Kane committed. The Undertaker also kidnaped former SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long for issues that happened with Long double-crossing Taker.
2 Lying, Cheating, and Stealing
Stealing is a common crime here in the real world, and if you are caught, you can do some serious time. In WWE, they usually settle their issues with stolen items in the ring. For example, Former Tag Team Champions Cryme Time would regularly steal items from other stars. In one event, they stole cowboy hats from Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, which lead to an exciting tag team program.
Eddie Guerrero was also known to steal, in fact, he made "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" his catchphrase because of how often he would do it. The late great superstar once stole Ric Flair's Royal Rumble number so that he could get a better spot in the match.
1 The "Assassination" Of Vince McMahon
There are few things as dramatic as an assassination of a high ranking person, and in WWE there is no one as highly ranked as Vince McMahon. In one of the most famous storylines that never came to fruition, someone attempted to assassinate McMahon by blowing up his limo.
The scene saw a very concerned McMahon as he walked to the limo in a sense of foreshadowing. The limo would then explode as soon as he entered it, leaving the assumption that someone had just killed WWE's Chairman. Unfortunately, due to real life issues the storyline wasn't able to be seen all the way through.
