10 Huge Bust-Ups Between Wrestlers And Bookers
Jobs for the boys.
An old trend has re-emerged in the wake of renewed competition.
With the power balance between worker and management restored to a degree - WWE's talent now have the option to make significant money elsewhere, and no longer have to accept dire nor directionless creative - various reports have surfaced of several of those talents taking their ball and going home. Or, to use the correct terminology beyond WWE's bubble, exercising their legal right as independent contractors, in response to which WWE tells them to f*ck off because they have exponentially more resources. The Young Bucks cash cannon has more in the chamber than the smoking gun as it pertains to the U.S. legal system.
Disputes have ranged from polite to almost comical. Luke Harper attempted to escape by penning a heartfelt "It's not you, it's me" letter on Twitter. WWE simply appeared offline to Harper on MSN Messenger. The Revival were so hot that they couldn't even wait to remove their gear. Taynara Conti up and walked, possibly taking the old J E, haha, double F route by holding NXT up for money.
Where's the rage? The lawsuits? The disastrous mainstream press coverage?!
This is one area in which wrestling was better "back in the day"...
10. Steve Austin Vs. Vince McMahon
In 2002, with their relationship fraught - Steve Austin loathed the new creative direction Vince McMahon oversaw, which triggered Vince's counterproductive instincts to punish disobedient talent - a King Of The Ring qualifying match was set for the June 10 RAW. To spite Austin's infamous comments on Byte This - think WWE Backstage, only candid - McMahon booked him to lose to the unstoppable Brock Lesnar, on free TV, with no build.
"Bottom line is that everything sucks," Austin seethed. "I think the writing has been pretty substandard. I'll go one better than that - it's been piss-poor. Creative can get a hell of a lot better than it is," Austin continued. Typical. There's one set of rules for an authoritative megastar, and another for snarky content producers.
Austin refused to do the job. He felt it would diminish his aura and drawing power, and that a shock, clean job would undermine the box office when the match made pay-per-view. McMahon, and this is sobering, felt people would simply forget. Austin walked out and was given the dreaded "Took his ball" treatment.
Who was in the right?
That creative direction sucked, so Austin.
Less facetiously, the Lesnar push was so effective as a graduating blitzkrieg that a win over Austin - Stone Cold Steve Austin - may have peaked it before the money was made at SummerSlam.