Originally published Feb. 04, 2020
The 2020 Royal Rumble is in the books, and with it came surprises, sign pointing, and this year we even had porta-potty tipping.
But one match, in particular, was extreme in the ways we rarely see in the WWE. I’m talking about the strap match between Daniel Bryan and The Fiend. Generally in a strap match, the wrestlers are strapped together, and it’s the first competitor who touches all four ring posts that is declared the winner. This task is made especially grueling as both of the wrestlers can use the leather strap as a weapon. This was exactly the case in this match, and by the end, The Fiend emerged victorious, leaving welts all over the body of Daniel Bryan. The Fiend didn’t have to touch all four corners of the ring, though, as this match declared a winner via pinfall or submission.
Why have a strap match if you aren’t going to follow the typical rules of said match? It’s because the leader of the Yes Movement was determined to get his hands on the dastardly and diabolical Fiend. He’d been escaping Daniel Bryan’s grasp for weeks, many times escaping under the ring.
This got us thinking in the Kayfabe Tales office; How? How is this possible? Why is it that sometimes a wrestler can search under the ring and pull out chairs, tables, and even dog food, and nothing is out of the ordinary? But other times, a wrestler is altogether transported somewhere far away, leaving wrestling fans in shock, unsure where the wrestler has disappeared.
It’s happened many times in the WWE, most notably with the Undertaker.
In 1996, at the wrestling event In Your House, Big Daddy Cool Diesel was wrestling Bret The Hitman Hart for the WWF Championship in a steel cage match. When it looked like Diesel was going to prevail over The Hitman and escape the cage, suddenly, the Undertaker emerged through the ring, pulling Diesel down below with him. Smoke began plummeting from the opening. Moments later, Diesel somehow escaped, but his wrestling gear was ripped. Who knows what was down there or how he survived, but he did, only to still be pursued by the Dead Man.
Years later, Undertaker tormented his brother Kane in the same fashion, pulling him under the ring during a Smackdown event. Try as he might, Kane was unable to escape the Undertaker’s grasp and yelled out in horror as Undertaker took Kane to the unknown below.
And who can forget the terrorizing sight of Undertaker choke slamming Edge off of a ladder at Hell in a Cell. Sending Edge through the ring, in a truly horrific sight, Undertaker seemed to sacrifice Edge to the fiery pits below. Fire exploded through the ring, consuming Edge. The Rated R Superstar would later appear on television, but where had he gone? What did Edge see and feel in the unknown depths under the ring? And possibly, most frightening of all, how is this at all possible?
I traveled to the University of Physics and Metaphysical Data in New Hampshire to try and find some answers. Here, I spoke to Dr. Jerry Wadsworth, who specializes in negative energy and dark matter. His hypothesis of wormholes and time travel has made him a laughingstock in the scientific community, so at first, he was reluctant to take my calls. When I informed him of these anomaly mysteries that happen in the world of professional wrestling, he finally seemed to open to hearing me out.
I went over my findings with Dr. Wadsworth, describing to him the times those like Undertaker, Kane, and even the Hornswoggle emerged from under the ring. Strange clouds of smoke, fiery pits, and odd green lights emitting from down below. And even more bizarre, the recentness of The Fiend dragging Daniel Bryan down below.
How could this be possible? How are these wrestlers able to somehow open a portal into seemingly another world, while other wrestlers like Roman Reigns or The Dudley Boys simply venture under the ring to grab ladders and tables.
“Anomalies like these rarely happen,” the doctor explained. “And that’s because it takes the right person with certain mental faculties to open such portals. The general public scoffs at these ideas, but then why do ostriches stick their heads in the sand? Why are gophers and snakes able to travels long distances out of the natural vision of humans?”
His questions did pique my interest. I’d never thought of comparing such acts in the animal kingdom to those in the world of professional wrestling.
“I’ve long hypothesized that certain animals have a natural inclination and control over such mystical portals,” the doctor continued. “If such individuals that you speak about can summon these places, it could only be because they are in tune with those layers of dark matter that floats in our atmosphere. The energy that sifts through our world forms all of the matter around us, but there is the negative energy that I’ve long suggested controls much more than we give it credit for. Only a strong mental mind would be able to access such areas.”
The discussion with Dr. Wadsworth was truly enlightening. If he were correct, then that would mean wrestlers like Undertaker and The Fiend were so intellectually and metaphysically beyond that of an average wrestler, they could access these secret portals under the wrestling ring.
But how could one be sure? We were dealing with hypothetical data. Causalities that are either looked down upon in the scientific world or dismissed altogether as nothing more than nonsense. How could I find any sort of connection with Dr. Wadsworth’s scientific research to that of what has happened for decades in professional wrestling?
I searched high and low for WWE officials to comment on these happenings. Referees, timekeepers, and even local security who worked events when World Wrestling Entertainment came to town, all declined to be interviewed. I traveled to Los Angeles, the sight of Summer Slam in 2008 when Undertaker choke slammed Edge. I ventured to Birmingham, Alabama, where the Fiend dragged Daniel Bryan down below, tearing out pieces of the wrestler’s hair. Still, no one claimed to have seen these incidents.
When I thought all leads had run dry, I received an eerie email. An anonymous tip had come into the Kayfabe Tales offices and said there was someone in the middle east. A stranger that had been making his way through the region and was living in Ankara, Turkey.
Taking the first flight I could out of the country, I found a man who was in hiding. Agreeing only to speak in anonymity, who called himself Omar, he said he was there in Saudi Arabia the night of the Greatest Royal Rumble. The night Titus O’Neil ran to the ring during the rumble, slipped, and found himself under the ring.
“Everyone thinks it was a big joke,” Omar told me. “They all pointed at O’Neil and laughed. But I saw his face when he emerged. He was a changed man the moment after escaping under the ring. You could see the fury he displayed once fighting the other wrestlers. Something happened under that ring. Later that night, a friend said he found Titus keeping to himself. He was recounting the moments just prior, trying to understand what had happened. For those few seconds, he didn’t know where he was or what was happening.”
Omar declined to go further, but I was already piecing together the puzzle. Somehow, someway, a dark matter portal had been open under the ring during the Greatest Royal Rumble. Titus had inadvertently fallen into it and miraculously escaped. But he was a changed man.
Yes, he made light of the situation in the weeks that followed, even capitalizing on the event with T-shirts. But what else could he do? Would he dare step to the likes of Undertaker or Bray Wyatt, telling them he had seen what only they can control? Would any sane individual challenge those phenoms of the ring?
I reached out to those close to Mr. O’Neil, but like all the others, everyone refused to comment. Left to my own hypothesis, I can only conclude that this may have happened because of two reasons. One: The Undertaker fought Rusev in a casket match that night. Though he did not emerge or venture under the ring, the Undertaker’s presence could have been building up enough dark matter energy for a portal to be awakened. Secondly, Hornswoggle appeared in the Great Royal Rumble. Known for venturing and even living underneath the wrestling ring, it is possible and even likely that the leprechaun’s connection to those portals, combined with the Undertaker’s power, may have left a lurking portal slightly open underneath the ring that night.
Titus O’Neil must have somehow accessed that portal. My only wish now would be to interview Mr. O’Neil one day and find out what he indeed saw down there. Without those answers, though, this mystery of professional wrestling may forever remain hidden.
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