They say all it takes to "make it" is the right combination of talent, work ethic and luck. Take your natural gift, work on it as hard as you can and, if the breaks go your way, you'll make it all the way to the top, son. But what about the other cases? What about the guys who have what it takes, who work as hard as they can, who get a little bit of luck on their side but still don't make it to the top of the pile. Where did it go wrong for those guys? You see, the people who made up the saying about the talent and the work and the luck missed out the valuable thing. The thing that seems to matter most. They missed out politics. In a business that's dominated by one company, that's run on the whims of one man, it is extremely hard to make it without playing politics. Piss off Vince McMahon and you're finished. Do something to upset an executive and you're done. Don't impress the right WWE agent and you never even get a chance. Many wrestlers who seemed to have had all that it takes to make it to the top in professional wrestling have had their careers cut short because they fell out of favour with the wrong person. Here are 10 careers hampered by backstage politics...
Michael Palmer is a contributor at whatculture.com and thelineofbestfit.com, and he probably likes WWE slightly more than most people would call "healthy".
