4 WWE Superstars who lost matches that they wanted to win

When a WWE Superstar finishes their career, they will often be defined by the titles that they won during their time in the wrestling business. Zack Ryder, for example, has lost more matches than most Superstars during his 14-year association with WWE, but he has also won four titles along the way (Intercontinental Championship 1x, United States Championship 1x and Tag Team Championship 2x).

Another prominent Superstar from the last decade, Dolph Ziggler, has built up a reputation as an incredible in-ring performer who regularly loses his high-profile matches, yet his career will likely be defined by his 12 title reigns (World Heavyweight Championship 2x, Intercontinental Championship 6x, United States Championship 2x, Tag Team Championship 2x), as well as his 2012 Money In The Bank triumph.

Simply put, while wins and losses do not mean everything in WWE, it is still important to a performer’s legacy that they rack up significant victories every once in a while, not only to win titles but also to maintain their status as a credible threat to future opponents.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at four of the most notable WWE Superstars/teams who lost a specific match that they wanted to win.

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#4 Kurt Angle

The inspiration for this article comes from Kurt Angle, whose in-ring career came to an end following a surprise defeat at the hands of Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. Many fans were outraged by the outcome of the match, especially as it was announced in advance that the encounter with Corbin would be Angle’s final battle inside the squared circle after a 21-year career in pro wrestling/sports entertainment.

Speaking during a Facebook Q&A shortly after ‘Mania, the Olympic Gold medallist mentioned how he felt as though it was his job to put over a younger talent in his final match. However, he added that he would still have liked the match to have gone a different way.

"My WrestleMania 35 match, I would have liked to go out with a win, but I understand why it didn’t occur... I would have loved to have won, but I don’t think I would have properly played my role if I did. You leave the company better than it was before you came."

#3 Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks & Bayley defeated five other teams to win the newly introduced Women’s Tag Team Championship at Elimination Chamber in February 2019. As the inaugural holders of the titles, The Boss ‘n’ Hug Connection appeared on WWE’s top three brands – Raw, SmackDown Live and NXT – in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania 35 as they attempted to establish the new silverware with different fanbases.

Sadly for the champions, WWE decided to move in a different direction at WrestleMania 35, where Billie Kay & Peyton Royce were victorious in a Fatal 4-Way match to end Banks & Bayley’s title reign after just 49 days.

It was reported by Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin after the show that both women were complaining loudly on the floor of the locker room, as well as outside one of their hotel rooms, about WWE’s decision to take the titles away from them.

Bayley has moved to SmackDown Live since WrestleMania and started to re-establish herself as a singles competitor, while it has been widely reported that Banks, who has not appeared on WWE television since the event, has asked for her release.

#2 The Nexus

In the summer of 2010, one of the most memorable moments in Raw history occurred when the villainous Nexus faction invaded WWE’s flagship show by mercilessly attacking John Cena before causing carnage around the ringside area.

The biggest match during the rivalry came at SummerSlam, where The Nexus (Darren Young, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Michael Tarver, Skip Sheffield and Wade Barrett) faced Team WWE (Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Edge, John Cena, John Morrison and R-Truth) in a 7-on-7 elimination match in the main event.

It appeared as though the storyline was all set up for The Nexus to pick up the win and establish themselves as the next dominant faction in WWE. However, it has since been revealed in various interviews that Cena fought backstage for his team to win the match, so that is the finish that WWE went with.

Barrett, the leader of The Nexus, said during an Inside The Ropes interview in 2017:

"We were pulled to one side and [WWE road agent] Arn Anderson says, ‘hey guys, here’s the finish.’…We get down to the final three, which is myself and Justin Gabriel... against John Cena. And then we’re told ‘…and Cena’s going to beat you both and go over.’ At which point, I kind of thought he was joking just to gauge our reaction, and then we realised he’s not joking. This is serious; John’s going over."

#1 CM Punk

On the same night that CM Punk walked out of WWE, he was informed by Vince McMahon that he was scheduled to face Triple H in one of the featured matches at WrestleMania 30.

Despite McMahon assuring him that he would pick up the victory in the match, Punk was not happy with WWE’s creative ideas and felt that “The Game” should have allowed him to win their previous encounter at Night of Champions 2011.

Recalling the backstage meeting that he had with McMahon and HHH, Punk said during his infamous appearance on Colt Cabana’s ‘Art of Wrestling’ podcast:

“I said 'all due respect, I do not need to wrestle you [Triple H], you need to wrestle me. I do not want to wrestle you. I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have. That would have been best for business but you had to ****ing come in and squash it. And then I had to lose to ****ing Truth and Miz.”