One of the remaining few secrets of the wrestling world looks to have been rumbled by fans on social media.
Wrestling in 2025 is a far cry from its presentation decades ago where the industry was dominated by kayfabe – the art of maintaining the illusion that all you see and hear is real.
Like any good movie, though, that is not the case: storylines are written well in advance, match endings predetermined, and the action itself skillfully choreographed.
The risk of serious injury is very much real, though, with every care taken to ensure the safety of the performers strutting their stuff in and out of the ring.
Just how the magic of a professional wrestling show is pieced together to make all of that happen has long been a mystery, though WWE have slowly eroded that over the years to meet the demand of a hugely inquisitive fanbase.
It’s now commonplace for performers to discuss the ins and outs of the industry out of character during media interviews, while a raft of documentaries and behind-the-scenes features have shone a light on the fascinating world that is the WWE universe.
But while much of the mystique of yesteryear has been shattered in favour of a more informed crowd digesting the product, some instances of the unknown have remained over the years.
One of them featured again at Money in the Bank this past weekend – the imploding commentary table, which has been a staple part of a wrestler’s armoury since they first began getting used in matches and storylines in the mid-to-late 1990s.
The popular stunt had become so regular that it seemed you couldn’t go five minutes without a wrestler being slammed through one, the sight of the table collapsing in a heap always providing for a hit visual.
Occurrences had lessened every so slightly in 2025 with the launch of a new-look commentary desk for WWE announce teams, a version that appears to look firmer and sturdier than its predecessors.
That mattered little to Logan Paul in California on Saturday night, however – in the midst of his tag team match alongside John Cena against Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes, he nailed Uso with a moonsault straight through a table that collapsed on impact.
The question is, how? The table had withstood the impact of a Spear by Uso on Cena just moments earlier but capitulated when Paul came crashing down.
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The answer appears to be in a viral video shared on social media and viewed over 300,000 on Facebook alone.
A fan, sitting ringside and a couple of rows behind the commentary position, captured the moment the former US Champion sailed through the air.
Moments before, however, a WWE crew member can be seen sneakily working under the desk, before urgently rushing out of the way seconds before the 30-year-old came hurtling in his direction.
It seems almost certain he had mere seconds to dive under the desk and loosen a proverbial screw – or perhaps a real one – to help the table, previously standing strong, fold like a pack of cards.
It’s fascinating to see, though opinions on it from fans varied. One, delighted, commented: “That’s funny, I always wondered how it worked, haha. Social media is like free behind the scenes!”
Another, referencing commentators Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, joked: “So Michael and Pat don’t have to pull a pin on each side before getting up!?”
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A bemused third said: “So this whole time workers be taking off the screw under the tables,” while a third was less than happy to have the magic ruined, jokingly blasting: “Whoever posted this is needs their wrestling fan card revoked!”
Cena and Paul ended up defeated at the end of the night as Uso and Rhodes triumphed, albeit with an assist from a returning Ron ‘R-Truth’ Killings.
In an ironic contrast to the magic of the table collapse, Head of WWE Creative Paul Levesque insisted Killings’ headline-making departure and return were ‘all part of the show’ – something fans have angrily rejected.
