Those Times Wrestlers Dodged Career-Killing Bullets

In hindsight, you can usually pinpoint the exact moment a once-promising wrestler's career was completely killed. Take that time Tough Enough star Daniel Puder decided it would be a wonderful idea to shoot on Kurt Angle on SmackDown back in 2004. 

Despite eventually winning that competition, Puder never really recovered in the wake of p*ss*ng off the Olympic gold medalist that night, ultimately being disturbingly hazed by Angle's annoyed colleagues Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Hardcore Holly at the 2005 Royal Rumble. He would then be released later that year.

However, there have also been a number of other moments over the years that could have resulted in various performers' careers similarly being destroyed, but the following collection of eventual WWE Champions and game-changers, luckily, managed to dodge those bullets in the end.

Oh, how different things could have been for future EVPs, tag team legends, and WrestleMania main eventers, had they signed contracts at specific times, been turned into a set of silly clowns, or joined one of the most disappointing factions of all time.

Maybe they would have still found a way to succeed and become some of the biggest stars in the business. 

Or perhaps their careers would have been annihilated there and then...

On the back of a hell of an 11-year spell under the TNA/Impact banner, 'The Phenomenal' AJ Styles was presented with two options in late 2013.

Stay with the company he'd called home for over a decade, which would mean accepting a reported 60% paycut - though Styles himself would later note to Title Match Wrestling that "saying 60 percent is being generous."

Or bet on himself and explore the rest of the wrestling business.

Styles would refuse that disappointing offer in the end, and eventually end up going on to even bigger and better things in the likes of NJPW and WWE, winning both the IWGP Heavyweight and WWE Championships in the years that followed.

The TNA brand wasn't exactly a hot property at the time of Styles' exit and only continued to lose more momentum, with the likes of Sting, Christopher Daniels, Kazarian and more departing not long after Styles.

Had Styles accepted that rather disrespectful offer, or TNA just agreed to give him the same money he was already earning - something Styles has openly admitted would have led to him staying put - it's hard to imagine this last decade of his career being anywhere near as phenomenal or memorable as it ultimately was. 

He'd still be the same TNA legend he is today, of course. But one whose career may have suffered by sticking around during one of the company's weakest periods.