Most WWE fans know that their favorite form of entertainment is just that -- entertainment. Even in the past, when audiences reacted passionately to what many thought might be real violence, plenty of people knew professional wrestling was scripted entertainment, with a hero (babyface) and villain (heel) battling in a live setting for the fans. However, the reason so many fans in the past bought into wrestling was that many old-time stars and promoters went out of their way to keep kayfabe. The definition of kayfabe is creating staged performances that seem authentic while never breaking character to carry that performance into real life.

Men like The Undertaker would rarely appear at public events out of character in order to keep the mystique of the character. When appearing at public events, heroes and villains of the past would never appear together and go so far as to act out their feuds even when outside of the wrestling ring as long the fans were around. Because of this, photographs and videos that broke kayfabe were often met with anger and sometimes punishment by wrestling promotions -- the most infamous moment being the "Curtain Call" when enemies stood together in the ring and exchanged hugs before Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left for WCW. Here are 20 WWE behind-the-scenes photos that broke kayfabe and spoiled the magic.

20 A MONSTER AMONG MEN?

In the WWE, Braun Strowman plays the part of a giant, angry, no-nonsense monster, with the nickname The Monster Among Men. While appearing on Monday Night Raw and at pay-per-views, Strowman has no friends and just destroys everyone around him. Recently, Strowman has started to lighten up somewhat, taking part in more tag team matches and even wrestling with a pre-teen in his corner when he won the Raw tag team titles at WrestleMania this year.

While that hurt his character of the no-nonsense monster in the ring, Strowman has never hidden who he really is on social media.

Strowman loves to show off his personality on his Instagram account. He has taken photos of him hunting, relaxing at a cabin in the woods, smiling with his family backstage, and even goofing off in the shower. Anyone who follows Braun on social media knows that he is the exact opposite of the character he made famous on WWE television. Taking one look at this behind-the-scenes photo at home and fans will realize that Braun is goofier and more relaxed than WWE fans might ever expect. Luckily, Braun has become so dominant in the ring, that nothing he does backstage seems to hurt his standing with the fans.

19 THE LUKE HARPER FAN CLUB

While the WWE has recently started pushing Luke Harper as a part of the Bludgen Brothers tag team, it took awhile for them to really get behind the athletic big man. When wrestling as Brodie Lee on the indie scene, Harper built up a large fanbase that included his fellow wrestlers. When he joined the WWE, he was placed with Bray Wyatt as part of the Wyatt Family, and while he still put on great matches, he never really got much of a chance to show what he could really do in the company.

That caused a lot of wrestlers to get behind Luke Harper and show that they believed he deserved a push as part of the "Luke Harper Fan Club." It was hard for the WWE to punish anyone for the photo, as it was originally posted by Chris Jericho, someone who is almost considered above reproach for things like this (although Jericho did delete the photo later). However, the biggest breaking of kayfabe was the villain Bray Wyatt doing the Shawn Michaels post while babyface Roman Reigns flexed behind him. Also appearing in this backstage WWE photo are the Colons, Sheamus, Cesaro and the "Yeah Yeah Yeah" man himself, Luke Harper.

18 FRENEMIES AT THE COLOSSEUM

In 2017, one of the biggest feuds in the WWE saw Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman battling through the year -- both men wanting to prove they were the most dominant wrestler in the company. The feud was a rare blood feud for the WWE with Roman Reigns throwing Strowman into a trash truck compactor and later Strowman destroying Reigns on Raw before flipping over the entire ambulance that Roman was in. Reigns then responded by backing an ambulance that Strowman was in into a semi truck, smashing the vehicles together, obviously trying to cause some serious injuries to his enemy.

It was obvious the WWE was not happy with the two enemies looking so happy together.

Just as the fans were getting into the feud, and many starting to cheer for the heel Strowman in the process, a photo popped up on Twitter that completely spoiled the violent feud between the two superstars. The WWE was on tour in Europe and a number of stars went to visit the Roman Colosseum and stopped to pose for a picture. In the photo are Matt Hardy, Heath Slater, Curtis Axel, Titus O'Neil, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman. The photo was deleted, so it was obvious the WWE was not happy with the two enemies looking so happy together.

17 HBK AND STONE COLD

Stone Cold Steve Austin and "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels have a long history. It was HBK that finally put over Austin as the face of the WWE at WrestleMania 14. While Michaels was broken down and injured at that time, he put on a good match anyway and Austin won his first world title thanks to referee Mike Tyson turning on DX in the match. Since that match, Austin has said that the match "sucked" and he felt it was a bad win since Tyson gave a fast three-count to end the bout. It was also interesting since Michaels and Austin had almost nothing in common at the time and were far from friends.

Since then, Michaels turned his life around and defeated a lot of the demons that plagued his past . The way he lives his life now -- with his family in Texas -- seems very similar to Austin, who has removed himself from the WWE outside of random appearances here and there. With that said, in 2010, Michaels was still wrestling and Austin returned on March 15 to oversee Monday Night Raw, specifically the contract signing between Vince McMahon and Bret Hart. While Austin was still his no-nonsense serious self on camera, it was fun to see the behind-the-scenes photo that shows Michaels and Austin seem to have buried their past.

16 TRIPLE H AND THE BIRDMAN

At one time, Triple H was one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the WWE. He was able to move on from his breakout role in DX and -- thanks mostly to marrying the boss' daughter -- grow into his role on the corporate side of the WWE. With that change in his real life, he took the chance to make his on-screen role fit in, turning into an evil authority figure who was still able to destroy opponents and take down anyone that stood in his way.

However, behind-the-scenes, Triple H changed drastically.

Fans started to embrace Triple H thanks to his work in building up NXT and helping not only break in new stars but also in bringing beloved favorites from around the world to the WWE with their original characters. Before any of that happened, Triple H announced for the first time on WWE TV in 2009 that he was Vince McMahon's son-in-law. He ended up in a feud with Randy Orton after The Viper physically attacked Stephanie McMahon on Raw. With such an intense match coming at WrestleMania XXV, it seems almost strange to see photos of Triple H messing around and laughing with "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware and his macaw Frankie just the night before the big event.

15 UNDERTAKER AND SHANE AFTER THEIR BATTLE

One man who has maintained kayfabe over almost his entire career is The Undertaker. Outside of a short period where he morphed into a biker gimmick, Undertaker was always portraying the role of the Dead Man and tried to avoid making appearances where he broke character. Even when he did, such as the WWE Hall of Fame induction of manager Paul Bearer and a birthday celebration for Nature Boy Ric Flair, Undertaker did it when the cameras were no longer rolling. Out of all WWE superstars, very few wrestlers respect kayfabe as much as Undertaker.

At WrestleMania 32, Undertaker wrestled Shane McMahon in a Hell in a Cell match. By this time, Undertaker had already lost his undefeated streak at WrestleMania to Brock Lesnar, so it was just about putting on good matches. That specific match saw Shane McMahon climb to the top of the cell and dive onto a table, missing the Undertaker who moved at the last minute. Undertaker then hit the tombstone piledriver to win and McMahon was stretchered out after the match with his neck in a brace. However, this photo then popped up of the two men backstage after the match -- with Shane all smiles.

14 VINCE MCMAHON GREETS STING

For years, the biggest battle in professional wrestling was WWE vs. WCW. The biggest faces for each company were Sting and The Undertaker, with the nWo, DX, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Goldberg also playing major roles. Throughout the years, since the WWE helped put WCW out of business, everyone from WCW that meant anything made their way to the WWE at one time or another -- except Sting. That all changed in 2014 when Sting finally made his long-anticipated WWE debut at the Survivor Series. During his WWE run, Sting got his first ever WWE world title shot and even a WrestleMania match.

However, it was that WrestleMania match that soured many fans on how the WWE booked Sting.

In that match, Sting wrestled Triple H. The match saw the nWo and DX both show up and interfere, with Triple H pinning Sting. It was almost like Vince McMahon used Sting's only WrestleMania match to slam home that WWE beat WCW once again. That makes the photo of Sting before that match, with a smile on his face, hugging McMahon, really shatter that narrative, as it proved that Sting seemed ok with the final decision. Plus, it was the final nail in the coffin of WCW with the face of the company looking very happy to finally be in the WWE.

13 CM PUNK AND JOHN CENA

One of the greatest feuds in the WWE in recent years was the one that pitted CM Punk against John Cena. It was an amazing time to be a fan of the WWE, with CM Punk breaking the fourth wall by talking to fans about things that were happening behind-the-scenes, including name-dropping people who were not even in the WWE like Colt Cabana. His main nemesis at the time was the ultimate corporate man in John Cena -- the true face of the WWE at the time.

CM Punk and John Cena had amazing matches, with surprisingly Punk being the one who won more often than not. Punk also cut a lot of promos destroying Cena while John matched him with his own promos calling out Punk for his hypocrisy. There wasn't a feud like it in WWE history and nothing since then has matched the level of brilliance these two men brought as they battled each other. However, when this photo hit the internet of the two bitter enemies wearing classic Zubaz pants and looking like fools (which is not surprising, considering Cena's silly sense of humor in general), it really spoiled a lot of the magic when they hit the ring for their feud.

12 UNDERTAKER ALL SMILES WITH DX

For four years, WrestleMania saw The Undertaker taking on two of the most successful wrestlers in WWE history in what might be the four best matches of The Streak. At WrestleMania XXV, The Undertaker beat Shawn Michaels and the very next year, he beat him a second time, forcing HBK to retire from professional wrestling. The next year, at WrestleMania XXVII, Undertaker made Triple H submit in a No Holds Barred match and then beat him again the next year in a Hell in a Cell match. The special thing about the WrestleMania XXVIII match was that Shawn Michaels was the special guest referee.

Those three men defined the Attitude Era of the WWE along with Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.

It was fitting that Michaels would end his career against The Undertaker and that Triple H would give two great performances in a row against the Dead Man. It appears that they are still on good terms. This photo took place two years after the Hell in a Cell match where Undertaker, all smiles, hugged it out with Shawn Michaels. Later that night, Brock Lesnar would be the man to break the streak, by pinning The Undertaker in a shocking upset.

11 THE EATER OF WORLDS?

There was already one photograph here where Bray Wyatt broke character to do the Heartbreak Kid pose as a member of the Luke Harper fan club. If that wasn't enough to remind fans that Bray was not as scary in real life as he is when he is eating worlds, here is a family photo that might remind people exactly who Bray Wyatt really is. Of course, the photo centers on Bo Dallas at a costume party dressed up like a pirate while Bray is on the side dressed as Fred Flintstone.

For those fans who don't pay attention to the lives of the wrestlers outside of the ring, Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas are real-life brothers. Not only that, but they are third generation superstars. The two are the sons of Mike Rotunda, who most fans know as IRS. Their grandfather is the legendary Blackjack Mulligan and Bray's real name is actually Windham Rotunda -- his first name paying respect to his uncle Barry Windham. Since they debuted in the WWE, both Bray and Bo have enjoyed success. Dallas is a former NXT Champion and Wyatt is possibly the most interesting character the WWE has created in years. This photo just reminds people of who they really are.

10 COWBOY MARK HENRY

Mark Henry made his name in the WWE by proving to be one of the toughest men on the entire roster. The former strongman competitor and Olympian joined the WWE in 1996 with a huge 10-year deal that seemed lucrative for a 24-year-old with no experience. However, just as he did with weightlifting and the Olympics, Henry took on wrestling with great passion, watching, learning and asking the right people the right questions for years until he made his name as a legend in the company.

The thing about Mark Henry is that he didn't need to win a lot of titles.

He even shook off an embarrassing gimmick of Sexual Chocolate in order to open up his Hall of Pain. What that resulted in was a great career that ended in 2018 with Henry entering the WWE Hall of Fame. However, fans who don't remember Sexual Chocolate and only know Henry as the meanest man on the roster might see this photo and feel some shock at the image of a smiling Henry in a cowboy hat. It comes as no surprise though, as other wrestlers have talked about the genuine kindness of Henry, a man who achieved his success coming out of a small East Texas town called Silsbee.

9 CM PUNK TEMPTING THE UNDERTAKER

CM Punk was an interesting character in the WWE. He went from the Straight Edge Superstar, a wrestler who didn't put anything bad into his body, to a Messiah as the leader of the Straight Edge Society, someone who talked down to anyone he felt was not straight edge. He then became the voice of the people, ripping the WWE for pushing people who didn't really have a love for the business over "real wrestlers." It seems that Punk had a huge chip on his shoulder, but the real CM Punk was always a little geekier than he acted on TV.

Sure, there were his promos that included getting his face on a WWE ice cream bar and who can forget his homage to Macho Man Randy Savage when he came to the ring for one specific match on Monday Night Raw. On top of his love for wrestling history, he also had a geek love for comics and seemed to enjoy letting his geek flag fly behind-the-scenes. One look at this photo and it is clear that Punk was having a blast when feuding with The Undertaker, despite being a total jerk when the cameras were rolling. Photos like this also make his fans sad, as it showed there was once a time CM Punk loved being a wrestler.

8 THE MONTREAL SCREWJOB IS FORGOTTEN

The biggest story in the WWE for over a decade was the Montreal Screwjob, and the biggest question was whether it was real or scripted. Most people believe that it was real. Vince McMahon didn't want Bret "The Hitman" Hart to go to WCW while still holding the WWE world title. Hart agreed to drop it but not to Shawn Michaels at the Survivor Series. When Michaels locked Hart in his own move, the Sharpshooter, McMahon told the referee to call for the bell, and Michaels was the new champion.

Michaels ran, Hart looked angry, and then gave McMahon a black eye backstage.

This entire incident helped create the evil Mr. McMahon character and Hart left the WWE, not returning for nine years when he finally entered the WWE Hall of Fame. In 2009, 12 years after the Montreal Screwjob, Hart and Michaels finally reconciled on television and hugged it out. Of course, fans still wondered about the relationship between the two, especially since Hart still seems a little resentful to this day. This photo of the two backstage shows that there doesn't seem to be any hard feelings at all remaining between the two legendary rivals -- at least not on Michaels' side.

7 THE ROSEBUDS

When Adam Rose came up to the main roster from NXT, he was an interesting character. Based on a party boy, Rose had his own party bus that he stayed in before his matches and then came to the ring with an entourage, all the people dressed up in different costumes and acting like fools. Most people remember the guy in the giant rabbit costume that ended up wrestling some with Adam Rose. By the time Rose left the WWE, his act had become a joke and he lost almost every match he took part in. However, take one look at the behind-the-scenes WWE photo of his Rosebuds here, and there are some shocking inclusions that might ruin the characters that these people soon took on.

On the right are the two most recognizable names. First up is Braun Strowman. The Monster Among Men was, at the time, just a giant smiling guy in a bright shirt who loved to party. Next to him is Elias Samson. While he now portrays the role of an angry, disgruntled musician, at the time he was just another happy-go-lucky party guy. On the left are two SmackDown Live superstars, including the heel Carmella (in a mask) and the very popular Becky Lynch, who said she actually had to "beg" to be a Rosebud.

6 UP UP DOWN DOWN

Xavier Woods has really pushed the fact that WWE superstars love to play video games thanks to his YouTube show Up Up Down Down, where superstars get together to play each other in various video games. He then posts it on his YouTube channel under the name Austin Creed. Some of the more popular episodes saw guys like AJ Styles and Seth Rollins battle to see who was the best at Madden and a more recent one has Luke Harper, who is a monster in The Bludgen Brothers, playing Gang Beasts.

This photo shows a very interesting person involved in Up Up Down Down.

As Seth Rollins and Curtis Axel played in the Madden 16 tournament semi-finals, none other than The Miz stood in the background watching the game along with The New Day. It was hilarious when watching the video to see The Miz openly cheering for the Bears (and therefore Seth Rollins) over the man who would one day be part of the Miztourage. There is no telling what the WWE superstars from yesteryear would think of something like this, with faces and heels playing games and putting it online, but today's stars have no problem showing their friendships behind-the-scenes.

5 THE GORILLA POSITION

In between the locker rooms for the wrestlers and the stage where fans see the wrestlers enter the arena is a small room called the Gorilla Position. This area is named after Gorilla Monsoon, the legendary professional wrestler and later announcer in the WWE. For fans who don't know, the Gorilla Position is where the producers sit and work on the show. Vince McMahon, Triple H, Shane McMahon, Road Dogg, and others will sit in this area with their headphones on and call the shots. They will talk to the announcers and give instructions to wrestlers before they head out to the ring.

The Gorilla Position is not as mysterious as it used to be. Just this year, Roman Reigns walked directly into the Gorilla Position on camera and called out Vince McMahon when complaining about Brock Lesnar. However, in the past, this was a guarded location that was usually kept away from the eyes of fans. This photo shows a lot of wrestlers and other individuals waiting in the Gorilla Position, watching the action at the 2013 Tribute the Troops show. Four other photos in this list include shots taken from the Gorilla Position, and this one really pulls back the curtains showing where the WWE magic originates from.

4 BITTER ENEMIES, BETTER FRIENDS

Before Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn made their debuts in NXT, the two men were long-time partners and best friends on the independent scene. In Ring of Honor, the two men had great success as a tag team using the names Kevin Steen and El Generico (Zayn was a masked Luchador). Zayn showed up in NXT first and then soon Owens made his debut as well. It didn't take long for Owens to turn on Zayn and the two began feuding. While Zayn was the first to NXT, Owens was the first to Monday Night Raw.

They remained the closest of friends behind-the-scenes and as Owens said, the title win was for both of them.

However, as soon as Zayn showed up on Raw, he started feuding with Owens again and the popular saying among fans is that they will "fight forever." They are currently friends again, although there is always that antagonistic part of their relationship that still shows through. In 2016, Owens shocked the world when he won the WWE Universal Championship. He was a heel and Zayn was a face, and the two men fought every time they saw each other. However, as this photo shows, they remained the closest of friends behind-the-scenes and as Owens said, the title win was for both of them, the culmination of their trip from the indies to the top of the WWE.

3 AN EMOTIONAL BROCK LESNAR

Brock Lesnar has a very bad reputation behind-the-scenes in the WWE, especially from the viewpoint of the fans. Lesnar makes limited appearances for the WWE, referred to as a "special attraction" despite holding the biggest title on the Monday Night Raw brand. Lesnar admittedly has few friends in professional wrestling, has said he is doing it just for the money and spends no time around the industry when he is not getting paid to appear or is performing on the shows. He also has dreams to once again leave wrestling for the UFC, which is something else that turns many fans against him.

However, saying that he doesn't care at all about wrestling or those men that he works alongside in the WWE is not completely true. At WrestleMania 30, Lesnar shocked the WWE Universe when he pinned The Undertaker to end the legendary Streak. This photo was taken backstage after that match. Fans on PPV saw Lesnar smirking and smiling as he left and then the camera went back to a distraught Undertaker in the ring. This photo shows Lesnar, backstage after that match, looking very emotional alongside Paul Heyman as they watched The Undertaker in the aftermath.

2 WWE STARS BREAKING KAYFABE

Before the mid-'90s, professional wrestling superstars did everything they could to keep kayfabe alive. When men like Hacksaw Jim Duggan and The Iron Shiek were in public, no one would ever see them together or on friendly terms. With that said, this might be one of the earliest behind-the-scenes WWE photos that totally broke kayfabe with various superstars from the '80s and early '90s posing together in what looks like either an airport or arena lobby.

The photo itself was from 1993 and features some of the biggest champions and superstars in the WWE.

This photo includes crazy shots like the evil Yokozuna with his hand relaxing on the shoulder of Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Tag team superstar Scott Steiner is kneeling next to Mr. Fuji, the evil manager of Demolition. Bam Bam Bigelow is sitting right next to Owen Hart and behind Tito Santana. Even Hulk Hogan is there, with his hand grasping Bill Alfonso, years before Alfonso broke out as the Dudley Boyz manager in ECW. Add in Terry Taylor, The Mouth of the South Jimmy Hart, Brutus The Barber Beefcake, The Godfather, Rikishi and Bastion Booger and this is a photo that has just about everything an old-school fan of the WWE could want.

1 THE INFAMOUS PARTY BUS

Back in 2017, Stone Cold Steve Austin shared a classic photo from the mid-'90s that showed one of the tour buses for the WWE during a tour of Europe. The photo was a whos-who of the WWE superstars of that era and Austin said that everyone in the photo was drinking heavily with the exception of Triple H. What is crazy is that Austin said that he had no idea if this was the "heel tour bus" or the "face tour bus" because everyone partied together and the characters flipped sides so often that it was hard to keep track of who was good and who was bad at the time.

This WWE behind-the-scenes photo obviously took place before 1996, even though Austin thought it was 1997 or 1998. The reason is that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are in the photo and they jumped to WCW in 1996. Joining them in the photo was Undertaker at the center of the table, Henry Godwinn with a bottle of Jack, Shawn Michaels, Sean Waltman, Triple H, Mideon, Austin, Hall, Nash, Paul Bearer and Gerald Brisco. According to Austin, the back of the bus was where the party took place after every WWE show.