How Every WWE Wrestler Sees Themselves
The mental gymnastics of the physical favourites...
Is being a WWE Superstar the best job in the world?
At some point or another, every single wrestler on the books weighed up if the physical and emotional strifes of all the bumps and all the travel were worth the hassle. They decided, based on either chasing and achieving dreams or salaries or whatever made them tick that they were.
With this reconciled, surely everybody that runs the ropes for Vince McMahon are pig-in-sh*t chuffed with their lot then, right?
Wrong, according to the various stories of wrestlers looking to escape to AEW or livid about one thing or another. But then, he wouldn't want it any other way.
McMahon's spoken before about what he misses in his current "millennial" roster. The financial thirst of everybody he promoted underneath Hulk Hogan in the 1980s that allowed him to scoop up the bulk of the profits. The hunger of his Attitude Era lot that kept his show competitive when he didn't have to. The impossible toxicity of Shawn Michaels in the 1990s that he pushed all the same. The ways Triple H skipped a few steps up the ladder until he was literally part of the family.
These are not those times and these wrestlers are not those wrestlers. For better and worse, they're a brand new generation - a completely new type. Getting into their heads probably isn't a concern of The Chairman, but we'll give it a quick try...
139. Adam Cole
"Exactly where I want and need to be."