10 Times Wrestlers Destroyed Their Own Careers

WatchMojo

From botched moves to backstage blunders, these wrestlers crashed their careers in spectacular fashion! Join us as we look at those fateful moments when a wrestler's star power was permanently dimmed. Our countdown includes slapping a reporter, getting arrested, no-selling finishes, and other career-killing mistakes!

Transcript

00:00Who wants to get in the ring? You want to get in the ring?

00:03I guess Kurt's not through.

00:04You want to get in the ring with me?

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we'll be counting down our picks for those instances

00:08where a professional wrestler was either booked poorly

00:11or did something to negatively affect their long-term career prospects.

00:14I went by the office, and that's when he wanted me to sign a paper

00:18saying that it was all my part did.

00:21Number 10. Buff is not the stuff. Buff Bagwell.

00:24The writing felt clearly on the wall when Vince McMahon's WWE

00:28purchased former rival WCW.

00:30Not every section of their talent was going to be used going forward.

00:37Still, this episode of Monday Night Raw seemed to at least lend a little bit of prestige

00:41to Booker T's defense of WCW's World Heavyweight Championship title.

00:46Unfortunately, his opponent on this night was Buff Bagwell,

00:49a talent that even on his best days wasn't usually envisioned as a main event talent.

00:52And then just, boom, the WWF champion.

00:57Credence was further given to this opinion once the match began in earnest

01:00since Booker T vs. Bagwell quickly unfolded into a black eye for the company.

01:04Buff clearly wasn't the stuff on this night, and he was fired from WWE soon afterwards.

01:11Number 9. Chronic is Unforgiven.

01:13Chronic.

01:14Brian Clark and Bryan Adams weren't strangers to the WWE landscape,

01:18with the former working as Atom Bomb, and the latter as Crush.

01:21Still, their tag team pair-up of Chronic didn't seem to last long

01:24thanks to this disastrous match at Unforgiven 2001 against the Brothers of Destruction.

01:31Clark was fired shortly after this contest for allegedly working unsafely in the ring,

01:36although it should be said that members of both teams were recovering from injuries.

01:39This combined with accusations of potential ring rust on the part of Kane

01:42were felt clearly in the ring, and the match suffered greatly as a result of these factors.

01:46Clark and Adams would eventually find redemption wrestling in Japan,

01:53but their days as WWE stars were effectively finished.

02:01Number 8. No Selling the Finish.

02:03Austin Aries.

02:04The professional wrestling career of Austin Aries does continue at the time of this writing,

02:08but it admittedly took a turn for the worse after this infamous appearance at Impact's

02:12Bound for Glory event in 2018.

02:14The feud between Aries and Johnny Impact during this time felt fairly personal,

02:18and it came to head after Aries no-sold the finish to the match.

02:21Starship Payne!

02:25He nailed it! He nailed it! Hooks the line!

02:28Aries stood up immediately after eating the pinfall,

02:31as well as Impact's finisher, Starship Payne.

02:33He's a world champion!

02:34The fallout from this incident saw Aries' Impact contract not being renewed,

02:44although the greatest man that ever lived transitioned over to work at places like NWA and Major League Wrestling.

02:52Number 7. Going into business for herself.

02:55Sexy Star.

02:55There's nobody, certainly not us, that's going to accuse Dolce Maria Garcia Rivas,

03:00aka Sexy Star, of being anything less than tough stuff.

03:03Still, this incident from AAA's Triple Mania 25 in 2017 severely hurt Sexy Star's ability

03:09to book in the aftermath of a real-life shoot in the ring.

03:12If that works, you know.

03:12Luck's in that submission!

03:13He's asking her, he's asking her, he's asking her, he's asking her!

03:16That's it!

03:17Rivas put one of her opponents in this four-way contest.

03:20Rosemary, in a legitimate arm bar, injuring the competitor and earning Sexy Star some legitimate heat in the process.

03:25You're the winner!

03:26Wait, she's refusing to let go!

03:29Rivas continued to fight, however, this time for real within the worlds of both boxing,

03:33and mixed martial arts.

03:34She never lost focus.

03:37She got the win.

03:39Number 6. Wrong crowd, bro.

03:40Robbie McAllister.

03:41This entry could be construed in a couple of different ways.

03:44Robbie McAllister was a member of the Highlanders,

03:47although some fans have argued that this tag team was already falling down the totem pole around March 2008.

03:52Now Hacksaw coming in and getting involved!

03:54This was when McAllister was spotted in the audience at a TNA show,

03:58an act which was frowned upon by WWE management during this time.

04:01From the entertainment world on hand here tonight at Thursday Night Impact,

04:06boy, I wonder who else is on hand.

04:08Sure, the company may cross-promote with other wrestling companies in the modern day,

04:11but some wrestling fans and journalists have pointed at this incident,

04:14potentially influencing WWE's decision to release the Highlanders in August of that year.

04:19Number 5. Dropping the Viper on His Head, Mr. Kennedy.

04:29The career of Ken Anderson, a.k.a. Mr. Kennedy,

04:32say it right, Tony Schimmel,

04:33was one of what could have been rather than what was at the end of the day.

04:42Mr. Kennedy!

04:42Nobody will probably deny how popular and effective Mr. Kennedy was during his early days on the WWE's main roster.

04:52Still, this superstar in the making tended to work a stiff style,

04:55and this came to a head during a match with the Viper, Randy Orton.

04:58Relax there for a moment.

04:59Don't want to get overconfident,

05:01because something like that could happen.

05:03A back suplex.

05:05A botched suplex resulted in an awkward landing for Orton,

05:08and it would be only days after this match when Kennedy was released by the company.

05:16Number 4. Pulled Over, RVD and Sabu.

05:19Rob Van Dam will always be the whole effing show,

05:21and it seemed like he was enjoying the apex of his WWE career in 2006.

05:26Van Dam made history by holding both the WWE Championship

05:28and the ECW World Heavyweight Championship during this time,

05:32but all it took was an arrest for speeding and drug possession to put an end to this main event run.

05:36Who are you wrestling for? WWE.

05:39Is that right? Nobody else.

05:41The incident not only resulted in a suspension for Van Dam,

05:44but also effectively influenced WWE's decision to eventually release both RVD,

05:49as well as his traveling partner, Sabu.

05:51Guys! Say that! Wait a minute!

05:53Answer the bell! Answer the count!

05:54Number 3. Brawl for Not, Bart Gunn.

05:57An erradical experiment.

05:58An unscripted, legitimate, prize fighting tournament.

06:02Wrestling media just loves to talk about the Brawl for All,

06:05a real fighting tournament that was held within the WWE back in 1998.

06:09This controversial creation from former WWE writer Vince Russo

06:13was intended to be a vehicle to elevate the career of the company's legitimate tough guys,

06:17including Dr. Death's Steve Williams.

06:19Unfortunately, Williams was KO'd by an unanticipated star,

06:22Bart Gunn of The Smoking Gunns.

06:24Gunn would go on to win it all,

06:25but his prize was essentially to get brutalized by Butterbean

06:28in a finale from which we as a wrestling society still haven't recovered.

06:32Number 2. The Stossel Slap, Dr. D. David Schultz.

06:35We admit that we probably shouldn't be celebrating any sort of physical assault in this space.

06:40Still, isn't there something satisfying about Dr. D. David Schultz slapping the taste out of the

06:44mouth of condescending 2020 reporter John Stossel?

06:47You think it's fake?

06:48The incident made headline news in 1984 after Stossel sued and claimed legitimate injuries

06:52from his encounter with Schultz.

06:54Dr. D. in the meantime has maintained that Vince McMahon influenced his reaction to Stossel's

06:58accusations of pro wrestling being fake.

07:00I was stunned, a little scared, and that's why I crawled off.

07:05I didn't want to get hit again.

07:07This was during a time when WWE was still subject to scrutiny by New York State's

07:11Athletic Commission, and David Schultz was fired not long after this media fracas.

07:15Oh yeah, we remember that guy.

07:17He slapped the hell out of that reporter, Dr. D. David Schultz.

07:21Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified

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07:30If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

07:36Number 1.

07:37Initiative is a Bad Thing, Daniel Pewter.

07:39Maybe Daniel Pewter was seeking to apologize rather than asking for permission.

07:43Or maybe this tough enough winner was simply trying to grab the brass ring by showing up

07:47a legitimate Olympic athlete.

07:48Either way, this 2004 incident between Pewter and Kurt Angle became infamous for the latter

07:52almost having his arm broken by a legitimate Camorra lock.

07:59This in-ring angle soon devolved as authorities broke up Angle and Pewter before any real damaged

08:04character or body could be done.

08:06The WWE weren't finished with Pewter, however, as evidenced by the ruthless beating he received

08:13in the 2005 Royal Rumble, a receipt for taking a little too much career initiative.

08:22Care to invent any alternate reality theories where these careers could have been saved?

08:26Let us know in the comments.

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