10 Wrestlers Who Refused To Give Fans What They Came For
WWE and AEW trolling from Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Steve Austin, Sting!
Wrestling, at its stripped down best, is the ultimate tease.
You want to see something happen, the folks writing this stuff know you want it, and then they either make it reality or sit on that anticipation until fans can't take it anymore. At heart, the industry relies on people handing over hard-earned cash to see characters they like do things that make them happy, or, they pay good money to watch ones they despise take a kicking.
Or, they can grow frustrated when nobody gives a sh*t about the rules. SWERVE!
That word has become both a blessing and a curse to wrestling over the years. Some swerves absolutely work, but others are just agonising. Then, there's that weird middle ground where fans know wrestlers holding out on them is for the best in the long run, but they don't want it in the heat of the moment.
These wrestlers, for better or worse, all went against fan wishes to present angles and characters that refused to give everyone what they came to see. Some paid off in the end, whereas others didn't.
Those bloody teases...
10. Neville
Bold statement incoming: Neville's run as Cruiserweight Champion is one of the best heel stints ever.
It was so simple to execute, but it worked a treat. The formerly-good natured flyer spurned fan support and declared himself the "King" of WWE's purple division after turning rogue in late-2016. By 2017, he was on a tear and cutting the promos of a lifetime - Neville bashed everyone, even those on his side.
Throughout, he tut-tutted fans for their patronising support of physically smaller workers, and promised that they'd never have a Cruiser titleholder to ridicule ever again. He also tweaked his moveset to favour ground-based submissions over flashy aerials.
Ideally, had his relationship with the company not soured dramatically, Neville would've used this gimmick as a springboard to bigger and better things away from 205 Live. That sadly didn't happen, but it did provide the basis for his later "Bastard" character elsewhere.