10 Bridge Burners You Will Never See In WWE Again
The Art of Leaving.
More so than in any other walk of life, you can never say 'never' in pro wrestling.
The idea of Eric Bischoff hugging Vince McMahon on live WWE television was inconceivable back when the Monday Night Wars were being waged - but money talked just a few years later. Brock Lesnar spent years in the bad books. Despite several back and forth lawsuits and his making mountains of cash elsewhere, Lesnar lay back on the bosom of Vince McMahon eight years after he was perceived to have committed the ultimate betrayal.
Even more astonishingly, Triple H orchestrated Bruno Sammartino's return to the Titan fold, despite years of palpable animosity between the two parties.
In short, money > ego. This has been the case ever since wrestling became a work.
That being said, it is possible to burn a bridge entirely. And while such separations are often made permanent because there's no chance of money to be made from a reconciliation, there are instances in which parties could make serious coin together - if only they could stomach touching the other with a bargepole...
10. Paul London
London didn't exactly endear himself to WWE during his run there.
He infamously smiled blankly during the 2007 angle in which Vince McMahon's limousine exploded, when unbeknownst to him the mood was meant to be sombre and foreboding. He also committed the cardinal sin of attempting to get himself over with his elimination via shooting star press sell in the 2005 Royal Rumble match.
He doused the bridge gleefully in petrol years later in a shoot interview with Steve Gerweck. Stating that he'd never (unlike best buddy Brian Kendrick) return to WWE as long as Triple H was still running things, he went on to assassinate his character with a series of embarrassing revelations, the majority of which shed further light on Triple H's legendary insecurity.
Triple H is said to have been insanely jealous of Rob Van Dam's popularity both with the fans and with the boys, leading to HHH cracking a corny "munchies" joke at Mr. Monday Night's expense which, rather brilliantly, RVD called him out for. They weren't friends - at all - so Van Dam chastised him for it.
London also confirmed the rumour that THQ's agreement with WWE was severed because they contravened their instruction to not show HHH in a weakened position within any video game promotional material. "They're protecting this pr*ck in the videogame!".
Hard to see the WWE COO welcoming back the former Cruiserweight and Tag Team Champion back into the fold.