10 Times Wrestlers Took Their Careers Into Their Own Hands
"Action is the antidote to despair."
On SmackDown this Tuesday, the script called for Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to repeatedly feed the New Day.
Despite just forming their riot of a top heel double act, the pendulum swung in the direction of Big E et al., likely as a result of their mooted dream match opposite the Shield at Survivor Series. And so, for this week at least, they were kept strong. In the script; Owens and Zayn defied it in most controversial fashion. After Kofi Kingston pinned Zayn with a top rope cross body block, in an era in which even finishers aren't finishers, Owens hit the ring and pummelled Kofi. Big E and Xavier Woods made the save, at which point Owens and Zayn were scripted to fight back and get knocked back down. This, obviously, didn't happen - and the ironic "men of honour" were consequently sent home.
That pendulum is one of WWE's profound creative crutches. Nobody ever stays strong for long - but this was a ludicrously quick dousing, even by WWE standards. You suspect Owens and Zayn were annoyed and baffled into action.
If the sheer magnitude of stars present in this list confirm anything, it's that Kevin and Sami are in (mostly) good company.
10. Triple H
Triple H often appears insecure about his placement in the Greatest Of All Time echelon, and perhaps with good reason. Jim Cornette wasn't that far off the mark when he infamously wrote him off as "the guy who worked with the guy who drew the money". His box office credentials are firmly in the supporting actor category, and his big match record is littered with dull, "methodical" rubbish.
This insecurity has often manifested onscreen - though his latter-day NXT hand-shaking ego trip is far more palatable than his verbal castrations of Chris Masters et al.
He needn't be insecure; Trips is wrestling's undisputed, best ever politician - something he knows, but cannot exactly publicise. That may explain things. He steered Vince McMahon in the direction of the Montreal Eureka Moment; he petitioned for more adult-oriented programming in 1997; he married the boss man's f*cking daughter; he waited, and waited, for John Laurinaitis to utterly annihilate developmental before assuming the reigns...
In summation, the man has balls the size of grapefruits - so it's perhaps little wonder that he is set to inherit the earth from Vince McMahon.