7 Wrestlers WWE Punished For Getting Over
Brass rings of fire.
During a now infamous special edition of the WWE Network's Stone Cold Podcast with Vince McMahon back in 2014, the chairman responded to the host's claim that the modern day roster are more afraid of taking chances than colleagues of his day with two pieces of advice:
1) "Don't p*ss people off!" and 2) "Reach for that brass ring."
What Vince didn't elucidate was that he was describing a Heller-esque logical conundrum, in which trying to do the latter unavoidably accomplishes the former. In a post-Rock era - a man whose own fortunes were predicated on grasping brass - attempts to raid Vince's jewellery drawer are met with swift rebuttal. As a result, the term 'brass ring' has wormed its way into the wrestling fandom, reliable short-hand for the short shrift awaiting performers who attempt to promote their prospects.
It's the sort of whacky-backwards logic which leads to bakers making terrible cakes lest they sell out. The Rock may have left WWE high-and-dry after hightailing it to Hollywood, but there's a reason he remains just about the company's last link to mainstream relevance.
Who will they call upon in ten years time when they need an injection of interest? Based on how they murdered their momentum, it won't be any of these guys.
7. Fandango
When Chris Jericho's first-choice of a WrestleMania 29 match against Ryback was shot down - a seemingly asinine suggestion outwith the context of the big man's historical but by-then hemorrhaging popularity - Vince McMahon had a new idea.
Johnny Curtis - now sporting flared leather pants under the sobriquet 'Fandango' - was chosen to dance down the aisle to face Y2J. Against all expectations, he two-stepped his way to a shock 'Mania win.
The next night, inspired by the ineradicable earworm that was Fandango's theme tune, an already ribald post-WrestleMania Raw crowd spent the entire show serenading the roster with the catchy salsa song.
'Fandangoing' soon became a cultural phenomenon, with the craze gradually catching on beyond the auspices of wrestling arenas; incredibly, the chintzy tongue-in-cheek melody nearly managed to crack the UK Top 40 music charts.
For WWE, that was a sign that things had gone too far. Presuming - admittedly, correctly - that Fandango's theme was more popular than the man himself, the company quickly moved to steal his last dance. He lost to Chris Jericho at the very next pay-per-view, and was subsequently relegated back to the undercard.