10 Wrestling Careers Damaged By WWE Backstage Politics

3. Vader

When the monstrous ex-WCW World Heavyweight Champion stepped foot in a WWF ring, people expected a dominant, unflinching display that saw Vader conquer a number of WWF stars including the WWF Champion. However, this wasn't the case as any momentum Vader could build was prevented by Shawn Michaels, who refused to work with Vader and refused to drop the title to him. Given the dominant reigns of Yokozuna just a few years prior to his arrival, you'd think that Vince's preference for strong big men would make Vader an instant success in the WWF, clearly there was another reason behind Vader's mediocre run. Shawn wasn't entirely responsible, but by refusing to put Vader over, Vader's position as a fan favourite slowly turned into that of a jobber as kind of a domino effect. He then went on a losing streak to more important WWF stars such as Kane, The Undertaker, Mark Henry and even Edge. Vader needed to seem dominant like a monster heel to be successful, but through several defeats months after his debut he seemed to be all bark and no bite. If Vader had a few friends in management or was more persuasive, things may have gone differently. Vader time was short-lived and disappointing, but a prompt squishing from Shawn Michaels certainly didn't help his case with WWF Creative.