10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Dec 14)

8. OVW Talent Dreaded Being Drafted To SmackDown

Before he was known as the 'Masterpiece', Chris Masters was a young hopeful looking to make a splash in WWE developmental. In OVW, he teamed with Brent Albright on and off, and clearly had a look WWE higher-ups would dig. There was just one thing Masters feared more than anything.

He didn't want to land on SmackDown.

According to comments from the man himself on Robbie E's Why It Ended show, nobody from OVW liked the idea of working the blue brand. This had nothing to do with Raw being considered the flagship by comparison, and everything to do with the fact that Bob Holly and JBL were on SmackDown. To OVW rookies, they were big bad bullies.

Masters eventually found his way to Raw, and he did have a run in with both on the road. Holly felt disrespected when Chris accidentally missed him out of the traditional wrestling handshake cycle, and JBL plain didn't like him.