Wrestlers Whose Careers Were Sabotaged

The world of pro wrestling is an obviously competitive place — apropos for a sport where the best of the best struts around with a belt made of gold — but sometimes, wrestlers take things so far outside the ring that they destroy the careers of any would-be rivals. Backstage politics have always been an issue in wrestling, often in the form of a more established star who sees potential in a younger, rising star that could knock them out of their main event spot before they're ready to pass the torch.

Unfortunately, reports over the years have suggested that even beloved names like John Cena were not innocent from taking the low road in this regard, as "The Champ" allegedly stepped on quite a number of careers on his way to and at the top. However, Cena was far from the first megastar to trample another in a quest for sustained glory. Naturally, stars burying the careers of their would-be-rivals was far more common in the years before wrestling became more mainstream and corporate, when things like backstage politics were even more commonplace. 

While we might never know if some of the stars who had their careers sabotaged would ever have become as big as those they seemingly threatened, perhaps there are a few such stories that could ultimately end in major comebacks down the road?

Kenny Dykstra is best known for being part of the WWE stable The Spirit Squad, which consisted of five members in total, including Dolph Ziggler, who went on to become an actual legitimate star in the promotion. During Dykstra's run with the stable, he even captured the World Tag Team Championship on one occasion, but the group would be dismantled after they engaged in a feud with D-Generation X. Shortly thereafter, Dykstra was repackaged as well as Ziggler, but unlike his former Spirit Squad teammate, his career in WWE floundered.

Around the time of his repackaging, Dykstra was dating Mickie James, but contemporary reports allege he found out that James was having an affair with none other than John Cena. According to Dykstra, Cena not only stole his girlfriend, but was also responsible for his WWE career falling off, and his eventual release.

Interestingly, according to Dykstra, there were plans for him to have an Intercontinental Championship run, which might have put him on a trajectory similar to Ziggler. Despite all the drama that allegedly happened around his release, Dykstra did return to WWE alongside fellow Spirit Squad member, Mike Mondo, in 2016 to have a brief feud with Ziggler. Additionally, in 2021, Dykstra returned to WWE again, but this time as a backstage producer.

Today, Mickie James is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of her generation, with successful runs outside of WWE in both TNA and NWA. James first gained attention in WWE when she portrayed an obsessed fan of Trish Stratus, before eventually becoming her own character. Later in her career, James was often paired with John Cena in backstage segments, and the two became fan favorites. However, as aforementioned, their onscreen coupling quickly bled into real life, as the two began dating. While it's commonly believed that the relationship was an affair, James didn't explicitly describe it as such during an interview with Lillian Garcia on "AfterBuzz TV" that saw her briefly touch on the situation.

"We're all adults, and you know, obviously this business is what it is. We've all had our share of relationships fail. And I think that being adults and being professional allows us, you know hopefully the mind frame of going like, you know it's such a tight thing."

According to reports, the affair led to James' release from WWE, which Dykstra has naturally corroborated. In a slew of social media posts, Dykstra claimed that Cena's affair with James led to him being moved to "WWE SmackDown," jobbed out, and released, while James ultimately didn't get the relationship she wanted with Cena. According to Dykstra, James subsequently "flipped out" backstage, leading to her WWE release not too long after.

WWE Hall of Famer Vader was a major player at the height of his career, and many expected him to become a huge star in WWE, but unfortunately for the veteran, he ran afoul of Shawn Michaels. While he's a highly respected figure in wrestling today by both his peers and fans, in the '90s Michaels was known to leverage his status over anyone he didn't like, and in the case of Vader, buried the veteran before he could truly shine in WWE. During an interview with "YouShoot," Jim Cornette looked back on the issues between the two legends, and gave his take on why Michaels ended up disliking Vader.

"[Vader] was a very — he's a big, rough, mean, you know, former pro football player, and he was a stiff, hard hitting guy." Unfortunately for Michaels, this was directly against what he was used to, according to Cornette. "And Shawn Michaels is used to everybody, or was used to everybody catering to him, and also, was used to people working with him a lot lighter." Due to this, Vader's roughhouse approach in his matches with Michaels is largely believed to be what led to the issues between them. 

Interestingly, during an interview on "Hannibal TV" not too long before his passing, Vader only had good things to say about Michaels. "The matches [Shawn and I] had were excellent. They just weren't good; they were excellent. With my size differential, we could make them feel for us, and when we popped, they came because the fans liked Shawn. He was a great champion."

Billed as the "Ninth Wonder of the World," Chyna was truly a standout talent during the Attitude Era, and is considered by many to have been a trailblazer who paved the way for women's wrestling. Starting off as the muscle for D-Generation X, Chyna quickly developed her presence and persona, capturing the Intercontinental and Women's Championships.

Her time spent with DX coincided with a real-life romantic relationship occurring between Chyna and Triple H. Unfortunately for the star, "The Game" ended up having an affair with Stephanie McMahon, subsequently ending their relationship. According to many, this led to Chyna acting up backstage, and her eventual release.

During a 2023 episode of his "Grilling JR" podcast, Jim Ross looked back at the unfortunate circumstances of the fallout, and that this ended up souring things between her and the promotion when she reached the point of negotiating a deal for her next contract. "I think her conduct and her mood and attitude quickly eliminated her from consideration for another contract." Ross additionally explained that Chyna allegedly became unstable, which led to WWE not wanting to risk having her in the locker room going forward.

When most fans hear the name "The British Bulldog," they instantly think about Davey Boy Smith, who is best known for his WWE and WCW tenures, and association with the Hart family both in the ring and in real life. However, as longtime fans might recall, Smith was once one half of a tag team known as "The British Bulldogs" alongside his older cousin, The Dynamite Kid.

Together, the two had a moderately successful run in WWE during the '80s, and they eventually took their talent to Stampede Wrestling leading into the '90s. However, in late 1990, Smith broke up the tag team and took the "British Bulldog" name with him back to WWE, since he trademarked the name while the two were still signed to the promotion. Smith then made sure that every promotion knew that he was the only "British Bulldog," which prevented Dynamite Kid from using the name elsewhere. Either way, steroid usage caught up to him, resulting in his forced retirement in 1991.

While this version of the story paints Smith as the villain, according to Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid was the bad influence all along. "I think, unfortunately, Davey was kind of a naïve, innocent kind of guy. He did become a little bit corrupted by Dynamite. It was a very hard edge, kind of; he was a guy who always had a chip on his shoulder," Hart said. "Davey was very impressionable, and Dynamite made a really bad impression."

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat had all the makings of a major star, and would arguably be a big player today if his career took place in the modern era of pro wrestling. However, despite being a fan favorite, Steamboat never made it past WWE's upper mid-card, even though he's regarded as a legend of the industry today.

Steamboat's WrestleMania 3 match against Randy Savage positioned him as one of the biggest babyfaces in WWE at the time. However, according to lore, "The Dragon" wanted to take some time off to be with his wife, as she was pregnant at the time, which caused some friction between him and Vince McMahon, who wanted Steambopat on the road. Due to this, he quickly lost all momentum, and even when he returned to the promotion later after a run with the NWA World Championship, he never made it beyond the mid-card.

According to Steamboat during an interview with "Ring Rust Radio," he made efforts to change up his gimmick upon returning to WWE in 1991, but both McMahon and Pat Patterson shot him down. "I was a bit disgruntled because I wanted to be able to work as a heel. At that time, I had been in the business I was approaching around 17 years, and I knew I was getting into the twilight of my career, and I just wanted to be able to experience working on the dark side. (...) Looking back at it now, I'm happy and pleased that they did talk me out of it and not allow it."

Today, CM Punk seems to be more comfortable than ever in WWE, and has had a high-profile feud with Drew McIntyre ever since Royal Rumble, where the "Scottish Psychopath" injured him. Punk often sits down for interviews these days wherein he praises WWE, and seems to be nothing but excited for his future in the promotion.

However, more than ten years ago, things between Punk and WWE were far from good on the business end of things, but on the creative side, things weren't any better. In 2011, Punk entered into a feud with then part-timer Triple H, who was in the final third of his career. Despite this, "The Game" didn't give Punk any quarter, and instead came out on top in their feud at Night of Champions 2011. The real life animosity this created ended up being one of the reasons why Punk left the promotion in 2014, when he additionally found out that he'd yet again face Triple H at WrestleMania 30.

During this year's Clash at the Castle post-show media scrum, Triple H touched upon the animosity between him and Punk back in the day. "We saw eye-to-eye [back then], but it was angry eye-to-eye. It was opposition eye-to-eye." He then claimed he's happy to have Punk back in WWE, and that he sees the potential in "The Second City Saint" today that he wanted to see back in 2014. "I always knew the Phil Brooks that I see today was inside there. He just couldn't express it in the right way."

With a United States Championship reign and Money in the Bank victory, Mr. Kennedy seemed poised for a major run in the promotion, unfortunately his issues with both Randy Orton and John Cena — two of the biggest names in WWE at the time — led to his release.

Orton reportedly filed a complaint against Kennedy after the star was allegedly too reckless during their match, and hurt the "Legend Killer." Additionally, Orton convinced Cena to chime in on the complaint, and with two of the biggest stars wanting him gone, Kennedy was quickly released.

Appearing on "The A2theK Wrestling Show" last year, Kennedy admitted that he ultimately got himself fired, and that he has since spoken to Orton about what happened years ago. "I was very bitter and upset for a few years. And that resentment was directed at the wrong place ,and it should have been directed back at me. Because had I been doing all the right things, I would have never been in a position where one person's word could have any effect on my career." Speaking with the "Two Man Power Trip" podcast, Kennedy also noted that he hadn't spoken to Cena about their issues at the time. 

Alex Riley got his start in the WWE system with FCW, where he even captured the Florida Heavyweight Championship before joining Season 2 of "WWE NXT" and being paired with The Miz. Alongside Miz, Riley seemed to have a promising trajectory with the promotion, especially once he was brought onto the main roster. Unfortunately for Riley, his issues with John Cena ruined what could have been a successful WWE career. During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Riley commented on the issues between him and Cena.

"I think it came down to, at the end, two men just not liking each other. As sad as that is, it had an impact on my career because he is who he is. I just happened to be in a situation where, right from the start, it was just ... he didn't like me." Riley claims he tried to work hard and fit in better in the locker room, but it seemed like some of the other wrestlers had already taken Cena's side.

"There was one mistake that either I made, or he made, where we got really crossed. And we kind of got into a little bit of an argument." Riley says he immediately apologized to Cena after the aforementioned argument, but it might have been too late. "Again, it was two grown men that just didn't see eye-to-eye at the time. I'm not holding any grudges or anything like that. I certainly don't want it hanging over my neck for the rest of my life."

This wouldn't be a list of career sabotages without listing the infamous "Montreal Screwjob." By now, most fans are very familiar with the Survivor Series 1997 match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, which ended up being a major statement toward Hart as well as WCW. Vince McMahon has always claimed he acted in order to protect his promotion from Hart potentially taking the WWE Championship with him to WCW after his deal ended that night, and desecrating it on WCW television, while "The Hitman" claims that was never the plan, and he simply didn't want to lose in Montreal. Either way, Hart wasn't clued into his loss, and Michaels ended up walking away with the gold.

During an appearance on the "MMA Hour" in 2022, Michaels looked back at the controversy, and whether or not he's been able to repair his relationship with Hart. "When everything is said and done, that was hard on both of us," Michaels said. "It's like an out of body experience. I have nothing in common with the person that I was then. (...) Bret and I always talk about it — there was a friendship there before. There really was. And to have damaged that ... and to have wanted to mend it for so many years, (...) we could never get it done."

Unfortunately for Hart, his career would never get back to the same level he experienced in WWE, largely due to the way WCW booked him and his infamous Starrcade 1999 match with Bill Goldberg, which prematurely ended his career.