10 Times Wrestlers Had Incredibly Fragile Egos

When you think about it, narcissism is probably the funniest personality disorder.

It doesn't usually feel that way, since most of us are governed by deluded monsters, but it is, strictly speaking. It doesn't matter if the narcissist is a morbidly obese with painted-on skin and sh*tty, worked hair: they are psychologically wired to no-sell their flaws. The dissonance is great banter. It's how you get Putin riding shirtless on horses with his sucked-in gut, rich and famous men ordering oil paintings of themselves, Shane McMahon thinking he can throw a punch bless him. This disorder has effectively ruined the world, but its death is amusing in a gallows sort of way.

Naturally, pro wrestling draws the narcissist.

It's an industry that gifts the narcissist the spotlight and something of even greater value: it allows them to melt into an idealised exaggeration of a persona to better enable the fantasy. It's rather easy to get lost in the gimmick 24/7 4 Life when the wrestler effectively believes it to be true. The image in the mirror is another reflection, yet more affirmation of the misleading perception of self-worth.

"Look at these muscles, and ignore that they're artificially enhanced, which spoils the delusion.

I can't possibly look weak!"

The Triple H/Kurt Angle/Stephanie McMahon love triangle took the most lame hack criticism of pro wrestling - "Oh, it's just a dumb soap opera for men" - and with a confident flex said "What of it?"

Compelling and penned with a genuinely witty flair by then Head Writer Chris Kreski, Steph was thrust into Kurt's arms throughout a sequence of inspired misunderstandings as fans were asked to wonder where her affections lay.

Now, Kurt Angle is what you would call a classically handsome man. He's not quite the brooding heartthrob figure you'd drool and lose sleep over - he was a bit dorky and clean-cut before he shaved his head and went f*cking mental - but as square-jawed boy-next-door types go, Angle, with his great physique and strong bone structure, was certainly a man worth at least one regrettable shag. Triple H was the bad boy in this scenario, which we knew not because his eyes glowed with a mysterious intensity, but because he wore denim. He wasn't ugly, exactly.

High cheekbones and a hulking body were among his attributes. But he wasn't Robert Redford either, and he had a massive hooter. Using his growing creative influence, Triple H allegedly pumped the brakes on a storyline that was resolved with an anti-climax because he reckoned people wouldn't "buy" Angle as his love rival.

"And you do know what they say about guys with big noses," Triple H winked, to further build his claim.

"They've got huge cocks-uh!" he roared, just in case they didn't hear it.