10 Moments Wrestlers NEVER Recovered From
1. Vader Irks Shawn Michaels
SummerSlam 1996 was a nightmare for Vader.
He'd been brought in earlier that year and presented as the WWF's new top heel. The ex-WCW man should've nailed that spot and produced the goods against a super worker like Shawn Michaels, but HBK didn't want to play ball with an increasingly-clumsy big man. So, the shine came off Vader pretty quickly.
Michaels audibly chewed him out on pay-per-view at SummerSlam, and Vader's career started to nosedive. He did enjoy some main event moments after the '96 show, but one of the best big men in wrestling went from hot property to washed up afterthought within the span of two short years.
By '98, he was even calling himself "a big fat piece of sh*t" on air, and was checked into a weight loss clinic behind the scenes. Irking Shawn and struggling away from the ring did Vader zero favours in the WWF. His run there is roundly considered a miserable failure, especially considering expectations from fans and critics before he arrived.
Which other moments wrecked wrestling careers? For more WWE, check out 10 New Directions For WWE In 2024 and 10 Things WWE Raw: Day 1 Told Us About WrestleMania XL Season!