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It has been a long time since the word "kayfabe" started losing its importance in WWE. We as kids used to imagine all this to be real and not scripted but it turned out to be different. The notion was that wins and losses do not matter in WWE because ultimately it's all planned.
There have been several instances of WWE Superstars refusing to lose huge matches for various reasons. On the contrary, there have been Superstars who have refused to win a match.
While all the action in WWE is real, the outcomes are predetermined. But today we'll take a look at some instances where Superstars refused to agree with the decision of the creative team. Let's take a look at three WWE Superstars to refused to win a match and three others who refused to lose.
#3 Refused to win a WWE match: Brock Lesnar (vs Goldberg)
If there's one Superstar whom fans would not expect to "refuse to win", it is Brock Lesnar. The Beast Incarnate has often been criticized for winning world titles and keeping it hostage. Not defending it for months and thus taking away opportunities from young Superstars.
Goldberg left WWE after defeating Brock Lesnar in their infamous match at WrestleMania XX. The purpose of his return match was to promote the WWE 2k17 game and give Lesnar a big win over him as revenge for WrestleMania XX.
To everyone's shock, Goldberg squashed Brock Lesnar in less than 90 seconds at WWE Survivor Series 2016. As per the reports, it was Lesnar who refused to win. He convinced WWE to let Goldberg defeat him as he saw money in the feud being continued after Survivor Series.
Goldberg then defeated Kevin Owens at Fastlane 2017 to win the Universal Championship. At WrestleMania 33, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar went at it for the Universal Championship, with the Beast Incarnate finally defeating him and getting his revenge.
#3 Refused to lose a WWE match: Goldberg (vs Bray Wyatt)
WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg is still a huge draw for the company even at the age of 53. While Goldberg is not known for his wrestling abilities, fans still pay to see the entire aura of domination that he brings with him.
Earlier this year, Goldberg returned and challenged "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship at WWE Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia. The Fiend was expected to pick up a dominating win over the legend, thus cementing himself further. Instead, WWE decided to let Goldberg be the first man to defeat The Fiend and become the new Universal Champion.
According to a report by WrestleZone, Goldberg going over Bray Wyatt was a last-minute decision. It was the WWE Hall of Famer who himself pushed for the win as he did not want to ruin his character.
We were told that Goldberg going over was a last-minute decision, apparently because Goldberg didn’t want to risk damaging his image. It was noted that Goldberg bargained for creative control and pushed for the title win because 'The Fiend' was a monster and the younger fans needed to see him come out victorious, or it would ruin his character.
Goldberg later dropped the Universal Championship to Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 36. Bray Wyatt faced and defeated John Cena in a bizarre Firefly Fun House match at The Show of Shows.
#2 Refused to win a WWE match: Randy Orton (vs The Undertaker)
The Undertaker has had one of the greatest WWE careers in the history of the company. A huge part of his legacy was his once undefeated WrestleMania streak. Long before losing his streak to Brock Lesnar at WWE WrestleMania XXX, there were plans for Randy Orton to be the one to end his streak.
But the Legend Killer refused to do so as he believed that he was not ready for it. Orton even argued that the Streak should never be broken. During an interview with Yahoo Sports, Randy Orton said:
"You asked about me versus Taker, that was WrestleMania 21 in Los Angeles, I was 25, my birthday always falls around the show, so I’m a kid, I’m a greenhorn, I grew up in the business but now I’m in a match in the biggest show you can be at, participate in as a professional wrestler, as a WWE Superstar, and I’m facing in a singles match the most legendary character that’s ever graced our presence – with maybe a few exceptions. I was nervous, but I also knew I was in good hands. We went out there, we killed it, I reversed the chokeslam into the RKO, everybody bought it, he beat my ass and that was it. He picked up another win at ‘Mania and rightfully so because I think the WrestleMania brand and Undertaker go hand in hand. I think a lot of that had to do with the streak so I’ll never think that was the right thing to do, for him to pick up that loss"
Randy Orton and The Undertaker went on to have an amazing rivalry. But it was The Phenom who picked up the victory and continued his streak at WWE WrestleMania 21.
#2 Refused to lose a WWE match: The Shield (vs John Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus)
The Shield is considered by many to be one of the greatest WWE factions in the modern era, if not all time. The young NXT Superstars Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and Dean Ambrose debuted as The Shield at WWE Survivor Series 2012. They went on to become megastars for WWE in the future.
The Shield was dominating the scene in WWE and destroying their opponents, including legends. But WWE decided to let them lose their first high profile at Elimination Chamber 2013 against John Cena, Ryback, and Sheamus. But The Shield thought it was too early for them to lose.
During his appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Dean Ambrose revealed that they protested the idea of losing so early in their run.
“Not that we’re jerks. They wanted us to… I think it was our second or third pay-per-view, it was right before our first WrestleMania, a six-man on a pay-per-view and the finish was Cena over with the schmutz. We were like: ‘But as soon as we go down to John, we’re just like everybody else, because that’s what he does to everybody else. There’ll be a time where we do that all day and that’s fine… but it is not today. Otherwise, why are we even here?’”
WWE ultimately agreed to The Shield and let them pick up the victory over the veterans. The Shield then went on to have a dominating run together before Seth Rollins turned on his brothers in 2014.
#1 Refused to win a WWE match: Curt Hawkins (refusing to end his losing streak)
Recently released WWE Superstar Curt Hawkins returned to WWE in 2016. While it initially appeared as if he might be pushed by WWE, he instead started a losing streak. Soon, there came a point when fans were excited to see how long his losing streak can continue with even WWE mentioning it on their programming.
Hawkins later revealed on the Sam Roberts Podcast that he once saw an article that said he just lost his 100th straight match. Hawkins realized that he's on to something new. He then revealed that he almost begged to lose a match on WWE Main Event as he felt it was not the correct place to end his losing streak.
“There’s been times since that article where I was having matches; in particular I had a match on Main Event against Heath Slater that I was supposed to win, but I thought, wait, hold it, no, please, no. This could be something. There’s no sense in ending this story on Main Event. Who begs to lose matches? I literally did that, though, where I said that I can’t win matches, and they were cool about it. In the first place, they were telling me that I did a good job and that I am going to win a match. But I was like, no, you don’t understand.”
Finally, it was at WrestleMania 35 where Curt Hawkins' 269-match losing streak came to an end. He teamed up with Zack Ryder to defeat The Revival and became the RAW Tag Team Champions.
#1 Refused to lose a WWE match: Hulk Hogan (vs Shawn Michaels)
The match between Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam 2005 has become one of the most famous matches in WWE history. While it could certainly have been a classic, fans remember the match for Shawn Michaels overselling Hogan's offense to an extent where it became hilarious.
According to the rumors, Shawn Michaels was unhappy with Hogan refusing to do a trilogy of matches. He decided to make it clear by overselling and mocking Hulk Hogan during their WWE SummerSlam 2005 match.
Bruce Prichard recently revealed the backstage reaction during the match with Shawn Michaels overselling every move.
''The match was highly entertaining because of Shawn overselling shit and going f***ing nuts and almost doing a parody of a Hulk match from 20 years ago. So to that, the entertainment value of it, it was incredibly entertaining. That may have been Shawn’s nod to say ‘Hey, I’m gonna go out here and I’m gonna do this and I’m gonna make you remember it because of my antics.’ Could it have been different? Absolutely it could have been different. Was it the best thing? I don’t know if it was or not. I think when Shawn first started overselling things, the reaction was one of ‘What the f*** is he doing’ and then the more he did it, the more you saw the story Shawn was telling.''
Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan are both two of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. They have cemented a massive legacy for themselves in WWE. But this one match will always be remembered by the fans for all the wrong reasons.
