10 Wrestlers Who Went To War With Vince McMahon
Crazier than Kurtz.
Wrestlers don't go to war with Vince McMahon anymore because they can't win, which, looking at the rather sad sight of the man on SmackDown the other week, is some testament to his formidable ruthless streak.
Even before this unfolding global crisis, nobody went to war with Vince like the mad lads of the '80s and '90s, because the man happened upon a most effective strategy: he just told them to f*ck off, pal! You want your release? The release our Co-President said we'd grant immediately, on public record? F*ck off!
Also: he can f*ck off, too!
The culture changed irrevocably, post-monopoly: there was nowhere to go but south of the strap of his belt. With an outrageous reservoir of resource, he could simply warehouse those he didn't - or couldn't - book. If there is one sliver of joy to take from this rampant, ugly capitalism, it's that Vince had to reconcile the idea that he was a spent force to justify not allowing Luke Harper and the Revival into Tony Khan's clutches.
Nobody is going to deck him backstage in 2020...
10. CM Punk
CM Punk went to war with Vince McMahon unwillingly, but he had to expect the ambush, petty and ultimately unfounded though it was.
After leaving WWE in 2014, Punk was later formally fired on his wedding day, which is one of the more perversely amusing examples of WWE's legendary spite. Vince, like the toddler he is, had essentially declared himself the winner of a playground game his opponent had forfeited. This was a trivial conflict, ultimately, but the matter mutated into a lurid courtroom saga when Punk buried WWE's high-ranking Dr. Chris Amann and his allegedly apathetic approach to treating injuries on the Art of Wrestling podcast.
It was all rather poetic, since this is how each side perceived the other: millions were spent, long friendships were severed, and medical protocols indicted over a boil on an ass.
Who won?
Punk, but as was the case for much of his WWE run, it wasn't clean. His bank balance and public perception took a hit - the iconoclast who didn't need money sued the sh*t out of best friend Colt Cabana, one of the only nice people in wrestling - and he made it back up by steadily shedding his aura on buzzkill Backstage appearances.