10 WWE Superstars That Got Over In Losing Efforts
Which losers did better than the winners?
In the world of competition, winning is better than losing.
Only in sports-entertainment can that concept be challenged; when the supposed "super" stars of WWE lose as often as they win (and in many cases lose more often), that's exactly the message that's being sent.
In WWE over the past few years, there's been a rise in this '50/50 booking' strategy. It's not exactly the best formula for developing new stars or creating characters that fans will want to get behind. After all, there's a reason the New York Yankees, New England Patriots, and Manchester United are among the world's most popular sports teams. Fans pay to see something special and there's nothing special about losing.
With that said, WWE Superstars don't always need to win to get over. In fact, for many WWE Hall Of Famers, some of the most pivotal moments of their career came as the result of a loss. It may sound ironic and maybe even illogical, but under the right circumstances, a loss can take an athlete to the next level.
Which WWE Superstars were able to turn their misfortune in the record-books into a rocket to the main event?
10. Diesel
Diesel's SummerSlam '94 loss to Razor Ramon was overshadowed by the potential breakup of his tag-team with Shawn Michaels, and it was the same again with Survivor Series '94. 1995 was when Diesel really discovered the art of the loss.
Big Daddy Cool's Survivor Series '95 match against Bret Hart was not only the best of Kevin Nash's career, it was also the most pivotal as it revitalized his character. As a lukewarm babyface, Diesel had held the WWE Championship for most of '95, and the act had begun to grow quite stale.
During the match with Bret, a momentary sign of compassion led to Diesel's downfall, as the Hitman capitalized on the big man's hesitation to small package him for the win. Immediately after the three count, a frustrated Diesel gave two Jacknife Powerbombs to the Hitman whilst screaming, "I'm Back!."
The next night on RAW, Diesel explained away his loss, claiming he had been freed from being a "corporate puppet", and was finally able to be himself again.
Diesel had lost his first match in a year, but leaving the USAir Arena, all fans were talking about was Big Daddy Cool.