- 1 week ago
In professional wrestling, backstage influence can be more powerful than fan support. This video explores six wrestlers who were masters of the political game but struggled to translate that power into box office success.
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00:00From vipers who may or may not have used their fangs for bad behind the scenes,
00:06to heartbreak kids who weren't afraid to throw their toys out of the pram.
00:11This lot could all be classed as some of wrestling's most famous, er, politicians,
00:16but also not exactly folks you'd go out of your way to spend money on.
00:20With that in mind, I am Gareth, this is WhatCulture Wrestling,
00:24and here are six backstage wrestling politicians who never drew a dime.
00:316. Randy Orton
00:32Randy Orton looked so much like a star, in Vince McMahon's eyes,
00:37that he was going to be presented and coddled like one,
00:41even if the metrics didn't indicate that he was much of a star at all.
00:45WWE's monopoly distorted the idea of draws and stars forever.
00:50In effect, provided they didn't pull alarmingly low numbers or destroy the baseline,
00:56a wrestler could be marketed as a star, and most fans would simply accept it.
01:01How could Randy Orton not be a star?
01:04He's headlined countless premium live events and won 14 world titles.
01:09Oh, it just screams star.
01:11Now, Randy Orton wasn't much of a politician, granted.
01:15His bad reputation in wrestling mostly derives from his history of obnoxious,
01:20disrespectful behaviour and angry, abusive outbursts.
01:24He was a vandal, an unprofessional nightmare,
01:27an impulsive liability in front of fans.
01:30You've all heard the stories.
01:31He's always held a degree of influence, though,
01:33and has seemingly wielded it on occasion.
01:36He was allegedly instrumental in the immediate firing of Mr. Kennedy.
01:41Kennedy.
01:42Orton was the recipient of a scary, botched backdrop suplex on the May 25th, 2009 Raw.
01:49And Kofi Kingston might not have been demoted to the midcard
01:51had Orton not screamed that he was stupid, stupid, stupid over and over again
01:56in a match held a year later.
01:58Yep, you've all seen that clip, too.
01:59Orton, as one of the most decorated world champions in history,
02:03was pushed heavily by WWE for longer than most wrestlers, well, ever.
02:09In 2026, he is more over than ever,
02:13without really being involved in the main event picture up until the road to WrestleMania this year.
02:17But this wasn't always the case.
02:20WWE's version of events clashed with reality.
02:23As part of this relentless initiative,
02:25Orton was cast as the top babyface on SmackDown throughout 2011.
02:30He dropped the World Heavyweight title to Mark Henry at Night of Champions on September 18th.
02:35And the week prior to the switch, WWE recorded its worst weekend house show business of the year.
02:42Attendance then rebounded slightly, with Henry on top.
02:45The September 23rd SmackDown drew the highest rating in months.
02:49It was 3.26 million.
02:51But this was no anomaly.
02:53Henry was a consistent TV draw.
02:56SmackDown frequently exceeded 2 million viewers during his reign.
02:59Well, that had only happened twice between WrestleMania and Night of Champions.
03:03As of early September 2024, a WWE NXT show for which Randy Orton was advertised,
03:10set to emanate from the Enterprise Center in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri,
03:15had sold just 2,104 tickets before it was hastily moved to the far smaller The Factory at The District
03:22in Chesterfield.
03:23As difficult to challenge as it definitely was for Orton to draw a big crowd under the NXT branding,
03:30he still failed.
03:31Put it this way, folks, Randy Orton is what happens when you're able to control the narrative.
03:36And build a superstar from the ground up and all that, of course.
03:39Oh, and speaking of that line.
03:40Number 5, JBL.
03:42With his light speed push, John Bradshaw Layfield, at least until the crowning of Jinder Mahal,
03:48was the most inexplicable WWE Champion ever.
03:51Unlike Mahal, who afforded absolutely nothing, JBL had a few things going for him, at least.
03:58While his matches were largely terrible, he could deliver the required main event level drama
04:05when turning blood effects on against Eddie Guerrero and John Cena.
04:10All the red stuff.
04:11If the content of his promos was cheap and ugly, the delivery was fantastic.
04:17He had a great, nasty bellow in him.
04:20He mastered the art of playing the blowhard who thinks he knows what he's talking about
04:24because he can shout the loudest.
04:26Also, what a finisher, by the way.
04:28By default, even his worst matches as champion, those that resembled elongated 1998 mid-card
04:34bouts, had a great ending.
04:37Bang!
04:38He took their damn heads off.
04:40JBL was not a draw, though.
04:43The best thing you can say about him is that his presence felt less surreal as he grew into
04:48the role.
04:48But yeah, he still wasn't a draw.
04:50TV ratings patterns didn't budge when Eddie Guerrero dropped the title to him.
04:55And JBL's first brand-exclusive pay-per-view main event against The Undertaker at No Mercy
05:002004 drew 140,000 domestic buys.
05:04That number is pretty pathetic.
05:07The worst since In Your House Ground Zero, which had 136,000 back in September 1997.
05:13Look, there are different ways of playing the political game, of course.
05:17JBL wasn't known for undermining potential locker room threats, nor was he accused of
05:22entering deliberately sub-par performances that would reflect poorly on his opponents.
05:27Probably because nobody would be able to tell the difference.
05:29JBL, however, was known as a career-long suck-up and yes-man.
05:34He took it upon himself to ingratiate himself with the Upper Management Boys Club by terrorizing
05:40the greener lockers in the dressing room.
05:42JBL's job, and he did it allegedly through the threat of sexual assault, was to weed out
05:48the prima donnas.
05:49JBL was the guy who curated the desired atmosphere of fear.
05:54A brutal and sadistic office henchman.
05:57JBL was the sycophant who endures in political circles longer than the people who want to do
06:03good.
06:03Right, time for a question and a bit of positivity in an otherwise quite negative list.
06:07JBL isn't what you class as one of WWE's greatest world champions, is he?
06:12But I want to know, right now, who you feel is one of the more underrated out there.
06:16Let me know in the comments down below.
06:18Number 4, Jeff Jarrett
06:20Triple H is not included on this list, but he is a dishonorable mention.
06:24He was the ultimate wrestling politician, so he is as well qualified for inclusion in
06:30this list as, well, Vince McMahon is for hell.
06:33Legitimising his case further, Triple H was nowhere near a draw big enough to warrant the
06:39longest main event push in WWE history.
06:42However, in 2005, Triple H set a WrestleMania pay-per-view buy record, outside of a boom
06:47period, because people wanted to see him lose a world title.
06:51He did the same thing for B-level pay-per-views too, until the never-to-be-repeated pipe dream
06:55that was Invasion drew 775,000 buys.
06:59Back last 2000 broke the record for a non-Big 4 event, with a staggering 650,000.
07:06That is a lot of buys.
07:08WrestleMania 19 didn't even do that well.
07:10Now, yes, you can argue that The Rock drew that number, not that he would have pulled
07:14it with Mr. Ass mind, but you can't argue with those results.
07:18Jeff Jarrett, in his relentless NWA World Champion era, was nicknamed Triple J.
07:24He earned it, because like Triple H allegedly did, Jarrett used his stroke to rip and tear
07:31through the locker room.
07:32Dixie Carter presided over the company that Vince Russo booked, but really, Jeff Jarrett
07:37ran it.
07:38Jeff Jarrett always thought he was great enough to main event, jumping around the 1990s to
07:43achieve that goal.
07:44And you can half see why.
07:45He was one of the best rookies ever when he broke out, almost in the Kurt Angle class.
07:50And he's considered one of the most solid and safest pros ever.
07:54But he wasn't very big.
07:56And he wasn't on the level of smaller peers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.
08:01I mean, who was though, to be honest?
08:02And when Jeff Jarrett did get the opportunity, he became a meme for not drawing.
08:07He didn't draw in WCW, but then again, nobody did.
08:10Even wrestlers with a strong history of drawing prowess, like Sting and Goldberg, were rendered
08:15valueless in 1999 and beyond.
08:18Also, early adopters of TNA were vehement in their disgust of Jarrett's constant quest
08:23for heat and bored of his ceaseless crowd brawl matches.
08:28And Jarrett, no stranger to the NWA title either side of it, underwent his own lengthy reign
08:33of terror between June 2nd, 2004 and May 15th, 2005.
08:38Ah, Papa H would be proud.
08:40Fans were particularly angry when Jarrett didn't drop the title to Monty Brown at Final Resolution
08:4505.
08:46That was the moment that Jarrett could no longer justify his spot as some sort of gatekeeping
08:51need.
08:52Who cares if Monty wasn't ready?
08:54The fans believed in him.
08:55And if he wasn't, well, you switched the title back.
08:58Simple as that.
08:59Jarrett's loss to Sting at Bound for Glory 2006 drew between 55 and 60,000 buys.
09:05That is some number when you consider how difficult it is to do anything notable in
09:08the shadow of post-2001 WWE.
09:11Jeff, however, didn't have to bring fans into the Impact Zone, entry for which was free
09:16with the price of admission to Universal Studios.
09:18So it's literally impossible to determine whether he was a draw or not.
09:22This isn't helped by the fact that they used to make memes about how little the Impact
09:27ratings changed week to week.
09:29Jarrett legitimized TNA, which is sort of oxymoronic, but you get the meaning.
09:35He didn't draw fans to it as a talismanic top star or anything, but while he does deserve
09:40inclusion here, conversely, he probably deserves more plaudits in retrospect.
09:44Before we go any further today, make sure to give that subscribe button right down below
09:49a smash if you haven't already.
09:51I'm waiting.
09:52Smash it.
09:53Is it smashed?
09:54Alright, carry on.
09:55Number 3, Shawn Michaels.
09:57Shawn Michaels thought nothing of burying his peers in the pro wrestling brotherhood if
10:02it meant that he could eliminate any threats to his main event position.
10:06He was also so self-interested that his nose would stream and his red eyes would itch whenever
10:11he came into contact with almost losing a title, the poor thing.
10:15He felt something coming on when it was time for the dudes with attitudes to drop the WWF
10:19Tag Team Championships.
10:20In reality, Diesel was days away from winning the WWE title.
10:25He could hardly lose a lesser belt to Sparky Plug.
10:29But if you track Shawn's first singles run between 1992 and 1998, you'll note many more
10:35good excuses.
10:37In fact, it apparently took The Undertaker threatening to break Shawn's ass in half
10:41for him to finally do a proper job in a title match for the next Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania
10:4514.
10:46Shawn would later publicly embarrass the actual Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam 2005 in revenge for
10:51doing the job.
10:53Shawn undermined Vader at SummerSlam 1996, throwing a mid-match conniption fit over a timing
10:59error.
11:00Shawn, and this was horrific even by the standards of wrestling politics, but is rarely talked about
11:05since it was overshadowed by the Montreal Screwjob, petitioned to win the European title
11:09from Davey Boy Smith at one night only.
11:12The Bulldog had vowed to win it in honour of his dying sister.
11:15Davey probably shouldn't have talked so adamantly in the build, even if he was set to win the
11:20match originally.
11:21But it was still an awful thing to do on Shawn's part.
11:25He didn't need the lowly tertiary belt, and it meant nothing to him.
11:29He dropped it to Triple H in a sham comedy match that the DX buddies only pretended to wrestle
11:34in.
11:35So how did Michaels get away with it?
11:37I mean, it's not as if Shawn was a box office draw.
11:39If anything, the opposite was true.
11:41Shawn had one exhibit to justify his ego.
11:45On March 17th, 1996, he teamed with Diesel in a match against Bret Hart and The Undertaker.
11:51They're both set a record-high house show gate and sold out Madison Square Garden.
11:56This was the first non-pay-per-view sellout since the mid-1980s.
12:01Thought to be a good omen ahead of his WWF title win at WrestleMania XII, fate instead told
12:07him to suck it.
12:08Shawn was a poor draw.
12:11His main event against Vader at SummerSlam was a bloody disaster, drawing just 157,000 buys.
12:17This was down 30% from SummerSlam 1995.
12:21And Mabel headlined that show.
12:23Yep, Mabel.
12:241997 was meant to be bigger than most Royal Rumble shows.
12:28And in a way, it was.
12:30On top of the titular attraction, Shawn Michaels was going to win his WWF title back from Psycho
12:35Sid in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
12:38The 60,000-plus attendance was very much inflated.
12:4320,000 of the 48,000 who actually paid did so using $5 to $7 coupons with Taco Bell orders.
12:52And the show was down 27% from Royal Rumble 1996 on pay-per-view.
12:57In what Bret Hart might deem a karmic twist of fate.
13:01Shawn went on indefinite hiatus as soon as the WWF exploded in popularity at WrestleMania XIV.
13:06And returned in 2002 unable to arrest the tumbling downfall.
13:11Break your heart.
13:11Number 2, the Hurt Syndicate.
13:14Shelton Benjamin is almost the definition of a solid hand.
13:18Look, standards were lower in the 2000s.
13:20WWE was the only major operation in the United States.
13:24By which time, Vince McMahon had lost both the ability and the necessity to build new stars.
13:30Fans projected top star potential onto many wrestlers who were very good but not intangibly great.
13:36Because there were so few options.
13:39Benjamin was not especially charismatic and could not really talk.
13:43But he had a banger in him at a time when the banger was still rare and rather special.
13:48Impressive longevity.
13:50Meant to be a pretty swell guy.
13:52But he was not and is not a pro wrestling star.
13:55Bobby Lashley is.
13:57At least to a further extent.
14:00When he won the WWE title on the March 1st, 2021 Monday Night Raw, he initially proved a modest ratings
14:06hit with the male 18-34 demographic.
14:09But his YouTube clips sometimes ranked number 5 from that given week's episode of Raw, which was hardly great for
14:16the WWE champion.
14:17Lashley held the belt for 196 days in 2021.
14:21The year in which AEW Dynamite for one hot summer closed the gap.
14:25Lashley did not hemorrhage viewers and was not exactly responsible for Vince McMahon's weekly creative atrocities.
14:32But you can't call him a great draw either.
14:34Even though some of his quarter hours yielded standout numbers compared to the rest of the show.
14:39Lashley's big title loss to Big E on September 13th, which only happened as a result of Dynamite's narrow key
14:46demo win the week prior, was not a draw.
14:49In fact, Dynamite eked past the Raw demo number again.
14:53Dynamite got 0.44 and Raw got 0.43.
14:56A once-in-an-era set of circumstances informed this aberration.
15:00And the inaugural Monday Night Football show annihilated Raw.
15:04But the number was still really bad, even with that context in mind.
15:08Oh, and MVP was never a big draw either.
15:10Collectively, the Hurt Business were pushed big on Raw in 2020 when WWE reached the bottom.
15:16The ratings had never been worse.
15:18The pandemic hardly helped, granted.
15:20I mean, fans were sympathetic.
15:22The booking was typically abysmal, which was a particular shame since the stable looked so much like stars.
15:29Hardcore fans bemoaned the missed opportunity on seemingly every other Reddit thread.
15:34MVP also sensed that the Hurt Business boasted huge potential.
15:38He constantly questioned why the stable was de-emphasized and broken up.
15:42He could not let it go.
15:43So much so that the faction, minus Cedric Alexander, made its way to AEW as the Hurt Syndicate in 2024.
15:50The early run was awesome, too.
15:52They picked up the coolest possible synonym for the trademarked business.
15:56Shelton Benjamin was booked very strong early, thus avoiding the designated jobber stigma.
16:01And the world tag team title win over Private Party was a chest-pounding, elongated squash.
16:07At some point, though, the idea that the Hurt Syndicate should be a big deal was conflated.
16:13Without boosting business in any appreciable way, dreaded stories followed the Hurt Syndicate around.
16:18Bobby Lashley vs. Swerve Strickland didn't get a rematch.
16:22MJF was booted from the group in such a way that abruptly was a synonym for suspiciously.
16:28Dave Meltzer subsequently reported that an unnamed core member did not want MJF involved.
16:33Various reports buried MVP in his Miro-style ex-WB guy ego.
16:39If this was overstated, and MVP is said to be very generous with advice, it must be said,
16:44he did not help himself by constantly talking over his rivals and even his stablemates in awkward promo segments.
16:51If all this chat was inconclusive, the finish to the world tag team title three-way at Forbidden Door was
16:58almost incontrovertible.
17:01Brodido dethroned the Syndicate in a three-way match by pinning FTR.
17:06The holders did a 1990s-style non-job.
17:09It didn't matter much in the end, since fans loved Brodido regardless, but come on!
17:14That's as sly as it gets, right?
17:16Oh, and on the subject of that ex-WB guy ego...
17:19Number 1. The Modern Ex-WWE Club
17:22Some dishonourable mentions to complete the list.
17:25WWE is incredible at brainwashing.
17:29It takes some fans a while to look past the production values of a new company,
17:34when they first grow angry at WWE's booking and wish to seek out an alternative.
17:38How good can it be, really?
17:40The word of mouth is strong and the critics rave about it, but it looks like crap.
17:44Some WWE fans never make that breach.
17:47They either stick with WWE, even if passively, or they end their journey with wrestling there and then.
17:53Which is quite sad, really.
17:54WWE has, for years, marketed itself as the recognised global leader.
17:59Hell, at this point, WrestleMania is more important than money to the vast majority of pro wrestlers,
18:04who are almost more susceptible to this level of conditioning.
18:08Nixon Newell, allegedly, was unhappy with a 2025 AW Collision booking.
18:13So much so that she and tag team partner Miranda Elisey walked out of the taping after trying,
18:19and apparently failing, to finagle their way into getting more minutes.
18:23Oh yeah, and just so we're clear, the title does not specify whether the wrestlers were any good at playing
18:28politics.
18:29Malakai Black, again, this is all alleged, you will have to take the professional wrestler's word for it,
18:34was said to not have enjoyed getting pinned.
18:37It must be nothing more than a coincidence that Malakai took the pin on a once-per-year basis.
18:43Yeah.
18:43Similarly, Miro was said to have the dreaded,
18:46I've been in WWE,
18:48I refuse to job in this rinky-dink mud show attitude too.
18:53Which might explain why he was only cleanly defeated by Sammy Guevara and Bryan Danielson in singles action.
18:59Probably just a coincidence again though, right?
19:02Miro actually did well as TNT champion, quarter hours wise,
19:06but he allegedly acted like Andre the Giant under Vince McMahon Sr.
19:10If those alleged rumours are to be believed,
19:13both men had their phones on silence when asked to do a job.
19:17Again though, those near immaculate win-loss records,
19:21suspicious for two wrestlers never considered pay-per-view headliners,
19:25are probably just coincidental?
19:28Yeah, completely coincidental.
19:31And guess what?
19:32There is more where this sort of fantastic wrestling stuff came from, my friend.
19:36Click on this 121 secret backstage stories WWE doesn't want you to know video next.
19:42Oh, it's a biggie, but you can never have too much of a good thing, right?
19:45I'm sure that's the saying.
19:46Yep, that's what I'm going with.
19:48Have a great day.
19:48See you later.
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