5 WWE Superstars who reluctantly agreed to put someone over

Although win ratios are not as important in sports entertainment as they are in the sports world, some WWE Superstars have still been known to take their win-loss records very seriously.

Plenty of stories have emerged over the years about WWE Superstars outright refusing to lose against a certain opponent, with Steve Austin’s refusal to lose against Brock Lesnar in 2002 being the most famous example.

On that occasion, Austin did not want to lose against the up-and-coming WWE Superstar in a match that had no storyline build-up, so he no-showed RAW and ended up taking seven months off.

Now, unlike Austin, did you know that several WWE Superstars have found themselves in a similar situation to The Texas Rattlesnake, only they decided to show up and lose instead?

In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who reluctantly agreed to put someone else over.

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#5 Sycho Sid reluctantly agreed to lose to Bob Holly (WWE live event)

Sycho Sid worked for WWE in the 1990s

Two-time WWE WrestleMania main-eventer Sid Eudy (better known as Sid Vicious and Sycho Sid) agreed to lose against Bob Holly at a WWE live event in January 1996.

Sid, who had real-life issues with Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels behind the scenes at the time, was viewed as one of the top Superstars on the WWE roster. Holly, meanwhile, hardly ever appeared on WWE television and the majority of his WWE appearances came at live events.

Writing in his book, The Hardcore Truth: The Bob Holly Story, Holly implied that Nash and Michaels had politicked Sid out of WWE's main-event scene, which ultimately caused the six-foot-nine Superstar to quit after their match.

“In January of ‘96, they [Nash and Michaels] pushed it too far. He and I were traveling to the arena together and Sid came up to me after we’d arrived and said, ‘How do you wanna beat me?’ And I replied, ‘You’re f***ing with me, right?’ And he says, ‘No, we’re wrestling tonight and they want you over.’”

Holly said Sid considered it an insult that he had to lose against one of WWE’s perennial losers, but the two-time WWE Champion still agreed to go ahead with the match.

“I wasn’t offended that he was mad at having to lose to me. It was an insult to him. Here you have me, who loses to everyone all the time, and then you have Sid, this big monster, and he had to put me over clean.”

Following the match, Sid used a fake neck injury as an excuse to leave WWE. However, according to Holly, he was not hurt and he only wanted to leave because he was fed up of dealing with backstage politics.

Five months later, Sid agreed to return to WWE and he ended up headlining the following year’s WrestleMania against The Undertaker.

#4 Shawn Michaels reluctantly agreed to lose to Steve Austin (WWE WrestleMania 14)

Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels at WWE's biggest event of the year

Shawn Michaels did not compete in another WWE match for over four years after he lost the WWE Championship against Steve Austin in the main event of WrestleMania 14.

Heading into the match, Michaels was very difficult to deal with backstage - so much so that The Undertaker even taped up his fists and threatened to beat up his former on-screen rival if he sabotaged Austin’s big moment in any way.

Speaking on his Steve Austin Show podcast in 2018, The Texas Rattlesnake clarified that he did not have any animosity with Michaels when they worked together in WWE.

He did, however, acknowledge that Michaels was not in a good place at that time, and he remembers that The Heartbreak Kid did not want to lose the WWE Championship to him.

“He had a bad back and he wasn't thrilled about dropping the title, but he certainly did and he was a complete pro about it. But I do not remember getting a chance to shake his hand or talk about the match.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Austin added that, to this day, he has never had heat with Michaels. He also considers the two-time WWE Hall of Famer to be the greatest in-ring performer of all time.

#3 Chris Jericho reluctantly agreed to lose to Fandango (WWE WrestleMania 29)

Fandango caused one of the biggest upsets in WWE history when he defeated Chris Jericho on his main-roster debut at WrestleMania 29.

One year earlier, Jericho competed in a WWE Championship match against CM Punk at WrestleMania 28. He also racked up countless WrestleMania moments in the previous decade, including a main-event appearance at WrestleMania 18 against Triple H.

Writing in his 2017 book, No Is a Four-Letter Word, the nine-time WWE Intercontinental Champion said he did not want to face Fandango but he reluctantly agreed to go ahead with the match after some words of advice from WWE colleague The Undertaker.

Jericho added that he was under the impression that he was going to win the match, only to be told that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon wanted him to lose.

“A few days before Mania, producer Dean Malenko called to tell me (much to my shock) that the finish was Fandango going over clean, and I went berserk. I called Vince and started screaming that I was sick of this double-crossing bulls***! It was bad enough that he had changed my Mania match to Fandango, but now he was changing the finish too?”

Although Jericho made his feelings quite clear behind the scenes, he stayed professional in front of WWE's cameras and, as requested, he put over Fandango at WrestleMania.

#2 The Undertaker reluctantly agreed to lose to Mark Henry (WWE WrestleMania 22)

Eight years before Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker at WWE WrestleMania 30, Mark Henry attempted to conquer The Deadman’s legendary undefeated streak at WrestleMania 22 in 2006.

Speaking on his Something to Wrestle With podcast in 2019, WWE director Bruce Prichard recalled that Vince McMahon originally wanted Henry to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania.

“I was sitting at my desk in Houston and Vince calls me and says, 'I've got an idea. What do you think about ending Undertaker's streak?' I said, 'Well, with the right guy he's made.' He says, 'God damn, that big b***ard Mark Henry - he's ready!' There was silence.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Prichard also confirmed that The Undertaker reluctantly agreed to McMahon's idea, as he is usually happy to go along with anything that the WWE Chairman asks of him.

“[Undertaker] came back and said, 'OK, if that's what you guys want to do - if that's really what Vince wants.’ Vince, as we got closer to it, got cold feet, I guess, and just realized that maybe Mark wasn't ready at that time for it.”

While the match still ended up happening, The Undertaker picked up the victory to extend his WrestleMania undefeated streak to 14-0.

The iconic WWE Superstar went on to defeat Batista, Edge, Shawn Michaels (x2), Triple H (x2), and CM Punk at WrestleMania events between 2007 and 2013. He then finally lost on WWE’s biggest stage against Lesnar in 2014.

#1 Kurt Angle reluctantly agreed to lose to Baron Corbin (WWE WrestleMania 35)

Kurt Angle’s legendary WWE career did not end in the way that he hoped it would.

The Olympic Gold medallist was originally supposed to retire from in-ring competition in 2020, possibly against John Cena at WWE WrestleMania 36.

However, he knew that his body was going to struggle to compete for another year, so he asked Vince McMahon in 2019 if he could retire at WrestleMania 35 instead.

While McMahon agreed to the request, he wanted Angle to finish his storyline with Baron Corbin at WrestleMania.

The former authority figures feuded for almost a year in the build-up to 'Mania, with one of their most memorable segments coming in October 2018 when Angle dressed up as The Conquistador to eliminate Corbin from a Battle Royal.

Speaking in a Facebook Q&A, Angle selected his WrestleMania 35 retirement match when he was asked to name a match outcome that he wishes he could have changed.

“Honestly? My WrestleMania 35 match. I would have liked to go out with a win, but I understand why it didn't occur. Many people believe that I should have had a different opponent. Maybe. Maybe not.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Even though he wanted to win, Angle admitted that he would not have played his role properly if he defeated a younger WWE Superstar on his way out.