10 Wrestlers Who Had No Business Being In The Ring

5. Triple H

The Executioner
WWE/Instagram.com(@tripleh)

This might scan as controversial or "soft", but when Triple H suffered a torn pectoral muscle mid-match at Crown Jewel 2018, he should have, as a high-ranking WWE official, set a precedent and removed himself from the fray.

He is a leader. He holds significant influence over the professional wrestling industry and made, three years prior, the correct decision to call a non-finish to a match between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton when the former suffered a stinger. It represented progress.

The wellbeing of a pro wrestler supersedes everything, but Triple H undid the good will, once again enabling the toxic culture, to get over as a heroic badass by "gutting it out".

A muscle tear is of course significantly less serious than a concussion or neck injury, but setting the expectation to potentially exacerbate any injury for the good of the match in any context is piss-poor leadership that sets a rotten example. This would not happen in any other sport with actual standards, and should not have happened here. Anybody who then suffered a similar injury on some indie show or other may have feared appearing to be "soft" or disgracing the industry in some way.

This perceived lack of toughness can inflict a significant mental health toll on aspiring pro wrestlers, as indeed the culture of the Performance Center did in its early years when the training operation was ran by Bill DeMott.

And for what?

Some grim disaster in which Kane's masked slipped off?

 
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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!