10 Wrestlers Who DESTROYED Their Career In A Single Moment

9. Jaxson Ryker

Bronson Matthews Thumb
WWE.com

Jaxson Ryker was nothing if not aggressively generic - so much so that he's the one wrestler who could pass and fail the airport test at the same time.

A vacuum with a great physique, nobody has ever left one of his matches with a single memory. He probably does a few power moves, given that frame of his, but you can't remember. He probably performed a few body slams in Forgotten Sons matches in NXT?

He also feuded with Elias on the main roster, during which time he played a babyface with apparent wartime PTSD in a rather bleak development which nobody gave a sh*t about.

Nobody gave a sh*t about it because it was staggeringly mediocre and because Ryker's career was a zombified thing by 2021. He was doomed by his own doing to shamble through WWE, on a countdown into an even more endless void of irrelevance, because he was stupid, insensitive, and ugly enough to put over Donald Trump amid protests of George Floyd's 2020 murder.

He knew what he was doing, and so did a locker room that let him have it - including Kevin Owens, who was disgusted that Ryker tried to get his catchphrase over at the same time.

"Forgotten no more" has taken on a razor-sharp note of irony, since Ryker has wrestled just five times since his release from WWE.

Contributor
Contributor

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!