10 Wrestlers Who Lost All Passion For The Business

6. Alexander Wolfe

Carlito WWE
WWE.com

Alexander Wolfe enjoys the distinction of working the best WWE-produced modern WarGames match.

In fact, beyond the unbelievably great ROH Vs. CZW Cage of Death match - a violent, intricate masterpiece of bloody action and multifaceted storytelling - the TakeOver 2017 match was so good that the "WWE-produced" qualifier might not be necessary. It wasn't as blow-away great as the best JCP/WCW epics, but the action and character work was sublime. The contrast between Killian Dain and Adam Cole in particular was superb. Cole generated molten heat with his sly, cowardly role. Not throwing himself into the war was such an effective in-character choice.

Beyond that, SAnitY failed to get over. The act was too desperate an attempt to make a collection of wrestlers feel disturbed or unhinged. They just felt contrived, and there's little less appealing than watching somebody pretending to be crazy. It's cringeworthy.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet in 2021, while showing his gratitude to the NXT coaching staff, Wolfe revealed that he lost his passion for the business. He said that plans going awry during the COVID-19 pandemic was a "passion-killer", but also revealed that his dire stint on the main roster hardly helped his love of it:

"What I think is their fault is making empty promises, especially during my time at SmackDown. They made a lot of unrealistic promises which never happened."

Wolfe also alleged that a figure (not named directly) would call him "sh*t", only for that person to deny it. He said this was "unprofessional".

 
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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!