10 Wrestlers Who Refused To Work Together

Pro wrestling is a dance, a cooperative shuffle fuelled by aesthetic violence and athletic grace, where two or more individuals come together to tell a story that captivates and enchants in equal measure. Except sometimes it isn’t, because something something stealing my spot.

The men and women of the pro wrestling world are a fickle sort, prone to passive-aggressive posturing when their place on the card is threatened, a competitive people who will work tooth and nail to get to the main event before nailing their teeth to the position. Getting there is one thing, but staying there? Oh boy. If it means refusing to work with a peer, then so be it.

Wrestling’s history books (which may or may not literally exist) are filled with tales of highly-strung workers getting their proverbials in a twist over the prospect of doing their job with another professional, of personal arguments being allowed to impact the professional world. Throw in the unsafe workers, main eventers refusing to work with the midcard and the feisty cueball head of a certain Texas Rattlesnake, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for, well, not pro wrestling main events, that’s for sure.

With all the water that has flown under this particularly rickety bridge in the years since, it is difficult to blame CM Punk for refusing to work with Triple H. The Voice of the Voiceless said it best; he didn’t need to work with Triple H, Triple H needed to work with him. The Cerebral Assassin required a WrestleMania feud with one of the company’s hottest stars to stay vaguely relevant, hoping it could convince the increasingly-apathetic Punk to stay locked in a company that was detrimental to his health in every single way.

Punk and Triple H had feuded in the past and it was always The Game who came out on top, even as the two men’s careers were clearly moving in opposite directions. Punk had nothing to gain in once again going toe-to-toe with one of the industry’s most notorious spotlight stealers, especially in a somewhat minor WrestleMania match. Punk deserved a ‘Mania main event, not a third from the top battle with an ageing Game.

So Punk walked out. Refusing to work with Triple H, the camel’s back was snapped into multiple pieces, creating a mess that may never be cleaned up entirely. Sure, Punk now appears on WWE TV in a fairly throwaway fashion, but one of the best wrestlers of a generation hasn't had a single match since 2014. That tells its own story.