8 MMA Fighters Who Failed In Pro Wrestling

Possibly the most infamous of all the fighters to try their hand in Vince McMahon's travelling circus, Daniel Puder featured as a contestant on the 2004 Million Dollar Tough Enough and in the space of just twelve weeks managed to make himself one of the most despised people among the senior figures of the WWE locker room.

Puder's infamy stems from a shoot segment with Kurt Angle, where the Olympic champion challenged the WWE hopefuls to real amateur wrestling matches in front of the television cameras on SmackDown. When Puder got his chance, he utilised his knowledge of submission manoeuvres to lock the unsuspecting Angle in a kimura, forcing a WWE referee to quickly intervene in order to save face.

As you can imagine, trying to get the better of one of the company's most established talents did little to endear Puder to his colleagues, and while he would eventually go on to win Tough Enough, his stint in WWE would be short-lived. A final pay-per-view appearance came at the 2005 Royal Rumble where Chris Benoit, Hardcore Holly and Eddie Guerrero took turns chopping the rookie, clearly a form of reprisal for his bad attitude.

Puder would continue his pro wrestling career after his WWE release, with brief stints in both ROH and NJPW.