The night kayfabe cracked: 30 years ago, WWE's most infamous hug changed pro-wrestling forever

Pro wrestling history has plenty of notorious bumps and bruises over the years. But if it's a notorious hug that you're looking for … well, there will only ever be one of those. And it happened 30 years ago today.

In the decades that followed, plenty of ink has been spilled about the event known as the Curtain Call — a small gesture after a WWE (then WWF) event on May 19, 1996 that would have been unremarkable in practically any other sport. Four men — Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall — opting to close that night's show with a group hug in the ring following an untaped house show in New York. Naturally, hugs don't come around every week in wrestling, but there was at least some context.

For years, the four men involved had worked together in WWF, forming close friendships as they helped revive the promotion from its post-Hulk Hogan lull. Now Hall and Nash were set to depart for WCW, the rival show backed by the recently departed Ted Turner . The companies themselves were bitter rivals, but the talents themselves were friends.

So why not mark the occasion with a gesture of comradeship? On the face of it, it sounds innocent enough. But in the world of pro-wrestling, which has long enforced the rules of kayfabe — i.