5 WWE Superstars who were unpopular backstage

Being a WWE Superstar is unlike any job in the world, but it is still a job. And like every other job, it's important to get along with your co-workers, so you may work together to produce something great.

In the history of WWE though, making friends backstage has often been easier said than done, as egos have often caused a Superstar to get a bad reputation. Some Superstars, such as a young Miz, were even kicked out of the locker-room because of their actions, though the A-Lister was thankfully let back into the sacred hall months later.

Whilst cases like The Miz's may be a rare occurrence, egos in wrestling are nothing new.

Here are five WWE Superstars who didn't make many friends backstage, and how the locker-room reacted to them.

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#5: Matt Striker

Striker worked in the WWE as a wrestler, then a commentator, before leaving in 2013.

When Matt Striker joined the WWE in the early 2000s, many saw him as this millennium's Dean Douglas.

A former educator who had been fired for using sick days to compete, Striker was probably used to not being liked by students, but things were way worse when he joined the WWE.

Originally working a dark match on RAW, Striker was sure he would be appearing full-time on the red brand, going as far as criticizing SmackDown, and it's stars.

So when Striker found himself backstage at the blue show, the former teacher wasn't a popular man.

Fortunately for Striker, he would eventually make friends with both locker-rooms and would have a quiet in-ring career, before becoming a much-beloved commentator who entertained fans with his rich deep knowledge of wrestling, before his eventual release years later.

#4: John 'Bradshaw' Layfield

JBL has been accused of hazing and bullying by over a dozen Superstars.

JBL may be a Wrestling God and a former WWE Champion, but he certainly made a lot of enemies backstage in the company. A notorious hazer, Layfield has made headlines throughout his career for all the wrong reasons, as many have called the Texan a bully.

There's certainly a lot of ammunition to these claims, such as when JBL delivered a very real beatdown to the Blue Meanie during the ECW One Night Stand 2005 event.

Even in recent years, the Triple Crown Champion hasn't shied away from controversy, as he harrassed Mauro Ranallo about an award the latter received, until the point where Ranallo quit the company.

In Bradshaw's defence, JBL has done plenty of charity work, including climbing seven summits to raise money for underprivileged kids in Burmuda. More details about the seven summits challenge can be found here.

#3: Buff Bagwell

Bagwell had just one match in the WWE when he took on Booker T.

If Buff Bagwell's career could be summed up in one sentence, it's this: No-one likes a mama's boy. With a great look and often heavily pushed, it's no surprise that Buff got an ego in, and whilst it may have been tolerated in WCW, things were very different in WWE.

Joining the company in 2001, Bagwell faced Booker T in the main event of RAW, for the WCW World Championship.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Bagwell reportedly faked an injury to get time off work, and even had his mother, a former WCW Tag Champion in her own right, to call in sick for him.

This irked the Superstars, and Bagwell was let go not long after, though has been a huge success on the indies, recently re-teaming with nWo members Scott Norton and X-Pac.

#2: Muhammad Hassan

Hassan was so unpopular that Superstars would refuse free drinks from him.

Upon reflection, Muhammad Hassan's gimmick of loving America, but hating the mistreatment of Arab Americans in a post-9/11 world had a lot of credence.

But whilst the fans hated Hassan on WWE TV, the man himself wasn't making many friends backstage with his actions. Confronting Eddie Guerrero backstage at the 2005 Royal Rumble, Hassan politely asked the former WWE Champion to stop using the Camel Clutch (Hassan's finisher). The problem? Eddie Guerrero's father Gory Guerrero just so happened to be the creator of the camel clutch.

Another infamous story just goes to prove how unpopular Hassan was, as when he once bought a round of drinks at a bar for his fellow SmackDown stars, everyone poured their drinks on the floor, and glared until he left.

Released not long after, Hassan would do great things outside of WWE, including writing an award-winning graphic novel with Cryme Tyme's Shad Gaspard called Assassin and Son.

#1: Shawn Michaels

HBK's ego would often get the better of him.

In 2019, Shawn Michaels is known for being a kind, quirky, deeply religious man. But before the Showstopper found his faith, Michaels was wildly unpopular backstage, though little could be done about it.

After capturing the WWF Championship in 1996, HBK's ego would grow, something Michaels has admitted to, and was made even bigger when he formed the Kliq.

With stars like Triple H, Diesel, Razor Ramon and X-Pac by his side, Michaels would make huge demands from the company, and would often get away with them, and reportedly tried to get those he didn't like fired.

This certainly couldn't have made the Kliq any friends backstage, though Shawn would change his life after he retired in 1998, finding God and becoming a new man.

Nowadays, Michaels remains one of the kindest, most honourable men in the WWE today.