TOP 5 FACTS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT WWE

Since 1979, WWE has been providing fans with plenty of entertainment and has been known as the biggest Pro Wrestling company in the world for nearly two decades. The company broadcasts its programs to millions of viewers in over 150 countries. Even during the pandemic, WWE has managed to continue production of its shows. 

 Over the years, WWE has collected impressive and crazy moments and today we are going to talk about five of these moments about WWE that most fans probably don't know.

1. NIKKI BELLA ALMOST BECAME A PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYER

Nikki Bella is a former Divas Champion and one of the most recognized female Superstars in the world. But surprisingly, professional wrestling wasn't her first passion.

 The Total Divas star was a huge football enthusiast and played for the Scottsdale Club in elementary school with her sister, Brie. In college, she was a key player on the girls' soccer team, so successful that she won major local titles.

And it's not just because she was passionate about the sport. She was also talented on the field. When she played for the girls' soccer team at Chapparal High in Arizona, she captured the MVP award her freshman year. Bella dreamed of playing professional football for the Arizona Heat Wave. But just a week before signing with Arizona State University, she fractured her tibia in half, so she lost her spot on the football team.

 Nikki and her sister Brie later decided to move to Los Angeles and find an agent. The duo auditioned for the WWE Diva Search in 2006 and both became WWE Divas.

2. CESARO LOST 23 MATCHES AS WWE UNITED STATES CHAMPION

Cesaro's only WWE solo title has a high unimportant value. A lot of fans forget about this because he found a lot of success as a tag team wrestler, but Cesaro debuted in WWE with a lot of difficulty.

 Months after his debut on WWE SmackDown, Antonio Cesaro challenged Santino Marella to a match for the WWE United States Championship.

 Cesaro won the title on the 2012 WWE SummerSlam pre-show. This win looked like the beginning of a promising career for an extremely talented Superstar, but WWE had other plans.

 Cesaro has lost 23 singles matches during his reign as champion. It was extremely unfortunate that one of the best fighters in the company looked like a jobber throughout his reign.

 Cesaro lost the title to Kofi Kingston on April 15, 2013 during an episode of WWE RAW. Though he has flourished in the tag team division, many fans are still hoping that WWE sees Cesaro's potential and gives him another singles reign.

3. THE ROYAL RUMBLE ALMOST DIDN'T EXIST

Every year, fans get ready for the most exciting PPV of the year, the WWE Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble is probably the second most popular PPV format event on WWE programming and arguably the most popular gimmick match WWE has ever produced.

 If not for one man, the Royal Rumble would never have existed. WWE legend Pat Patterson came up with the idea for the Royal Rumble in 1987 when he pitched it to Vince McMahon.

 When Patterson came up with the idea for the Royal Rumble, McMahon absolutely hated it. He ridiculed and considered it a stupid idea. However, a few months later, NBC needed a WWF special to air on the USA Network. McMahon sarcastically suggested that Patterson tell NBC executives about his "stupid idea".

 Naturally, NBC loved it. Network executives felt that fans would react well to the idea. Thus, the first Royal Rumble took place at a USA Network special event in January, and became a PPV the following year.

4. SMACKDOWN WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A WOMEN'S SHOW

In 1999, WWE was considering creating a Thursday night program to compete against WCW's Thunder program. After several meetings, they decided to create SmackDown.

 It's not common knowledge, but back in 1999, when WWE debuted SmackDown, there were rumors that it would be a show that would exclusively showcase female wrestlers. At the time, WWE had seen the value in female performers like Chyna and Sable. The following year, Trish Stratus and Lita also debuted with the company.

 Sable, especially, had a substantial fan following that continued to grow. She also practically coined the word “diva” to describe herself and soon became a catchphrase for all female performers in WWE.

 It's unclear how close WWE came to making SmackDown a "Divas" show, but it definitely makes one wonder how successful an all-Divas brand could have been.

5. THE UNDERTAKER AND STING 

A great match in WWE and especially at WrestleMania that everyone wanted to see but never got to see, certainly it's Sting vs. The Undertaker. While these two legends haven't competed against each other on The Grandest Stage Of Them All, that doesn't mean they've never faced each other in a ring.

 The Undertaker or, more accurately, “Mean” Mark Callous, had a match with Sting years before “The Phenom” was born. The match took place in September 1990, shortly before Callous joined WWE and was given the gimmick that would make him an icon.

 The announced match was Sting vs Windham for the NWA title, but Mark Callous fought Sting instead. In the end, Callous lost the match. Soon thereafter, Callous moved on to a new chapter in his career, and the rest is history.

 It is extremely disappointing that fans never got to see a fight between these two legends when they were in their prime.