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Wrestlers Who Ruined Their Own Legacy
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00:00You don't have to have ascended to the top to fall from grace, anyone can do it.
00:05Fond memories can be tarnished by mistakes and some things are enough to ruin your entire public perception.
00:10And if you are on the top when you fall, well, you're in for a long climb back into those good books.
00:15After all, the phrase, if you've done something right, then nobody will know you've done anything at all comes to mind.
00:20If you've done something wrong, people will be sure to let you know about it every chance they get.
00:25I'm CypherWhatCulture.com and these are 10 wrestlers who ruined their own legacy.
00:29Number 10, John Bradshaw Layfield.
00:32Despite popularity as a member of the Acolytes, John Layfield's true renaissance came in 2004
00:37when his character unexpectedly shifted completely into an egocentric, money-obsessed American patriot.
00:43It worked so well that he climbed the card to the WWE Championship.
00:47Many people remember JBL more though for his presence on WWE commentary for the better part of 10 years.
00:52Stories about Layfield working stiff have always been rumoured,
00:55but it was around 2017 that the allegations of bullying became much more vocal.
01:00Fans called for the man to be fired from TV and many got sick of hearing him commentate
01:04after reading the accounts of his victims.
01:06Justin Roberts, the former WWE announcer, said in his autobiography that JBL had stolen his passport
01:11and many ex-WWE stars also described Layfield as a bully.
01:15In April 2017, NXT announcer Mauro Ranallo left the company and whilst he claimed it wasn't the case,
01:21many viewers felt the comments JBL had made on air about Mauro had affected the commentator's mental well-being.
01:27JBL was forced to make a statement claiming that he had pranked many stars,
01:31but that the WWE had addressed his actions years ago.
01:34In September of the same year, with the wrestling community sick of the sound of him,
01:37Layfield opted to leave the company to pursue other interests.
01:40Number 9, Perry Saturn.
01:42Many forget that during the late 90s, Perry Saturn was a valuable commodity.
01:46Starting off as an important part of ECW's early tag division,
01:49Saturn moved on to WCW and became a member of the severely underrated stable Raven's Flock.
01:55When the faction dissolved, he was the lead babyface of the story.
01:58In 2000, Saturn and some of his WCW friends jumped over to the WWF as part of the Radicals
02:04in one of the most talked about moments of the Monday Night War.
02:07A match taped for WWF Jacked was where it all started to go wrong.
02:11After being dropped on his head following a botched arm drag by jobber Mike Bell,
02:15Saturn flipped and legitimately started throwing punches at his opponent.
02:19The match became a fight and Mike Bell was also dropped on his head during the ensuing scuffle.
02:24It's generally believed that Saturn's next gimmick change was punishment for these actions
02:27and the star found himself playing a brain-damaged wrestler who fell in love with a mop.
02:31Saturn's hard work and commitment got the gimmick over and so,
02:34as WWE do with those who organically get over,
02:37they killed off Moppy and ended the character sooner than perhaps they should have.
02:41With nothing left for him creatively, WWE booted Saturn in November 2002.
02:46If Saturn had kept his cool with Mike Bell, one has to wonder what could have been.
02:50Number 8, Abdullah the Butcher.
02:52Larry Shreve, better known as Abdullah the Butcher,
02:54made a name for himself being one of the most sadistic men in the pro wrestling industry.
02:59His extreme, no-holds-barred and obscenely bloody matches split opinion.
03:03Some were curious and some were disgusted and this divide made Abdullah the stuff of legend.
03:07Abdullah had no issues blading himself into a bloody pulp and more often than not did the same to his opponents,
03:13sometimes whether they wanted it or not.
03:15Always a controversial figure amongst both fans and peers,
03:17it was in 2012 though that Shreve was brought before a court and sued for damages
03:21to one of his former opponents, Hannibal Devin Nicholson.
03:24Nicholson claimed that in 2007 he'd participated in a match with Abdullah
03:28where he had been repeatedly cut open without his consent with a blade hidden on the Butcher's finger.
03:33Most importantly, he claimed that the sharing of blood had caused him to contract Hepatitis C.
03:38The knock-on effect of this diagnosis had caused the WWE contract that he had worked so hard for
03:43and finally earned in 2009 to be rescinded
03:46and Hannibal was forced to retire from wrestling because of it.
03:50The court found Shreve guilty of negligence, assault and battery
03:53and he was sued for $2.3 million.
03:56Number 7, Hannibal Devin Nicholson.
03:59Oh, that's awkward.
04:00Having wrestled only on smaller stages such as Stampede Wrestling,
04:04it was the dream of Devin Nicholson, as with many, to be hired by the WWE,
04:08a dream that was shattered by his interactions with Abdullah the Butcher.
04:12The wrestling community rallied around Devin's pursuit of justice until he won his court case.
04:16After he was cured of Hepatitis, Hannibal returned to the ring in 2014,
04:20working for his own company, Great North Wrestling, as well as making appearances elsewhere.
04:24In December 2021, at a world-class match,
04:30Nicholson and referee Lando del Toro.
04:32Following his match with Carlito, Nicholson, as his character Bloodhunter,
04:36was booked to kayfabe attack the ref with a spike,
04:39who would then bleed, roll out of the ring and leave.
04:42What happened instead was Nicholson knelt on del Toro's back
04:44and repeatedly stabbed him with the spike,
04:47severing an artery and causing del Toro to nearly pass out.
04:50Reports are mixed on the true version of the events that led up to and followed this.
04:54Nicholson made a statement of about six different excuses as to what went wrong,
04:58but others claimed he was unhinged, smelling like booze before the match,
05:02and even carried on his attack backstage.
05:04Either way, Nicholson shamefully retired from wrestling for a second time,
05:08and any goodwill he'd garnered with his previous struggles was tarnished forever.
05:12Number 6, Shawn Michaels.
05:13The Heartbreak Kid finished off his perfect career
05:16with a spectacular performance at WrestleMania 26 against The Undertaker.
05:20Following this, and the first of two Hall of Fame inductions,
05:23at WrestleMania 28,
05:24Michaels and Taker assisted Triple H to the back to end the show,
05:28a beautiful moment that, to many, truly showed the end of an era.
05:32Michaels managed to resist ruining this moment for oh so long,
05:35so fans were shocked and largely dismayed in late 2018
05:38when HBK unexpectedly jumped from promoting a match
05:41between Triple H and The Undertaker to being physically involved.
05:45That lucrative Saudi Arabia deal had come knocking,
05:48and it demanded a Brothers of Destruction versus D-Generation X nostalgia match.
05:52At Crown Jewel that November,
05:54Michaels put in an awful performance in what was a no-win situation.
05:58The match was largely agreed to be an unwatchable mess
06:00that demonstrated what Pass Your Prime truly means.
06:04Kane's mask fell off,
06:05Triple H got injured,
06:06and Michaels looked understandably out of his depths.
06:09HBK has since said that he regrets coming out of retirement for,
06:12in his words,
06:13a glorified house show.
06:15At the time,
06:15Saudi Arabian WWE shows were largely inconsequential
06:18and considered non-canonical,
06:20but it doesn't change the fact that Michaels put the boots on,
06:23went to work,
06:24and ruined the sanctity of his previous retirement.
06:26Number 5,
06:27Enzo Amore.
06:28For a time,
06:29Enzo Amore and Big Cass were the most over thing on WWE TV.
06:33Quickly jumping from NXT to the main roster,
06:36Enzo's mic work instantly engaged the audience,
06:39and absolutely everyone in every arena was chanting along
06:42that being seven foot tall was not something that one could teach.
06:46After breaking the tag team up,
06:47as is WWE's want in this era,
06:50Enzo started a successful solo run
06:52that saw him get a hold of the Cruiserweight Championship.
06:54Three months into his second reign, however,
06:56he was suddenly fired from the company.
06:59Allegations appeared that Enzo had sexually assaulted a woman
07:02in a hotel in Phoenix, Arizona.
07:04Amore found himself under investigation,
07:06which was hot water for the company,
07:07and they immediately took action.
07:09Whilst Enzo swore that he had no idea that such a thing existed,
07:12the WWE terminated his contract on the grounds
07:14that they were not informed of the investigation.
07:17Even though said investigation went cold due to insufficient evidence,
07:20Enzo's public perception was further ruined by the man's actions
07:23when he tried to make a scene in the crowd
07:25at Survivor Series 2018 by standing on his seat,
07:28instead of patiently waiting to be
07:30feel at best.
07:40Number four, Sonny.
07:41Tammy Sitch is an example of someone
07:43who is more well known for her struggles out
07:45from 1992 to 2000,
07:49she bounced around various promotions,
07:51most noticeably the WWF for three years.
07:57Described by the company as the original diva,
07:59Sonny was meant to signify a change of roles
08:01for women within the company.
08:03But she was gathering a reputation
08:07for causing issues everywhere she went.
08:09She left the WWF after no showing events
08:11and a PW was interrupted by her being arrested
08:17for violating a restraining order.
08:19Her lone year in WCW
08:21In 2012, Sonny's path of destruction intensified
08:27with being arrested five times over the course of four
08:30on wrestling news sites
08:34and it was terrible that it became normal to hear
08:36that she had yet again received a DUI.
08:41Embroiled in, but the most important thing is
08:43that in March 2022,
08:45her drunken conduct behind the wheel
08:47took the life
08:48in prison.
08:54Number three, Ric Flair.
08:56A lot of younger wrestling fans
08:58probably know Ric Flair as the man who assaults
09:00and gets involved in awful pregnancy stories
09:05that thankfully never resolve.
09:07But for a time in the 1980s,
09:08Ric Flair
09:09Ric Flair's 2008 retirement storyline
09:14match with HBK
09:15and subsequent farewell address
09:17with the stuff that
09:18Ric Flair's 2008 retirement storyline
09:21in a match-of-the-year winning bout
09:22and was lauded for it.
09:2418 months later,
09:25he ruined it all by wrestling
09:27at
09:27Ric Flair's ensuing stint in TNA
09:31was a blemish on his previous swan song
09:34that ended in a second far less impactful
09:36pun unintended
09:37retirement
09:38against long of a 75-year-old man
09:40in a parked vehicle.
09:42Sonny, at the time of writing,
09:43faces up to 26 years in prison.
09:46Number three, Ric Flair.
09:47A lot of younger wrestling fans
09:49probably know Ric Flair as the man
09:50who assaults suit jackets,
09:51enthusiastically yells out a single syllable
09:53and gets involved in awful pregnancy stories
09:56that thankfully never resolve.
09:58But for a time in the 1980s,
09:59Ric Flair represented the height
10:01of wrestling counterculture.
10:03Flair's 2008 retirement storyline,
10:05match with HBK
10:06and subsequent farewell address
10:08were the stuff that any wrestler would dream of.
10:10Flair went out on his own terms
10:12in a match-of-the-year winning bout
10:13and was lauded for it.
10:1518 months later,
10:16he ruined it all by wrestling
10:17at an ROH show against Hulk Hogan.
10:20Most noticeably,
10:21Flair's ensuing stint in TNA
10:22was a blemish on his previous swan song
10:25that ended in a second,
10:26far less impactful,
10:27pun unintended,
10:28retirement against long...
10:31...to the ring
10:33after Jerry Lawler's terrifying
10:35on-air heart attack in 2012.
10:37Here we are a whole decade later
10:38with Flair at 73 years old,
10:41gearing up for one last match
10:42on the independent scene.
10:44His original retirement
10:45seems a world away now,
10:46tarnished either by Flair's boredom
10:48or an unresolved need
10:49to prove himself.
10:51There is no way,
10:52no matter who the opponent is,
10:53that a geriatric Flair
10:55will be able to put on
10:56a good match this summer.
10:57Since his perfect retirement is gone,
10:59the most we can hope for
11:01is something safe.
11:02Number two,
11:03Hulk Hogan.
11:04If you went back to the 1980s
11:06and told a wrestling fan
11:07that there would come a time
11:08that the immortal Hulk Hogan
11:09was so shamed
11:10that the WWE would ignore his existence,
11:12picture them trying to imagine
11:14what it was that he could do so wrong.
11:16Whatever you think of his
11:17twilight years in the ring,
11:18Hulk Hogan ruined his legacy
11:20via some pretty awful comments
11:22made in his personal life,
11:23a very personal part
11:25of his personal life.
11:26In 2015,
11:27a leaked sex tape hit the web
11:29recorded eight years prior
11:30featuring the Hulkster
11:31and this would be cause for alarm regardless.
11:34But Hogan's choice of bedroom conversation
11:36was bizarre and horrid,
11:38expressing his dissatisfaction
11:39that his daughter Brooke
11:40was dating a black man
11:41and admitting that,
11:43in his words,
11:43he was racist to a point.
11:46In the fallout,
11:47WWE removed all references to him
11:49from their website,
11:50his position as judge
11:51on the upcoming series of Tough Enough
11:52was revoked
11:53and his merchandise
11:54and the WWE 2K15 DLC
11:56for the character
11:57was taken down from sale.
11:59Three years later,
12:00WWE began to rebuild the bridge
12:02for Hogan's return to the company
12:04and their history
12:04and he's since hosted Wrestlemania
12:06and had his second
12:07Hall of Fame induction.
12:09The damage to his legacy,
12:10however,
12:10is still felt,
12:12garnering a feeling of unease
12:13whenever he's on WWE TV.
12:16Number one,
12:16Chris Benoit.
12:18There almost certainly
12:18isn't a worse way
12:19to ruin your own legacy
12:21than this
12:21and I want to state now
12:22that that is not meant
12:23to be a light-hearted jab.
12:25Chris Benoit's mental health issues
12:27that led to two murders
12:31and his own suicide
12:32absolutely rocked the sports world
12:34and the effects of it
12:35are still felt to this day.
12:37Unlike Hogan,
12:37able to come back
12:38from his horrible displays
12:39of bigotry,
12:40Benoit remains the wrestling name
12:42that is the furthest
12:43from ever being mentioned again.
12:44In the 15 years
12:45since the incident,
12:46WWE has done their best
12:48to ignore the contributions
12:49of Chris Benoit.
12:50Not just cutting around him
12:52in video packages
12:52that look back on great moments,
12:54but whilst content
12:55that features him
12:56was on the original version
12:57of the WWE Network,
12:58it would often be preceded
12:59by a vague discretion message.
13:01With Peacock
13:02editing controversies
13:03out of WWE programming
13:05on their service,
13:06you have to imagine
13:07Benoit's name
13:07has come up in conversation.
13:09Your own personal opinion
13:10of it may vary.
13:11Some can separate
13:12the art from the artist
13:13and appreciate
13:14Chris's career highlights
13:15culminating in a
13:16WWE Championship win
13:18at WrestleMania 20.
13:19Others, however,
13:20cannot bear to look back
13:21and celebrate a man
13:22who did what he did.
13:23Whatever you personally think,
13:25the WWE will never acknowledge
13:26Chris Benoit
13:27and his ruined legacy
13:28ever again.
13:30And that's the list.
13:31Let us know what you thought
13:32of this video
13:33down in the comments below
13:34and any other wrestlers
13:35that ruined their legacy.
13:37Sadly,
13:37there are plenty more
13:38that we couldn't fit
13:39into this list.
13:40Make sure you like this video,
13:42share it with your friends,
13:42subscribe,
13:43and hit that notification bell.
13:45I've been Si from WhatCulture
13:46and have a good week.
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