10 Wrestlers Who Went Through Hell To Win (And Lost Anyway)

When flinging yourself off a cell and battling through injury still isn't enough to win you the day.

Britt Baker
AEW

There will always be winners and losers in this sometimes cruel thing we call life.

And in the case of the various guys and gals who have opted to head down the pro-wrestling path as their career of choice, not even wandering through the fiery pits of hell can guarantee that they'll walk out the other side celebrating victory.

Now can a valiant losing effort help elevate a badass babyface to a whole new level of over with the masses? Of course.

But that also isn't exactly a given nowadays, with some stars putting in simply gruelling shifts in between the ropes one night, only for all that hard graft to swiftly be forgotten about by the time the next weekly televised show lands in front of their bloodthirsty fanbase.

However, the record will always show that the following names were willing to dig down deep and put themselves through some of the most uncomfortable, excruciating, and tasking situations imaginable in an attempt to walk out of the squared circle with a W.

It'll also show that even their all just tragically wasn't quite enough in the end, though.

10. Kurt Angle Is Knocked Out Cold Early On (WWE SummerSlam 2000)

Britt Baker
WWE Network

In a rather cruel instance of life suddenly opting to imitate the art that was set to go down, Kurt Angle swiftly found himself being legitimate knocked unconscious rather early into his attempt to become WWE Champion at SummerSlam 2000.

The plan heading into the triple-threat which would see The Rock trying keep Triple H and The Olympic Hero from taking his belt away from him involved Angle selling The Game's announce desk Pedigree as though he'd just been knocked silly. And this would have then forced Kurt out of the bout for a spell before returning later on in the contest.

Refusing to allow a serious head injury to take his chance to become the top champ in the company for the very first time, however, Angle foolishly powered through the legit concussion and proceeded to fulfil his part in the chaos.

Angle has since confessed to having absolutely no memory of the disturbing contest which saw him regularly being aided through spots by his opponents and the ref. The former World Champion would also class this unsettling injury as one of the two worst injuries he's ever had in pro-wrestling, with the other being that time Brock Lesnar broke his neck with a chair shot.

And after such a hellacious evening, Angle still didn't get his hands on Rocky's title.

Contributor
Contributor

Lifts rubber and metal. Watches people flip in spandex and pretends to be other individuals from time to time...