10 Times Wrestlers Were Broken In The Hard Way

6. Daniel Puder

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Daniel Puder legitimately bested Kurt Angle on the mat on the 11 November 2004 SmackDown. Only the quick carny thinking of the referee served Angle from serious embarrassment and injury.

To underscore how huge an achievement this was, using a modern frame of reference, imagine Stephanie McMahon actually invented women's wrestling, and didn't merely take credit for it.

To underscore how stupid this was - Puder, while a legitimately skilled combat athlete, was the reality TV star rookie, Angle the über-respected, decorated veteran - watch the opening minutes of the 2005 Royal Rumble, and observe Puder's onscreen punishment. Puder was dispatched to the ring in the #3 slot, following stiff, honour-bound vets Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, who chopped the skin off his chest. The chops sounded disgusting. Benoit, in particular, seemed to channel his torturous, circuitous rise to the top by unleashing that frustration over a guy who walked in to the company like the one cocksure fox in a house of hens. Guerrero even cowered at the impact of one chop, it was that vicious.

This served no narrative purpose whatsoever, and was booked only as a remonstrative lesson which also served no purpose; Puder, realising that he only tapped his own career, opted out of WWE's developmental contract offer later that year.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!