10 Times WWE Wrestlers Went Into Business For Themselves

4. Triple H Kills Curtis Axel From The Get-Go

Curtis Axel Triple H
WWE.com

As we've come to learn over the decades, boy, it really is all about the Game and how you play it.

In the case of Joe Hennig, it looked as if he was finally going to get a chance to be remembered as more than a Nexus jabroni under his Michael McGillicutty moniker.

Even though they didn't go the obvious route of just, y'know, letting him be Joe Hennig, WWE did at least acknowledge Hennig's heritage when they had Paul Heyman take him under his wing and rechristen him Curtis Axel.

The 20 May 2013 Raw was a huge night for Joe, being revealed as Heyman's new client, given new music and immediately put on a collision course with Triple H that was intended to help get Axel over as a genuine player.

Hunter's idea of elevating Curtis, though, involved telling him to shush because "the adults are having a conversation", before the pair's match that night was a no contest after the King of Kings had a kayfabe concussion.

Even then, Helmsley couldn't let Axel get a W. Skip ahead to the next time the pair faced, Vince McMahon would award Curtis a bogus DQ victory before restarting the match and giving Axel a forfeit victory.

Rather than elevate Curtis Axel - or at least establish him as something more than just a goof - Triple H took any and all steam away from him. An Intercontinental Championship win would follow for the Axe Man, but the bloom was already off the rose by then.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.