Ring names and real names (easy)
Wrestling is the only sport where the athlete's legal name is the obscure fact. These are the safest openers in the whole set, because almost every fan has heard at least half of them in a commentary booth or a Hall of Fame speech.
If you are hosting, read the ring name and let the room shout — this round works best fast and loud, with no writing. Give a point for the surname alone on the longer ones.
Q1.Which wrestling superstar was born Terry Gene Bollea?Tap to reveal
Answer: Hulk Hogan
Born in Augusta, Georgia on 11 August 1953. The Hogan surname was handed to him by promoters in the late 1970s, after early ring names including Terry "The Hulk" Boulder.
Q2.What is the real name of the wrestler known as The Undertaker?Tap to reveal
Answer: Mark Calaway
Mark William Calaway, born in 1965 — one L, which is the detail that trips people up. He wrestled in WCW as "Mean Mark" Callous before WWE reinvented him as a mortician in 1990.
Q3.What is the real name of Triple H, also known early in his career as Hunter Hearst Helmsley?Tap to reveal
Answer: Paul Levesque
Paul Michael Levesque started wrestling in 1992. The initials were chosen deliberately: "Hunter Hearst Helmsley" shortens to HHH, which shortens to Triple H.
Q4.What is the real name of the Canadian wrestler who performs as Edge?Tap to reveal
Answer: Adam Copeland
Born in Orangeville, Ontario in 1973. He won a wrestling-school scholarship through a newspaper contest, which is a far less glamorous origin than the character suggests.
Q5.What is the real name of the wrestler known as Shawn Michaels?Tap to reveal
Answer: Michael Hickenbottom
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom — he has said he disliked "Michael" and had even his family call him Shawn, so the ring name is closer to his real one than most.
Q6.Amy Dumas, an American professional wrestler, competed under what ring name?Tap to reveal
Answer: Lita
Dumas trained partly in Mexico watching lucha libre, which is why her offence looked nothing like the rest of the women's division in 2000.
Q7.What is The Rock's birth name?Tap to reveal
Answer: Dwayne Douglas Johnson
Born May 2, 1972. He is third-generation: his father Rocky Johnson and grandfather Peter Maivia both wrestled, which is where his first ring name came from.
Q8.What was "Macho Man" Randy Savage's real surname?Tap to reveal
Answer: Poffo
Randy Mario Poffo. His father Angelo and brother Lanny both wrestled too — Lanny as "Leaping" Lanny Poffo and later as The Genius.
Q9.What is Jeff Hardy's full given name?Tap to reveal
Answer: Jeffrey Nero Hardy
His brother is Matthew Moore Hardy. Both were born and raised in Cameron, North Carolina, and both kept their real surname in the ring.
Q10.Ken Kennedy is the real name of the wrestler nicknamed Mr. Kennedy. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: False — his real name is Ken Anderson
Anderson was born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin on 6 March 1976 and was given the Kennedy surname by WWE creative. When he left the company he went back to wrestling as Mr. Anderson.
Q11.What is the real name of the wrestler who performed as Kelly Kelly?Tap to reveal
Answer: Barbara Blank
Barbara Jean Blank, born in 1987. The doubled-up stage name was a WWE convention of the era, in the same family as Tenille Dashwood's later "Emma".
Q12.What is the real name of the wrestler known simply as Victoria?Tap to reveal
Answer: Lisa Marie Varon
Varon came out of competitive fitness — she won ESPN2's Fitness America Series in 1997 — and had been an NCA All-American cheerleader in high school. She debuted in the ring in 2000 and first appeared as Victoria on television in July 2002.
Finishers, nicknames and factions (easy)
A finishing move is a wrestler's signature, and the names are often better than the moves. This round is where the casual fans in the room catch up with the obsessives, because move names and faction names travel far beyond the actual shows.
A tip for hosts: these read well as a rapid-fire buzzer round. If you want to stretch it, ask for the wrestler and the move — two points instead of one.
Q1.The high side thrust kick used as a finisher by Shawn Michaels is better known by what name?Tap to reveal
Answer: Sweet Chin Music
Generically it is a superkick. Michaels did not invent it — he made it famous by stomping the mat to telegraph it, turning a kick into a three-second piece of theatre.
Q2.Rey Mysterio's signature tiger feint kick through the ropes is known by what number?Tap to reveal
Answer: 619
It is the telephone area code for San Diego, where he grew up. Naming a move after your hometown's area code is a lucha tradition of pride, not a gimmick.
Q3.What is the name of Mick Foley's famous finishing hold?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Mandible Claw
Foley pushes two fingers into the opponent's mouth and presses under the tongue. It was sold as a nerve hold, which is why it could beat much larger wrestlers.
Q4.Mick Foley became famous for pulling a puppet out of his tights. What was it called?Tap to reveal
Answer: Mr. Socko
A white tube sock with a drawn-on face, first used in 1998. It converted a genuinely grim submission hold into a comedy bit, which is largely why Foley became a fan favourite.
Q5.According to Mick Foley's autobiography, which fellow wrestler suggested the idea of him wearing a puppet in the ring?Tap to reveal
Answer: Al Snow
Foley credits Snow, who had a prop of his own — a mannequin head he called Head, picked up off the street near the ECW Arena in 1997.
Q6.Under which ring name did Mick Foley wrestle his hardcore and deathmatch career before becoming Mankind in WWE?Tap to reveal
Answer: Cactus Jack
The name he used in WCW, ECW and Japan. WWE later let all three personas — Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love — exist at once as "the three faces of Foley".
Q7.Which wrestler is nicknamed "The King of Kings"?Tap to reveal
Answer: Triple H
It comes from the Motörhead song written for him. Motörhead also recorded "The Game", making Lemmy Kilmister an unlikely fixture of WWE entrance music.
Q8.Under what ring name did Big Show wrestle before joining WWE?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Giant
In WCW he was billed as André the Giant's son, which was fiction. His real name is Paul Wight; he debuted in 1995.
Q9.What was the name of the tag team formed by The Undertaker and Kane?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Brothers of Destruction
They spent 1997 to 2020 alternately feuding and teaming. The pairing worked because the storyline made them family, so every reunion carried years of history.
Q10.Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy and Lita performed together under what team name?Tap to reveal
Answer: Team Xtreme
Not "the Dream Team" — that was Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake in the 1980s. Team Xtreme built its act on ladders and tables rather than wrestling holds.
Q11.What is the name of the tag team Jeff Hardy formed with his brother Matt?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Hardy Boyz
They started as teenagers running a backyard promotion in North Carolina and were used as unnamed enhancement talent for years before WWE gave them the team name.
Behind the gimmick — the real lives (medium)
Wrestling asks its audience to believe two things at once. This round separates them: what the storyline claimed, and what was actually true about the person doing the claiming. Almost every wrong answer here comes from a fan who took kayfabe at face value.
This is the strongest round to read aloud with a follow-up question attached — after the answer, ask the room whether they thought it was real. You will get an argument, which is the point.
Q1.Kane is The Undertaker's brother in real life as well as on television. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: False
They are storyline half-brothers only. Kane is Glenn Jacobs, born in Spain to a US Air Force family; Calaway is from Houston. Jacobs was elected mayor of Knox County, Tennessee in 2018 and served two terms.
Q2.Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy are not really brothers — they only play brothers on television. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: False — they are genuine brothers
The reverse of the Kane story, which is what makes the pair confusing. Matt is the elder by five years and they grew up together in Cameron, North Carolina.
Q3.In which US city is WWE's corporate headquarters?Tap to reveal
Answer: Stamford, Connecticut
Not New York, despite the Madison Square Garden association. Stamford is where the television production facility sits too, which is why so much WWE content is shot in Connecticut.
Q4.John Cena was born in Tampa, Florida in 1975. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: False — he was born in West Newbury, Massachusetts in 1977
The Florida guess is natural because so much of the business is based there, but Cena is a New Englander; he wrestled his early career in California as The Prototype.
Q5.In October 2003, Triple H married which former WWE Women's Champion?Tap to reveal
Answer: Stephanie McMahon
They had already been married in a storyline in 1999, which is why some fans assume the real wedding was also fiction. She went on to be WWE's chief brand officer, then chairwoman and co-CEO, and left the company in January 2023.
Q6.In which US state did Mick Foley grow up?Tap to reveal
Answer: New York
He was born in Bloomington, Indiana, but the family moved to East Setauket on Long Island when he was small. He wrestled in high school there before turning professional.
Q7.Apart from wrestling, what has Mick Foley had a successful career as?Tap to reveal
Answer: An author
His 1999 autobiography "Have a Nice Day" reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list — written in longhand, and reportedly the book that convinced publishers wrestling memoirs would sell.
Q8.Mick Foley once served as Commissioner of the WWE. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: True
He held the on-screen authority role from 2000 to 2001, and returned to similar general-manager roles later. It is a storyline job, but the appointments are real television history.
Q9.The Rock received a college football scholarship. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: True
A full athletic scholarship to the University of Miami, where he played defensive tackle behind future NFL player Warren Sapp. He went to wrestling only after his football career stalled.
Q10.What did The Rock study at the University of Miami?Tap to reveal
Answer: Criminology
He graduated in 1995 with a degree covering criminology and physiology, and has said he originally planned to work in law enforcement or the FBI.
Q11.Dwayne Johnson made his WWF debut under the name "The Rock". True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: False — he debuted as Rocky Maivia
The 1996 debut name spliced his father Rocky Johnson and grandfather Peter Maivia. Fans rejected the squeaky-clean version and chanted "die, Rocky, die" — the heel turn that followed made him.
Q12."Macho Man" Randy Savage's real-life wife also worked as his on-screen manager. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: True
Elizabeth Hulette — "Miss Elizabeth" — married Savage in 1984 and managed him on television. The 1991 "wedding" fans watched on pay-per-view came years after the real one.
Q13.Which manager took over from Miss Elizabeth at Randy Savage's side, billed as "Sensational" ______?Tap to reveal
Answer: Sherri
Sherri Martel joined him in April 1989 and became one of the few managers over as a character in her own right. She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006.
Q14."Macho Man" Randy Savage fronted a long-running television advertising campaign for which snack food?Tap to reveal
Answer: Slim Jim
"Snap into a Slim Jim!" ran through the 1990s and reached far more households than any wrestling broadcast, which is why non-fans still recognise his voice.
Q15.Randy Savage played the underground fighter in the 2002 film Spider-Man. What was the character's name?Tap to reveal
Answer: Bonesaw McGraw
The cage-match scene is where Peter Parker first tests his powers — an on-screen wrestler standing in as the audience's measure of how strong Spider-Man has become.
Championships, storylines and pay-per-views (medium)
Titles change hands, brands get bought, and the company keeps a very long memory. These questions cover the business decisions and the matches that changed what came after them, mostly from 2001 to 2008.
Hosts should expect near-misses here — people often have the right event and the wrong year. Decide in advance whether a correct name with a wrong date scores, and say so before you start.
Q1.Vince McMahon bought which rival wrestling company in 2001?Tap to reveal
Answer: WCW (World Championship Wrestling)
WCW had been built up by Ted Turner and beat WWE in the ratings for 83 straight weeks. When Turner's network dropped its programming the company lost its platform, and McMahon bought it cheaply.
Q2.Who won the second Money in the Bank ladder match, at WrestleMania 22?Tap to reveal
Answer: Rob Van Dam
Edge won the first one a year earlier. Chris Jericho pitched the concept, and the briefcase quickly became more valuable than most championships as a storytelling device.
Q3.At WrestleMania 24, who won the Money in the Bank ladder match?Tap to reveal
Answer: CM Punk
His first, and the win that moved him from the ECW brand into main-event contention. He won the briefcase again the following year — the first wrestler to do it twice.
Q4.Who won the 2008 Royal Rumble?Tap to reveal
Answer: John Cena
He entered as a surprise at number 30, months earlier than anyone expected after surgery on a torn pectoral muscle. The reaction was split down the middle, which was normal for Cena by then.
Q5.Which wrestler was forced to retire under the stipulation of his WrestleMania 24 loss to Shawn Michaels?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ric Flair
If Flair lost, he had to retire, and Michaels said "I'm sorry, I love you" before the finish. The retirement held in WWE; Flair wrestled again in TNA from 2010 and had a billed last match in July 2022.
Q6.Kurt Angle had his head shaved on television after losing to Edge in 2002. True or false?Tap to reveal
Answer: True
A hair-versus-hair match. Angle wore a wig for weeks afterwards and turned the humiliation into some of his funniest work — proof that losing can be worth more than winning.
Q7.Has Bret Hart been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame?Tap to reveal
Answer: Yes
Inducted in 2006, thirteen years before his second induction as part of the Hart Foundation in 2019. Getting there at all mattered, given how bitterly he and the company had parted in 1997.
Q8.The 2007 Vengeance pay-per-view carried the subtitle "Night of ________".Tap to reveal
Answer: Champions
Every title in the company was defended that night. The idea worked well enough that Night of Champions replaced Vengeance as the event name from 2008.
Q9.At which pay-per-view was the first Punjabi Prison match held?Tap to reveal
Answer: No Mercy
The 2006 event, built around The Great Khali. Two bamboo cages, one inside the other — an idea that has been revived only a handful of times since, which tells you how it was received.
Deep cuts: SummerSlam, WrestleMania and the 1980s (hard)
This is the round for the person who taped Saturday Night's Main Event off the television. It reaches back before the Attitude Era to the years when WWE was still WWF and still building the pay-per-view calendar that everything since has hung on.
Expect low scores and do not apologise for them — a hard closing round is what makes the earlier ones feel generous. If a team gets more than half of these, they have earned the night.
Q1.The Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude met for the Intercontinental Title at which SummerSlam?Tap to reveal
Answer: 1989
Warrior took the title back that night, having lost it to Rude at WrestleMania V. The pair met again the following summer under a very different stipulation.
Q2.The Honky Tonk Man lost the Intercontinental Title to The Ultimate Warrior at the first SummerSlam in 1988 — but who was he originally booked to defend against?Tap to reveal
Answer: Brutus Beefcake
Beefcake was written out after an attack by Outlaw Ron Bass on Superstars of Wrestling. Warrior came out as a last-minute replacement and won in about half a minute.
Q3.Bret Hart wrestled at every SummerSlam from 1988 to 1997 except one. Which year did he miss?Tap to reveal
Answer: 1996
He took an extended break after WrestleMania XII and did not return to the ring until Survivor Series that November — the gap that let Shawn Michaels carry the company as champion.
Q4.Did Hulk Hogan ever win a championship at SummerSlam?Tap to reveal
Answer: No
Across his SummerSlam appearances he headlined tag matches and grudge matches but never left with a title. His title wins clustered around WrestleMania and Royal Rumble season instead.
Q5.The biggest SummerSlam crowd of the twentieth century packed Wembley Stadium in London. In which year?Tap to reveal
Answer: 1992
1992, for Bret Hart against British Bulldog. WWE announced 80,355; the count recorded on the night was closer to 78,900. Either way it is still among the biggest live gates in company history.
Q6.The first steel cage match in SummerSlam history was fought between which two wrestlers?Tap to reveal
Answer: The Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude
SummerSlam 1990, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, with Warrior's World Championship on the line. He escaped the cage to retain.
Q7.Who walked out of SummerSlam 2003 holding the SmackDown United States Championship?Tap to reveal
Answer: Eddie Guerrero
He went in as champion and came out the same way, in a four-way that also included Chris Benoit, Rhyno and Tajiri. The title had only been revived that summer.
Q8.Counting the vacant WWF Championship won in the WrestleMania IV tournament, how many championships changed hands across the first five WrestleManias?Tap to reveal
Answer: Eight
Counting every belt, and counting Randy Savage's WrestleMania IV tournament win for the vacant WWF Championship as a change of hands: two at the first event, one each at the second and third, then two each at the fourth and fifth. Treat the vacant title as filled rather than won from someone and the answer is seven, which is why the rule has to be stated.
Q9.Saturday Night's Main Event aired on which US network in the 1980s and early 1990s?Tap to reveal
Answer: NBC
It ran in the slot normally held by Saturday Night Live. Prime-time network exposure, years before pay-per-view was a habit, is what made Hulkamania a national story.
Q10.In which city did André the Giant defeat Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship?Tap to reveal
Answer: Indianapolis
The Main Event at Market Square Arena in February 1988, on NBC. André handed the belt straight to Ted DiBiase, the title was ruled vacant, and a WrestleMania IV tournament settled it.
Q11.The 1988 Survivor Series main-event team of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Hillbilly Jim and Hercules had one more member. Who?Tap to reveal
Answer: Koko B. Ware
One of only a couple of Survivor Series appearances in his career. Ware never held a title in the company and was still inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009 for exactly that longevity.
Q12.Before becoming Kane, Glenn Jacobs played the dentist Isaac Yankem. Which other established character did he also portray?Tap to reveal
Answer: Diesel
When Kevin Nash left for WCW in 1996, WWE put Jacobs in the Diesel costume to make the point that the character belonged to the company. Fans rejected it, and Kane came out of the rubble a year later.
Q13.Which Hall of Fame wrestler, born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1954, built his character on flaunting his money?Tap to reveal
Answer: Ted DiBiase, the Million Dollar Man
DiBiase paid fans on camera to perform humiliating tasks, then took the money back — a heel formula so clean it barely needed dialogue. He later became an ordained minister.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many WWE trivia questions are on this page?
60, split across five rounds that get harder as you go: ring names, finishers and factions, the real lives behind the gimmicks, championships and pay-per-views, and a hard closing round on 1980s and 1990s history.
What era of WWE do these questions cover?
Mostly 1985 to 2008 — the national expansion under Hulk Hogan, the Attitude Era, and the Ruthless Aggression years. That is the period most casual fans and most lapsed fans share, which makes it the safest ground for a mixed room.
How do I run a WWE trivia round without losing the casual fans?
Open with real names and finishing moves — those travel beyond the shows, so almost everyone scores. Save match results and pay-per-view years for the last round, and let teams confer on those. A room that scores nothing in round one stops playing.
What is the difference between a kayfabe question and a real one?
Kayfabe is the storyline treated as fact: Kane and The Undertaker being brothers, or a wrestler's backstory. Real questions concern the people — birthplaces, legal names, careers outside wrestling. Good WWE trivia mixes both, and says which one it is asking about.
Are these WWE trivia questions suitable for kids?
Yes. We kept to characters, matches and the public facts of people's careers, and left out the substance-abuse and backstage storylines. A handful of questions touch on real-life marriages and on storyline injuries. A younger room will do best on the finishers and faction names.
Where can I find more free WWE and sports trivia?
Trivio.NET has free instant quizzes in its Sports and Personalities categories, and every question on this page is free to copy into your own round or print for a quiz night.
