10 Wrestlers Who Managed To Get Themselves Out Of Terrible Ideas

"Yeah, that could work, or..."

Shane McMahon Brock Lesnar
WWE.com

Sometimes, it may seem like pro wrestlers - who go out on TV and rely on their own abilities to tell a story - are the masters of their destinies. Unfortunately, that's not always true. Even more than themselves, wrestlers often have to rely on bookers, writers, and creative teams to make sure that they're presented in a manner that helps, not hinders, their careers.

The wrong creative touch can truly kill the momentum of someone with potential. Take Matt Morgan, a seven-foot-tall prospect who debuted in 2005 as the stuttering bodyguard of Carlito. Morgan's character wasn't meant to draw attention to people with speech issues or give them representation on WWE TV - it was simply played as a joke to make Vince McMahon laugh, and it failed miserably. Morgan was gone before long.

Sometimes, though, wrestlers have managed to avoid horrible ideas with some deft maneuvering. It's not easy - the men and women who refuse to go along with creative's plans are often seen as not being team players, and they end up in a situation where they might be jeopardizing their careers. Still, if done the right way, speaking up can save a wrestler from falling flat on his or her face in front of millions of viewers.

Here are 10 wrestlers who managed to get themselves out of terrible ideas...

10. Brock Lesnar

Shane McMahon Brock Lesnar
WWE.com

Remember last year's SummerSlam event? If not, that's okay - apart from the John Cena versus AJ Styles match, it wasn't very memorable. In any event, the show-closing angle - after Brock Lesnar gave Randy Orton a concussion pretty much with the company's blessing - saw Lesnar lay out Smackdown commissioner Shane McMahon with an F5.

That was supposed to lead to a WrestleMania 33 match between Lesnar and Shane. Those plans only changed when Goldberg agreed to work a program with "The Beast" through WrestleMania, meaning that Goldberg picked up the win at Survivor Series so Lesnar could get it back at 'Mania.

Apparently, though, that wasn't the only thing that put off the match. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Brock Lesnar refused to wrestle Shane at the show of shows - he was "adamant" about it and made his position very clear to management. Lesnar's gain was AJ Styles's loss, though, as "The Phenomenal One" had to drag Shane to something watchable instead.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013