10 Wrestlers Who Killed Their Own Push
8. Chris Masters
Aesthetics have always played a role in determining a WWE superstar’s success.
It’s not as important as it used to be, but having a great look is often the difference between a wrestler languishing in the midcard or flourishing in the main event. It’s therefore no surprise that Chris Masters, who looked like he’d been chiselled from the finest Greek marble, enjoyed a sizeable push upon debuting.
The Master Lock Challenge became a regular fixture on Raw, with Masters challenging a series of wrestlers to test themselves against his seemingly unbreakable Full Nelson hold. He worked with some of WWE’s biggest stars during this time, including Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, and John Cena, before personal problems strangled the life out of his career.
Masters left for several months to attend drug rehabilitation following a painkiller addiction in May 2006. He returned as a lower-card wrestler that summer, but brought the Master Lock Challenge back, with Cena becoming the first man to break the hold in December.
Chris slid down the card thereafter, never truly returning to his pre-rehab position, and was eventually let go following two Substance Abuse & Drug Policy violations in November 2007.