10 Unique Ways Wrestlers Were Convinced To Lose Matches
9. JBL Does The Right Thing
This is a bit of a weird one too, albeit for different reasons.
Originally, JBL was scheduled to beat Chavo Guerrero on the 18 November 2005 SmackDown. The show, which was an emotional haze for everyone backstage, was quickly rewritten to reflect the sad passing of Chavo's uncle Eddie on 13 November; later that same night, WWE taped SmackDown (it aired on tape delay).
Sensing the chance to do the right thing, Layfield lobbied long and hard to get the booking changed so that Chavo would go over instead. Guerrero himself has recalled knocking back JBL's offer, but the big cowboy was having none of it. He had a ton of respect for Chavo's family, loved Eddie and wanted to put his nephew over.
JBL was swayed by the sense of occasion. He knew that giving Chavo the chance to honour his fallen family post-match would be nice for the Guerreros, and that would've been next-to-impossible had he won the match.
In a way, JBL convinced himself to lose.