From review-bombing rivals to swearing off rideshares, here are the times wrestlers turned the online world into their own personal storyline.
Wrestlers used to worry about their opponents. Now they worry about star ratings, Uber drivers, and trademark filings. The digital age has turned every talent into a brand manager and, occasionally, a chaos agent. This week gave us a perfect excuse to rank the moments where a wrestler collided with the internet in the messiest, most entertaining ways possible. Here’s my count, from mild to gloriously unhinged.
This one’s the least dramatic and, honestly, the smartest. When Kofi Kingston filed trademarks for his real name and ‘KSM’, it wasn’t a tantrum or a stunt
ame-around your employer” — it’s a veteran protecting his identity for whatever life looks like after the ring. It ranks low precisely because it’s the responsible version of a wrestler asserting control over their online footprint. No noise, no fireworks, just a guy locking down his brand before someone else does. Boring? Maybe. Wise? Absolutely.
Darby Allin is the last man alive who should be trusting his safety to a stranger’s Toyota Camry, and now he agrees. When Allin swore off Uber for media appearances after a memorable incident, it was equal parts hilarious and on-brand. This is a man who tapes himself to skateboards and jumps off things for a living, and it’s the rideshare app that finally broke him. It ranks here because it’s low-stakes but perfectly captures how modern wrestling life bleeds into the mundane digital services the rest of us also curse at daily.
There’s engaging with the internet, and then there’s using it to spread garbage about a real person’s health. When a former WWE name turned a genuine cardiac scare into conspiracy fodder, the backlash was swift — and deserved. As we broke down in our piece on how ‘free speech’ isn’t free of consequences, this wasn’t edgy commentary; it was crossing a human line. It ranks high not because it’s fun, but because it’s the clearest example of a wrestler weaponizing an online platform in the worst possible way. Accountability came calling, and it should have.
Here’s the flip side — proof that wrestlers can absolutely dominate the internet the right way. When Green and Kelley starred in the Toronto Raptors’ schedule reveal video, it was a masterclass in mainstream crossover charm. Chelsea Green in particular has spent the last couple of years turning social media into her personal launchpad, and an NBA franchise coming to her is validation of that hustle. It ranks this high because it’s the model everyone else should be studying: use the internet to expand your reach, not to burn bridges. Star power that travels outside the wrestling bubble is worth its weight in merch sales.
And the champ is here. Nothing this week — or frankly this month — captured the wrestler-vs-internet energy like Jordynne Grace admitting she used a database site to one-star her rivals into oblivion, only to get shown the door by Cagematch entirely. It’s petty, it’s audacious, and it’s the most gloriously human thing a wrestler has done online in ages. Cagematch is basically the Rotten Tomatoes of pro wrestling, taken deadly seriously by the hardcore crowd, and Grace treated it like her personal Twitter mentions. The kayfabe-meets-reality overlap is chef’s kiss: a heel behaving like a heel on a platform that was never designed for storyline warfare. It tops the list because it’s the perfect crossover of ego, mischief, and consequence — the internet gave her a weapon, she used it, and the internet took it away. That’s poetry.
What ties all five together is simple: the ring is no longer the only arena. Talent build empires and burn them online now, and the smart ones — the Kofis, the Chelsea Greens — treat the internet like a tool. The rest learn the hard way that the digital world keeps receipts. Whether it’s a trademark filing or a review-bombing ban, every one of these moments proves wrestling’s real battleground has expanded well past the squared circle.
Where would you rank these? Did Grace earn the top spot, or does Val Venis deserve the dishonorable crown? Sound off in the comments.
Reporting and match coverage produced by the PW Exclusive team. Articles under this byline are drafted with AI assistance and reviewed before publication — see our editorial standards for how we work.
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