10 Unique Ways Wrestlers Were Convinced To Lose Matches
Sure, you COULD win. Or, you could sample ECW's...unique hospitality instead.
Losing is part of the wrestling business.
Everyone has to do it at some point. No worker can stroll through the industry forever without at least one mark in the 'L' column, and convincing independent contractors to do business or see things a certain way must be one of the bigger challengers facing promoters.
After all, who wants to be a loser?! Everybody wants that 1997-1998 Goldberg spot in WCW. They fancy being the unbeatable badass who always gets their hand raised and looks like the best there ever was. Yes, selling defeats to workers has to be difficult, which is why some companies get resourceful.
Some wrestlers were fed lies to keep their egos ticking over in the interim, others were given special dispensation to screw with established federation rules, and some were outright told to f*ck off and never return until they were willing to play ball. That last one is rare, but it belongs here on this collection of unique ways promoters and fellow wrestlers coaxed losses out of their staff and peers.
Every single occasion worked. Wool was pulled over eyes, promotions got their way and jobs were done...
10. Warrior Wants To Sell Comic Books
The Ultimate Warrior was a strange cat.
Eric Bischoff once revealed on his '83 Weeks' show that initial discussions with the man were less about actually wrestling and more about "potential opportunities". Basically, Warrior wanted assurance that he'd be able to promote and sell his comic books. Losing to Hulk Hogan wasn't a problem.
The old WrestleMania VI rivals would go on to have one of the worst rematches in wrestling history at WCW's Halloween Havoc 1998 pay-per-view. Warrior didn't give a hoot about that - the guy just wanted to know that merch items (like that aforementioned comic) would be available at the table.
Hulk craved revenge for putting his so-called successor over eight years earlier. Meanwhile, the artist formerly known as Jim Hellwig bored Bisch to death for hours about animation, comics and character lore the WCW chief couldn't pretend to care about.
In the end, selling comic books was more important to Warrior than wrestling matches for WCW.