15 Exact Moments Wrestlers Died Inside
10. Braden Walker Has Made A Terrible Mistake
In the 2000s, WWE was at its dirt-worst. There was no boom period in sight for WWE's monopoly. The lack of competition fostered a punishing, stale product. Triple H headlined more pay-per-views than any other wrestler. It was dystopian.
WWE is hardly Jim Crockett Promotions in 2025, but back then, the reviled "ex-soap opera writers" were pitching the worst material imaginable so that they could go about their day without Vince McMahon abusing them. The writers knew the game: Vince was amused by awful comedy, and he didn't much care for talents who had made their name elsewhere.
Write unfunny stuff to appease him, don't endorse no outsiders, and cash the cheque.
Braden Walker - a TNA standout with an unremarkable look as Chris Harris - was thus doomed. Why he was hired in the first place, God only knows. But he was. He played a man who told jokes without a shred of comedic timing. Walker died inside and out the second he sauntered up to Armando Estrada and said "Knock knock."
"Who's there?" Estrada replied.
"Braden Walker. And I'm gonna knock your brains out," Walker said, visibly seething at the state of his life. This is a man who knew his fate so precisely that he even made his entrance with his hands on his hips, showing ruthless passive aggression.
The Braden Walker era lasted all of a month, and all but killed his career - but it's not as if he'd have fared much better if he was brought in under his TNA persona. If somebody were cutting a promo back at him, they'd say "Wildcat?
More like, Tame mouse!"
Because WWE's scripting was terrible.