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A big part of a wrestler's job is to make your opponent look good. Some of the best wrestlers in the world have the ability to make others looks good, thus making themselves look good by proxy.
A wrestling match is a two way street. For every winner there is a loser. It's a part of the business, somebody has to go over and the other person has to be gracious enough to accept defeat.
Many wrestlers have made careers by constantly putting others over. However there have been many occasions where wrestlers have refused to do business with their opponents.
These wrestlers felt it wasn't in their best interests to put the other guys over. Some believed it would damage their careers, some believed that the outcome wasn't right for the feud and others just flat-out refused to help the other guy get over.
Refusing to put someone over is considered a big sin in the wrestling industry and many wrestlers' reputations and legacies have been damaged. Here are five wrestlers who allegedly refused to put someone else over.
#5. Hulk Hogan refused to put over Randy Orton
Hulk Hogan is the most famous wrestler ever. He is also known for refusing to put the other wrestlers over. I could probably write a entire separate list about about him. This is the most recent example of Hogan refusing to do business with a younger guy.
In 2006, the WWE were pushing Orton as a main event star that they could build around. They gave him the "Legend Killer" gimmick and put him in a huge Summerslam match with the biggest legend ever.
The original plans for the match saw Hogan doing the job and putting over the younger talent. However, Hogan refused to put the future star over and would only perform if he was guaranteed to win.
The WWE gave in to Hogan's demands and booked him to win but the incident resulted in WWE blacklisting him and refusing to bring him back for future matches because he would never lose.
#4. John Cena refused to put over The Nexus
John Cena has had a Hall of Fame career. He is a 16 time World Champion and has had many classic matches. A feud with Cena is the standard used to prove if wrestlers are ready to move up to the main event.
He has helped guys like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, A.J Styles and Kevin Owens reach the next level as top stars. However, there has been one incident of John Cena hurting the careers of wrestlers.
The Nexus was a heel group who wreaked havoc on Monday Night RAW in 2010.The group consisted of the rising stars of NXT season one. They would attack past and present stars of the WWE and they looked set to become the future of the company. The whole angle led to a match at Summerslam 2010 where John Cena captained a team of past and present stars against The Nexus.
The Nexus were booked to win and this was to be their coronation as major stars. Chris Jericho and Edge have said on their podcasts that Cena was certain that he should win the match.
Despite arguments from Cena's teammates he managed to win. Cena came from behind during the match and was the sole survivor. The Nexus lost all momentum and were a dead act by the end of the year.
#3. Goldberg refused to put over any current talent
Goldberg's 2016-17 was fantastic. It redeemed his career after his terrible 2003-04 run that failed to recapture his WCW hype. Instead of being remembered as a failure he was able to retire as a legend and a Hall of Famer.
However, if you recall his recent run in WWE you will remember that he barely interacted with any current talent. He had segments with Rusev and Kevin Owens but they didn't get any offence in during the physical battles.
Dave Meltzer, of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, revealed that part of Goldberg's deal was that he did not want to "sell" for the current WWE roster. The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar were named as wrestlers who he would allow deliver moves to him.
That's why his match with Kevin Owens was short and Owens got zero offence during it. Goldberg only wanted to do business with other legends. Kind of ironic considering during his WCW days he was a young talent who was but over by other talent to make him look better.
#2. Steve Austin refused to put over Brock Lesnar
In 2002, the WWE were starting to sour on Steve Austin as his iconic run was coming to an end. Vince McMahon made a strange decision to have Austin lose to the up and coming Brock Lesnar on a random episode of RAW with no build to the match.
Austin was furious because he had to job to a rookie on a random episode of TV with no payoff and felt that they could build a feud and have the match on a pay-per-view. McMahon insisted that the match go ahead and Austin "took his ball and went home".
He stayed at home and refused to travel to the show. WWE called him on television and the two sides split up for the better part of seven months. They were eventually able to work out a deal for Austin to come back and have a final Wrestlemania match with The Rock before retiring due to a neck injury.
In my opinion this incident is very different to the others on this list. Yes, Austin refused to put Brock over on RAW but he was more than willing to do it on a PPV after a proper feud. This is not a case of Austin's ego pulling rank but a case of Austin feeling that the WWE were making a bad business call.
#1. Both Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels refused to put each other over
Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart had one of the most iconic rivalries ever. Both were incredible talents and major stars in the WWF in the early 90's. The two feuded over the WWF Championship and had an incredible Iron Man match at Wrestlemania 12.
The feud became very personal on screen. Hart would call out Shawn Michaels' professionalism during promos and Shawn Michaels accused Bret Hart of having an affair with Sunny during the infamous "Sunny Days" promo. The tension got way out of hand and it all led up to the"Montreal Screwjob" It all started with Michaels refusing to put Hart over.
People argue that Bret jobbing at Wrestlemania 12 made Shawn's career. Michaels faked injury to avoid losing the title to Hart at Wrestlemania 13 and both men managed to avoid each other until Survivor Series.
Hart was the WWF Champion at the time and had just signed a contract with WCW the week prior. The WWE wanted Hart to drop the title to Michaels before leaving the company. Hart refused because he didn't want to lose the title in Canada and didn't want to put Shawn over.
Shawn, Bret and Vince agreed that the match would end in disqualification and thus Bret would retain the title. However, during the match Michaels put Hart in the Sharpshooter and Vince McMahon ran out to ringside and called for the bell. The bell rang, Shawn Michaels became the new WWF Champion and the "Attitude Era" was born.
