10 Wrestlers Who Blamed Themselves For Failing In WWE
Burying their former employers on a podcast? Nah, not these guys...
Wrestling podcasts are the new video shoot interviews.
It has almost become a rite of passage for released wrestlers to jump on a show with loaded guns after leaving WWE, with Talk is Jericho a particularly popular platform. The tag team formerly known as The Revival became the latest to take this route on 6 May 2020. Though not as spicy as Jon Moxley and Brodie Lee's Jericho interviews, they criticised WWE's general handling of tag wrestling without truly getting the knives out, though The Revolt weren't shy in sharing their belief that the promotion doesn't give talent enough opportunities to shine.
Compared to Moxley and Lee, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler took the high road. This is rare in the modern era. The tendency is for high-profile releases to go scorched earth on WWE, creating boatloads of clickable headlines but enhancing the ill will, which, ultimately, does little for anybody. Whether justified or not, such blame-throwing must be as cathartic for the performer as it can be fun for the listener. Rarely is it the most responsible option, though.
Found within are those who took the opposite approach, using failure as an opportunity for self-reflection and ownership, whether that meant their WWE release or simply flubbing a promo...
10. Zack Ryder
The latest wrestler to pin the blame for his WWE failings solely on himself is Zack Ryder, who spoke to SiriusXM's Busted Open Radio on 4 May 2020.
When asked about being shunted down the card almost as quickly as he'd ascended through his Z! True Long Island Story series, Zack said he should have spoken up for himself but was "so young, so naive," and accepted everything that was happening as "part of the plan." Remember: this guy had his kayfabe girlfriend poached from him by John Cena on the air while Kane rolled his wheelchair off the goddamn stage. It was a proper, old-school relegation in every sense, as the organic hype Ryder had built for himself hit the shredding machine.
"I wasn't mature enough to knock on the boss' door and say 'I'm one of the top merch sellers, I've been busting my ass... so why is this happening?'" Ryder said. "So I blame nobody but myself for what went down there."
On top of this, Zack also downplayed the idea that he was being "punished" on-air at this time, though he was ultimately relieved to score his WWE release in 2020, having suffered from anxiety during the last year of his run.