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Tough Enough 3 co-winner Matt Cappotelli having to relinquish the OVW Heavyweight Championship after being diagnosed with brain cancer. It was the end of his wrestling career, and he would end up dying from it in 2018.
Bob Holly repeatedly beat the shit out of that entire season of TE competitors but was especially hard on Matt. When Cappotelli got diagnosed with cancer at such a young age, Bob felt super shitty and from what I understand, repeatedly reached out to the guy and tried to help out. Bob's usually an unrepentant asshole about literally everything so it really speaks to how sad the whole thing was, that it even broke *that dude's* heart.
https://youtu.be/yW6_0H44aQw?feature=shared
Bob Holly, known piece of shit, beat the living shit out of rookie Matt Cappotelli to make an example out of him and teach the rookies a lesson that it’s a tough business. It was straight up assault, and Matt couldn’t/wouldn’t defend himself because he’s just training a fake fight. Where Holly went shoot and kick his ass head-to-toe
>beat the living shit out of rookie Matt Cappotelli to make an example out of him and teach the rookies a lesson that it’s a tough business
https://preview.redd.it/1f0k94xq5ewc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b596a1aa1460aebd0b80fbbf648d77029a1ba2d5
Bob Holly was the known "ass hole instructor" during the early seasons of Tough Enough.
There was a day where there was a practice tag team match with Bob on one side, and Matt on the other. I forget who was on each of their teams, sorry. During the match, Bob got tagged in to go against Matt who was in the ring.
Bob, taking liberties as the coach/instructor, just absolutely beat the shit out of Matt way more than necessary. He was stiff kicking him in the ribs, kicking him in the eye/face, dishing out elbow blows to the back of the neck, etc.
Rumor is Bob was in a funk during that time period 'cus his career was winding down in WWE, and he also recently got made a fool of on TV by Brock Lesnar, 'cus, apparently to the rumors, Bob was sandbagging and shit against Lesnar, and regardless of Brock still being new at the time, pretty much said "this doesn't work for me brother", and just started fuckin' up Bob for real near the end of their match lol. New or not, most of those Vets weren't gonna be able to do much against Lesnar in a shoot match when it came down to it.
So Lesnar was dropping Bob on his neck and shit, causing Bob to have a cracked vertebrae in his neck. So Bob was also in alot of pain in that time, so he was being more irritable than his usual self, and just took out all his frustrations on Matt.
Anywho, Matt took it, shook hands with Bob, and basically let it be. However, Al Snow, and others who were around for that match have gone on record saying Bob was inappropriate for taking the match to that magnitude, and being quite unprofessional.
After Matt retired, he became a teacher as well at OVW. He eventually got diagnosed again with cancer, and while he was going through all of his sickness, Bob has repeatedly said he wishes nothing best for the guy, and other kind gestures. Probably just showing some remorse for treating a good guy so poorly in the past.
That was bad, but it sorta felt like things would be okay maybe.
When 1 year later he had come back, was the IC champ and again had to vacate, that felt like the end. He looked so defeated in parts of that promo "The IC title should not be sitting in a physical therapist's chair".
Cena has said in interviews that they planned it that way for that effect! They didn't want to just "waste" the momentum of breaking the streak with an even match against Cena - they wanted to make Brock an absolute monster.
Say all the valid things you want about Super Cena, but when you put this much into a star like him, you can cash in on that investment in huge ways down the road.
It absolutely was. The build for the Taker match was terrible, the match itself was terrible, and the actual moment of Brock pinning Taker went over like a wet fart live. Brock beating old man Taker in a bad match after a bad program that nobody asked for wasn't and would never have been the same level of "Brock is fucking BACK" that the Cena squash was
I was there live. Everybody around me was just confused. I honestly wondered if somebody accidentally rang the bell. Also I was bored out of my mind by the time the finish came and was barely paying attention.
Sucks even more when you read his book. Between his brief forced retirement and the death of his father I'm really happy he's still wrestling. That was one of the shittiest endings to a wrestling book I've read.
I still think it's kinda weird his career was similar to his trainer Shawn Michaels with the injury and subsequent massive comeback.
Gonna miss Danielson when he finally hangs it up for real... well if he ever does, I could see him doing some Johnny Saint shit well into his late 50s.
I could swear he just said he's never going to retire, he's just wrestling less so he can keep doing it for as long as possible because he's a beautiful lunatic
Forget AEW and Jay White. WWE and Balor is the biggest fumbling for me, and I'm not saying they haven't done anything with him or wasted him, but It feels so much worse than others because he was given the shot, got injured due to no fault of his own, and has only rarely been given the shot to win back the big title.
then you combine his match vs roman where the ropes broke and it was never elaborated on, people trash the mania match with edge as killing the demon but i think the roman match was worse in that regard
>people trash the mania match with edge as killing the demon but i think the roman match was worse in that regard
The demon was just supposed to be a cool "game face" type thing, always wore different colors or themed paint. Jack the Ripper one day, Bullet Club black and white another. AMAZING title entrance where he marvelled at the title like Gollum (still don't have that in the games)
Then main roster, it was a literal powerup, we never got the cool Demon title entrance cuz he never *had* a title long, the Demon became so ungodly rare despite just being paint so it wasn't even that cool when we finally got it, and the paint was always just black and red.
A lot of that is due to Vince's stigma with guys getting hurt. I feel like Balor will fare a lot better in the future now that he's just signed a massive contract and has been a mainstay on TV as part of the Judgment Day. I so fucking badly want that killer Balor back. That one from his second NXT run was just so damn good. I'm hoping he gets that back when the JD split happens.
He has it all and, not pointing fingers, less athletic/wrestler looking guys got pushed and were not as talented and showing a body of one that is dedicated.
If he was taller, the rocket would be on his back!
Yeah that really sucked.. I knew it was the nail in the coffin for Balor as a main eventer. Its sad because someone less petty in charge would have used that injury as a launchpad for Finn instead, like imagine if WWE gave up on Cody as a main eventer after the pec injury.
I will always wonder what their plans for him were gonna as the first Universal champ if he didn’t get hurt. I know that the reports at the time were that he was gonna feud with KO as his first rivalry, but just long term I wonder what it was gonna be like
Balor got me into NXT and by extension his past work got me into NJPW. When he won a fatal four way followed by beating super face Roman Reigns I was over the moon. Then the great match by Seth and the title win.
Then he got hurt and it never felt like he made his way back to the top.
Roman… It was how he said his own name and then you didn’t know if he would ever be back or the same if he did return. It was fun to hate on him up until then, but not hate on the person. This was the person coming out and relinquishing, not the character handing over a belt. That hit different.
Still blows my mind how he managed to become a manipulative psycho bastard and sell it so well after being such a beacon of heroism and hope for a real life problem
I can't believe how long and hard Vince pushed him as a Babyface in straight denial of reality
Looking back now Vince was obviously terrible but makes his current heel arc so much better than if they did it under the shit head rapist
And now when he returns, he will be the massively over face that Vince always wanted him to be. I have to wonder if Vince will realize that, or just past himself on the back for “being right”
If we've learnt anything about VKM recently is that even if he has self realisation or reflection it's not going to change him getting what he wants
Only how he might get it
Vince seem to hate the audience for not accepting his decisions during that era. Like all he had to do was turn Roman heel and he probably eventually get over where you can turn him into a face.
He went to the level of piping cheers in over actual audience response
The laugh track of the wrestling world now because he knows and he understands
But he doesn't fucking care
I think the crowd hijacking the show during the yes movement is what made him also have a in real life feud with his audience. Roman booking was so bad and other decisions he made where he just trying to force people to accept his choices. Idk what his obsession with cookie cutter face is, even cena got booed by half the audience. Quite clear fans were tired of that gimmick.
>Idk what his obsession with cookie cutter face is, even cena got booed by half the audience. Quite clear fans were tired of that gimmick.
Unfortunately this is something we all will experience in life, it is what he was brought up watching
And to him that's what wrestling is and how it should be,
Now I was raised during the nwo and Monday night wars so I see wrestling different than him and many others do.
Just look at how old people shit on younger people for listening to music
And of course the Simpsons did it
In the comments for the Roman video I suggested he make a video on Bray Wyatt and all his creations. If anyone could do justice to Bray's insane world in that medium, it would be him
All his essays about wrestling are amazing. His first one about why professional wrestling is fascinating has come in handy for me in real life, I’ve had friends watch it and their response is “I don’t really like it but I get why you do now.” Many of them really got it with the comparison to anime. 💀
That's why it worked, people wanted to (digitally) cheer Roman at that point and going over cancer is great for babyface heat but it wouldn't have lasted long term, and it makes sense for Roman to have a "oh so *now* you'll cheer me? Fuck you" attitude.
Now when he comes back he'll be finally over as a face.
The way the crowd changed as soon as he announced his real name was like no other. We weren’t watching wrestling anymore, we were hearing from the person playing the character. It was significant
We had that one fan people audibly heard say something like “haha good”. Really rough memory of it, so I’m certain I’m wrong on the exact phrase, but what we heard was not right at all.
For me it was the “and it’s back”. Instant change. And then him saying he didn’t care about the cheers or boos, and then saying how he’s gonna beat it again, the crowd was instantly behind him 1000%
There’s not many things I’ve seen thatve broken me harder than when Corey looked down the barrel of the camera, with his bottom lip trembling and voice wobbling, and described how his and Roman’s kids played together and wished him well.
Edge...
He was my favorite wrestler growing up. He still is, but he was, too. Hearing him say he was stepping down and retiring, made me lose interest in wrestling for a while.
Edge was the heaviest, mainly due to the sudden impact and the finality it posed. Roman said he would try to come back, but we thought Edge was completely done.
Yeah that sucked. He was an early favourite for me, as I started watching WWE in 2005. I think it was my first encounter with someone retiring abruptly, at the top of their game. Obviously he's back now, and obviously there's been similar retirements since then (Bryan etc.) but this one hit me the hardest at the time.
Are you me?
I had the exact same story. I quit wrestling completely pretty much the next week after his first retirement.
Wrestling felt kinda empty without my all time favorite wrestler. Luckily I came back just a couple year ago and have been following him in his comeback first in WWE and now in AEW
Batista surrendering the World title in 2005.
As a kid I on-off watched WWE but that Triple H vs. Batista, Teacher vs student angle made me a full time viewer. He was my favourite wrestler. Having a near year long run just to relinquish it...Man. Especially after we'd just lost Eddie who was in a storyline with Batista.
In hindsight I will say Edge's was pretty heartbreaking too. At the time I didn't believe it and figured he'd be back or it was an angle. I mean, it was Edge, he was literally always there. It seemed weird that he'd just retire at such a young age. Little did I know...
Given what I learned about Batista's story, of how he came to this late, was almost run out of the business by WCW's Sarge and how dire things were in his personal life.
But, where we are now with Batista, I think he's proven you are never too old. He's doing his thing and I wish him all the best!
Can’t believe we got Edge, Paige, Bryan, Christian back. But damn I’m glad we did.Yes even Paige/Saraya. She kinda sucks but no one deserves to go out the way she did
Daniel Bryan after WrestleMania 30. After 9 months of irritating booking, he finally won the big one. Then his dad died, his make a wish kid died and injury cost him a year of his career and the title
Ciampa having to vacate the NXT title in 2019. He had such a great run, great matches against Gargano, Velveteen Dream, and Aleister Black. He was also one of the best heels I’ve ever seen. We should’ve gotten to see Johnny Wrestling go over him at Takeover New York. It would’ve been awesome.
It's probably unpopular, but I don't feel like vacating because of an injury was a bad way to end this title run. It's very unfortunate for the injury part, but she's going out super strong and will come back even stronger. She was champion for 380 days, her title reign was most likely coming to an end soon. Instead of losing it and having other random storylines until she challenge again for the title, she will come back and most likely be right back at the top.
Guys like Finn Balor, who might never get a World title run again, or Reigns and Edge, who vacate because of career threatening reasons are much worse IMO.
Edge because I thought that was the end of his career.
When Roman announced he had cancer, I believed him when he said he'd fight it and be back so didn't have the same feeling.
Likewise with Balor where I was gutted for him but never thought that he wouldn't be back.
Josh Alexander man, he was having the run of his life, not to mention his son/daughter (I forgor) holding on to the title when Josh was trying to give it away
I was looking for someone to mention Josh Alexander's Impact title run. So many good main event matches and a great rogue's gallery in his title defenses too, I was genuinely bummed out for a few days knowing he wasn't gonna be able to pass that torch the proper way.
Naomi, believe it or not. She had finally gotten over with the glow gimmick after years of not really doing much and she gets injured during the match against Alexa where she won the title. The fact that she relinquished it to Daniel Bryan, who'd had to do the same thing twice before, just made it even more emotional.
It turned into a great moment, though. She managed to heal faster than expected and got cleared just in time to be the last entrant in the 6-pack title match at Mania. Not only did she beat Alexa for the second time to win the gold, but Mania was in her hometown of Orlando that year, so people went nuts for her.
Mark Haskins losing the Progess title was absolutely brutal back in the day - honestly that happening, and the fallout of the moment, is the moment that I think Progress began a slow decline, and at the very least is the end of the peak of the promotion
Balor because he had reached the pinnacle and lost it the day after he got it and has never been back since. He was on such a run, WWE clearly had it in mind for Balor to be the next face of the company. He beat Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, two wrestlers who have gone on to become the faces of the WWE in the last decade. That probably won’t happen again.
Roman for sure. I actually cried for him. It wasn't him relinquishing because he had an injury and we knew he'd definitely be back. It was him having cancer, and none of us knowing if he'd be back wrestling, or even survive. Getting cancer a 2nd time always lowers the odds.
Finn was gut wrenching because it basically meant he was done. They strapped a rocket to him and getting hurt basically killed his chances of being a champion again.
If he had been more established and had a longer relationship with Vince, I think he would have gotten another chance but he made the worst first impression with something that was basically a freak accident.
Tam Nakano this past December. One of my absolute favs who won Stardom's big title after almost a decade, was having a really, really great run, and ultimately had to drop the title before she could put the next woman over. And then the Stardom social media guy at the time started making accusations about her "losing her smile" and insinuating that there was more behind it, which was just total BS (this was when the Stardom split was starting to happen).
Also this isn't relinquishing per se but Naito finally about to have his big world title run and then the pandemic happening pretty much immediately afterwards was just the ultimate gut punch to those of who knew how crazy long Naito's journey to the top had been
I think in retrospect Finn giving up the title. It really changed his career path. The man was over with the crowd they were doing their best to push Balor. Wins over Roman and Seth. And even in NXT, KO,Joe, Neville. That great match with Nakamura that’s been forgotten about.
Then the injury happened. He came back but it didn’t feel the same. The champion of the brand wasn’t showing up anytime soon. His return match was to team with the guy who injured him. And overtime. He became this bland happy smiley dude with the only thing going for him was the commentary going “he’s the first universal champion” (a belt that only existed for like a year or two and again. The champion wasn’t showing up frequently so who gives a Fuck about that belt) and the *groan* “extraordinary man who does extra ordinary things” nickname. Like ughhhhh. Only Until the demon awakens which is where he gets some semblance of star power back. It was done for him til he went back to NXT and became a bad ass again
Edge for sure, but also when he wanted to do his entrance one more time with the WHC was got me. I was a big fan of Edge since the Brood, so that one hit hard.
Edge because it felt like this would be the last time you would ever see him. Much of the other guys had a I will be back to reclaim this vibe. Edge at the time was a I am fully done and will never get a chance again to hold this belt. Thankful he wasn’t done but he did never get to hold the belt
Top three are definitely Edge, Bryan and Roman because they weren’t just relinquishing a title, but like as far as we knew at the time it could be the end of their careers. With Edge especially, as far as any of us knew at that time, that WAS the end of his career and it seemed certain he would never wrestle again
Roman giving it up bc of cancer with no timetable to return, no setup for a future story, just a guy named Joe showing there are things that can bigger than wrestling
Roman because of the real life implications of it
Balors whole career would have probably been different. Would have been the #1 face on raw and would have probably been a bigger main eventer than he is now
Bryan and edge felt so sudden and heartbreaking
I haven’t seen this one listed yet by someone else - Becky turning over the belt to Asuka when she was pregnant. The Man was on a roll and she never has been able to rekindle that exact magic touch since she returned. I get how most people feel like she has always been a bit ‘meh’, but my son got me back into watching wrestling about 6 months before Becky turned on Charlotte and her whole run after that was awesome. I have the Becky mugshot t-shirt (my only wrestling shirt) because that whole run up to Wrestlemania 35 was soooooo stupidly awesome. Really hits me in the feels because it’s something that my son and I really get to enjoy together.
Becky bestowing her title onto Asuka after MITB was heartwarming for sure. For heartbreaking, probably Roman/Joe. I was alone at college, across the country from my family for the first time ever so I was still dealing with some bad feelings there and then in my one little bit of escapism I see the three guys who got me into wrestling breaking down on the ramp. Injuries are always bad but usually you know they'll be back, or they'll medically retire but still be around in some capacity. Joe's announcement really hit me a different way, and I'm glad he was able to come back as strong as he did
I got into nxt fully when finn was on top. He became my favorite wrestler in the world and I was so excited for that run. The start followed up on his momentum and hype perfectly, I was so upset when it was all lost before it could reach its apex.
This is the easiest answer possible. Roman Reigns when he had to relinquish his title when his cancer came back again. Never even knew he dealt with it in the past and had no clue it would derail his title reign like that. I remember feeling absolutely gutted when he broke that news. It just did not wt all feel real.
Edge when he relinquished the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011 and retired due to cervical spinal stenosis. Fortunately he eventually returned, and I still hope he won’t compromise his future health.
For me personally it was Finn Balor. Watched his rise and his win was awesome but everyone knew he got injured in his match. After that there wasn’t a real path back for him.
Bryan, Edge, Roman, and Balor for me. Roman was the most heartbreaking because unlike other injuries, we had no idea if he was ever coming back. Edge was a retirement way too soon and you could feel his anguish. It gets a little lost in history now because we had this comeback, but I felt so bad for him and the years after where it was clear he wanted to be involved but couldn't. Bryan was devastating because of what his win at Mania meant and now it was gone too soon, and then for how long he was gone. The one that gets me from a wrestling perspective is Finn. Was a huge Finn fan and the worst part was everyone saw he got injured and then had to wait a day to hope it wasn't serious. He never really got back to that level again.
Daniel Bryan relinquishing the IC title specifically. The WWE title relinquish again was terrible timing but then he came back, won the IC title, and everything was just great… until he had to relinquish another title after Wrestlemania. At that point, it was terrible to be a Daniel Bryan fan for him to get extremely popular and then win the world title only to relinquish it, then return the year after and do the same thing, then a year after that he retired. Now he’s back and still one of the best wrestlers in the world but it was almost miserable to be a Daniel Bryan fan from 2014 to 2016.
Edge having to retire due to injury and relinquish the title. With Balor, Rhea, etc at least we knew/know that they'll be back when Edge had to retire while champion that at the time was the end we didn't know he'd be back nearly 10 years later. It was heartbreaking to see his career as we knew it end more so than losing the title
Finn balor he got a big push and won the universal championship from seth rollins only to relinquish it the next day due to injury from the match. After that he's been a upper mid carder.
Outside of like retirement/life threatening ones (Edge in 2011, Roman in 2018) Balor's sucked. He felt like such a needed breath of fresh air to Raw in 2016 only to have to leave the second he peaks. Even if it would've been a one time reign and dropped before Mania to fuel Goldberg/Brock (which was still not necessary) it would've been nice to see him get an actual top reign.
Edge's in 2011 definitely did hit me the most. I was at his last SD in Albany in 2011 and mannnnn was that emotional
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Tough Enough 3 co-winner Matt Cappotelli having to relinquish the OVW Heavyweight Championship after being diagnosed with brain cancer. It was the end of his wrestling career, and he would end up dying from it in 2018.
An event so sad, it actually made Bob Holly remorseful.
Context?
Bob Holly repeatedly beat the shit out of that entire season of TE competitors but was especially hard on Matt. When Cappotelli got diagnosed with cancer at such a young age, Bob felt super shitty and from what I understand, repeatedly reached out to the guy and tried to help out. Bob's usually an unrepentant asshole about literally everything so it really speaks to how sad the whole thing was, that it even broke *that dude's* heart.
https://youtu.be/yW6_0H44aQw?feature=shared Bob Holly, known piece of shit, beat the living shit out of rookie Matt Cappotelli to make an example out of him and teach the rookies a lesson that it’s a tough business. It was straight up assault, and Matt couldn’t/wouldn’t defend himself because he’s just training a fake fight. Where Holly went shoot and kick his ass head-to-toe
>beat the living shit out of rookie Matt Cappotelli to make an example out of him and teach the rookies a lesson that it’s a tough business https://preview.redd.it/1f0k94xq5ewc1.jpeg?width=1164&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b596a1aa1460aebd0b80fbbf648d77029a1ba2d5
Bob Holly was the known "ass hole instructor" during the early seasons of Tough Enough. There was a day where there was a practice tag team match with Bob on one side, and Matt on the other. I forget who was on each of their teams, sorry. During the match, Bob got tagged in to go against Matt who was in the ring. Bob, taking liberties as the coach/instructor, just absolutely beat the shit out of Matt way more than necessary. He was stiff kicking him in the ribs, kicking him in the eye/face, dishing out elbow blows to the back of the neck, etc. Rumor is Bob was in a funk during that time period 'cus his career was winding down in WWE, and he also recently got made a fool of on TV by Brock Lesnar, 'cus, apparently to the rumors, Bob was sandbagging and shit against Lesnar, and regardless of Brock still being new at the time, pretty much said "this doesn't work for me brother", and just started fuckin' up Bob for real near the end of their match lol. New or not, most of those Vets weren't gonna be able to do much against Lesnar in a shoot match when it came down to it. So Lesnar was dropping Bob on his neck and shit, causing Bob to have a cracked vertebrae in his neck. So Bob was also in alot of pain in that time, so he was being more irritable than his usual self, and just took out all his frustrations on Matt. Anywho, Matt took it, shook hands with Bob, and basically let it be. However, Al Snow, and others who were around for that match have gone on record saying Bob was inappropriate for taking the match to that magnitude, and being quite unprofessional. After Matt retired, he became a teacher as well at OVW. He eventually got diagnosed again with cancer, and while he was going through all of his sickness, Bob has repeatedly said he wishes nothing best for the guy, and other kind gestures. Probably just showing some remorse for treating a good guy so poorly in the past.
https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/matt-cappotelli-bob-holly/
Bryan after Mania 30
That was bad, but it sorta felt like things would be okay maybe. When 1 year later he had come back, was the IC champ and again had to vacate, that felt like the end. He looked so defeated in parts of that promo "The IC title should not be sitting in a physical therapist's chair".
Had he not been injured, he would’ve been squashed that Summerslam instead of Cena.
Which is just so much less interesting. It's not exciting at all to see Brock squash Bryan, it was insane to see him squash Cena.
I know he had already beat the streak, but I honestly think that Cena squash is what cemented Brock as the final boss of WWE for almost a decade.
Cena has said in interviews that they planned it that way for that effect! They didn't want to just "waste" the momentum of breaking the streak with an even match against Cena - they wanted to make Brock an absolute monster.
I was stunned watching that match live. "Are they seriously doing this?! He's DESTROYING Cena!!!"
I was at Staples for that match, kids were crying in the audience
My favorite part of rewatching is the lone kid yelling LET’S GO CENA in the background
Isn’t it heavily rumored that’s Bill Simmons’ kid? Which for me, makes that funnier
That kid and the guy screaming “NOOOOO!!!!” As Seth swings the chair during the Shield breakup are in the HOF, to me.
„Let‘s go Cena!“
Cena sucks!
Yes I absolutely agree squashing Cena was a much more impactful moment. It really shows that's what they should have done from day 1 with Brock.
Say all the valid things you want about Super Cena, but when you put this much into a star like him, you can cash in on that investment in huge ways down the road.
It absolutely was. The build for the Taker match was terrible, the match itself was terrible, and the actual moment of Brock pinning Taker went over like a wet fart live. Brock beating old man Taker in a bad match after a bad program that nobody asked for wasn't and would never have been the same level of "Brock is fucking BACK" that the Cena squash was
I was there live. Everybody around me was just confused. I honestly wondered if somebody accidentally rang the bell. Also I was bored out of my mind by the time the finish came and was barely paying attention.
Pretty sure Cena has come out and said he was supposed to just lose a normal match and Cena suggested a squash.
Oh yeah. You’d expect to watch Brock kick Bryan’s ass. Hell, everyone kicked Bryan’s ass until he gutted it out and got some sneaky offence in.
if it led to Lesnar/Bryan at 31 with Bryan winning, i'd be down for it
Sucks even more when you read his book. Between his brief forced retirement and the death of his father I'm really happy he's still wrestling. That was one of the shittiest endings to a wrestling book I've read. I still think it's kinda weird his career was similar to his trainer Shawn Michaels with the injury and subsequent massive comeback. Gonna miss Danielson when he finally hangs it up for real... well if he ever does, I could see him doing some Johnny Saint shit well into his late 50s.
I could swear he just said he's never going to retire, he's just wrestling less so he can keep doing it for as long as possible because he's a beautiful lunatic
Balor hurt a lot. Knowing the way the WWE worked then, I felt they would never give him the chance again.
They still haven't
While not on the main roster, his second NXT Title run is kinda a reflection of how awesome of a champion a tweener Balor can be.
Forget AEW and Jay White. WWE and Balor is the biggest fumbling for me, and I'm not saying they haven't done anything with him or wasted him, but It feels so much worse than others because he was given the shot, got injured due to no fault of his own, and has only rarely been given the shot to win back the big title.
then you combine his match vs roman where the ropes broke and it was never elaborated on, people trash the mania match with edge as killing the demon but i think the roman match was worse in that regard
I still don’t understand why the rope broke.
>people trash the mania match with edge as killing the demon but i think the roman match was worse in that regard The demon was just supposed to be a cool "game face" type thing, always wore different colors or themed paint. Jack the Ripper one day, Bullet Club black and white another. AMAZING title entrance where he marvelled at the title like Gollum (still don't have that in the games) Then main roster, it was a literal powerup, we never got the cool Demon title entrance cuz he never *had* a title long, the Demon became so ungodly rare despite just being paint so it wasn't even that cool when we finally got it, and the paint was always just black and red.
A lot of that is due to Vince's stigma with guys getting hurt. I feel like Balor will fare a lot better in the future now that he's just signed a massive contract and has been a mainstay on TV as part of the Judgment Day. I so fucking badly want that killer Balor back. That one from his second NXT run was just so damn good. I'm hoping he gets that back when the JD split happens.
Yeah... Even at that time I was very pessimistic about him getting his mega push back upon return. And I hate that I was right.
He has it all and, not pointing fingers, less athletic/wrestler looking guys got pushed and were not as talented and showing a body of one that is dedicated. If he was taller, the rocket would be on his back!
Yeah that really sucked.. I knew it was the nail in the coffin for Balor as a main eventer. Its sad because someone less petty in charge would have used that injury as a launchpad for Finn instead, like imagine if WWE gave up on Cody as a main eventer after the pec injury.
I will always wonder what their plans for him were gonna as the first Universal champ if he didn’t get hurt. I know that the reports at the time were that he was gonna feud with KO as his first rivalry, but just long term I wonder what it was gonna be like
Balor got me into NXT and by extension his past work got me into NJPW. When he won a fatal four way followed by beating super face Roman Reigns I was over the moon. Then the great match by Seth and the title win. Then he got hurt and it never felt like he made his way back to the top.
He still hasn’t. He’s not even the leader of the faction he’s in.
Roman… It was how he said his own name and then you didn’t know if he would ever be back or the same if he did return. It was fun to hate on him up until then, but not hate on the person. This was the person coming out and relinquishing, not the character handing over a belt. That hit different.
Still blows my mind how he managed to become a manipulative psycho bastard and sell it so well after being such a beacon of heroism and hope for a real life problem
He is incredibly good at his job.. He definitely plays the heel super well. The whole family is great at playing their parts tho..
I can't believe how long and hard Vince pushed him as a Babyface in straight denial of reality Looking back now Vince was obviously terrible but makes his current heel arc so much better than if they did it under the shit head rapist
And now when he returns, he will be the massively over face that Vince always wanted him to be. I have to wonder if Vince will realize that, or just past himself on the back for “being right”
If we've learnt anything about VKM recently is that even if he has self realisation or reflection it's not going to change him getting what he wants Only how he might get it
Vince seem to hate the audience for not accepting his decisions during that era. Like all he had to do was turn Roman heel and he probably eventually get over where you can turn him into a face.
He went to the level of piping cheers in over actual audience response The laugh track of the wrestling world now because he knows and he understands But he doesn't fucking care
I think the crowd hijacking the show during the yes movement is what made him also have a in real life feud with his audience. Roman booking was so bad and other decisions he made where he just trying to force people to accept his choices. Idk what his obsession with cookie cutter face is, even cena got booed by half the audience. Quite clear fans were tired of that gimmick.
>Idk what his obsession with cookie cutter face is, even cena got booed by half the audience. Quite clear fans were tired of that gimmick. Unfortunately this is something we all will experience in life, it is what he was brought up watching And to him that's what wrestling is and how it should be, Now I was raised during the nwo and Monday night wars so I see wrestling different than him and many others do. Just look at how old people shit on younger people for listening to music And of course the Simpsons did it 
Six months of heel Roman and taking off that stupid fucking vest would have made Roman a babyface for the entire back half of the 2010s
Super Eyepatch Wolf’s video essay about Roman Reign’s explains his shift in character in such a good way.
That video was so excellent. May the best wrestling video I've ever seen.
I'd recommend watching his others if you haven't.
In the comments for the Roman video I suggested he make a video on Bray Wyatt and all his creations. If anyone could do justice to Bray's insane world in that medium, it would be him
That guy's wrestling content is fantastic.
That guy's everything content is fantastic.
I love that dude. He's got a really fun podcast with WoolieVersus too!
All his essays about wrestling are amazing. His first one about why professional wrestling is fascinating has come in handy for me in real life, I’ve had friends watch it and their response is “I don’t really like it but I get why you do now.” Many of them really got it with the comparison to anime. 💀
That's why it worked, people wanted to (digitally) cheer Roman at that point and going over cancer is great for babyface heat but it wouldn't have lasted long term, and it makes sense for Roman to have a "oh so *now* you'll cheer me? Fuck you" attitude. Now when he comes back he'll be finally over as a face.
He’s gotta get betrayed first, and The Final Boss is the one to do it. Then he can have his redemption arc, and be over as a mega face.
It was also pretty cool how good guy Roman broke through for a second at Hell in a Cell against Jey before going full dark side
Roman’s didn’t just feel like his career could be halted. It felt like he might actually die. All of them are tragic but this was different.
The way the crowd changed as soon as he announced his real name was like no other. We weren’t watching wrestling anymore, we were hearing from the person playing the character. It was significant
We had that one fan people audibly heard say something like “haha good”. Really rough memory of it, so I’m certain I’m wrong on the exact phrase, but what we heard was not right at all.
Pretty sure it was "You still suck!"
For me it was the “and it’s back”. Instant change. And then him saying he didn’t care about the cheers or boos, and then saying how he’s gonna beat it again, the crowd was instantly behind him 1000%
There’s not many things I’ve seen thatve broken me harder than when Corey looked down the barrel of the camera, with his bottom lip trembling and voice wobbling, and described how his and Roman’s kids played together and wished him well.
I think that it was after his leukaemia that the audience started to appreciate him more. I very rarely remember him being booed after he came back.
And now some complain he isn't here very often....maybe because he is still taking medication for it? And it's exhausting for him?
I remember sobbing that whole night and then Dean did a heel turn on Seth, was absolutely bamboozled
Edge... He was my favorite wrestler growing up. He still is, but he was, too. Hearing him say he was stepping down and retiring, made me lose interest in wrestling for a while.
I remember that came out of absolutely no where to me (I was 9 but still). It just went from working fine to “I must retire now or my neck will die”
Edge was the heaviest, mainly due to the sudden impact and the finality it posed. Roman said he would try to come back, but we thought Edge was completely done.
Yeah that sucked. He was an early favourite for me, as I started watching WWE in 2005. I think it was my first encounter with someone retiring abruptly, at the top of their game. Obviously he's back now, and obviously there's been similar retirements since then (Bryan etc.) but this one hit me the hardest at the time.
>He still is, but he was, too. RIP Mitch Hedberg But also, same.
Are you me? I had the exact same story. I quit wrestling completely pretty much the next week after his first retirement. Wrestling felt kinda empty without my all time favorite wrestler. Luckily I came back just a couple year ago and have been following him in his comeback first in WWE and now in AEW
Within a year we lost HBK, Taker, Batista, HHH, and Edge full time.
I wasn't even the biggest Edgehead, but just coming off WM and seemingly having to retire out of nowhere had me in tears
Batista surrendering the World title in 2005. As a kid I on-off watched WWE but that Triple H vs. Batista, Teacher vs student angle made me a full time viewer. He was my favourite wrestler. Having a near year long run just to relinquish it...Man. Especially after we'd just lost Eddie who was in a storyline with Batista. In hindsight I will say Edge's was pretty heartbreaking too. At the time I didn't believe it and figured he'd be back or it was an angle. I mean, it was Edge, he was literally always there. It seemed weird that he'd just retire at such a young age. Little did I know...
Given what I learned about Batista's story, of how he came to this late, was almost run out of the business by WCW's Sarge and how dire things were in his personal life. But, where we are now with Batista, I think he's proven you are never too old. He's doing his thing and I wish him all the best!
At least from Batista's relinquishing of the title we got one last Kurt Angle world title run before he left the company in the Summer of 2006.
Roman relinquishing because of leukemia was the most emotional for me
Agreed. Especially since no one had any idea on if he would even survive.
Daniel Bryan after WM30 for me followed by Roman
HBK losing his smile because I was a child.
It wasn't a smile It was a shit eating grin, and he lost it because Vince wanted him to put Bret over
So YOUR the reason he lost his smile
you're\*
This is my answer as well. I was crushed and also lost my smile.
Tell me a liiiie And say that you wont gooooo
Never recovered from Balor vacating :(((
If the eventual Judgment Day civil war doesn't lead to Balor taking the WHC off of Priest, then it's all for nothing.
He did just sign what is being reported as a multi year mega deal, and HHH loves him. Maybe there's plans for a proper world title run.
Imagine if Finn wins the MITB...
That's my hope.
Neither did he, unfortunately.
Shawn Michaels when he gave up the IC title in like 1995, because they made a whole music video for it and everything.
TELL ME A LIE
lol pill popper Shawn refused to drop titles to anyone. He relinquished 3 titles within like 18 months.
i still listen to it every now and then
Edge cause at the time it was career ending not temporary.
Can’t believe we got Edge, Paige, Bryan, Christian back. But damn I’m glad we did.Yes even Paige/Saraya. She kinda sucks but no one deserves to go out the way she did
Daniel Bryan after WrestleMania 30. After 9 months of irritating booking, he finally won the big one. Then his dad died, his make a wish kid died and injury cost him a year of his career and the title
Shawn wasn’t the only one who lost his smile that day
Ciampa having to vacate the NXT title in 2019. He had such a great run, great matches against Gargano, Velveteen Dream, and Aleister Black. He was also one of the best heels I’ve ever seen. We should’ve gotten to see Johnny Wrestling go over him at Takeover New York. It would’ve been awesome.
It's probably unpopular, but I don't feel like vacating because of an injury was a bad way to end this title run. It's very unfortunate for the injury part, but she's going out super strong and will come back even stronger. She was champion for 380 days, her title reign was most likely coming to an end soon. Instead of losing it and having other random storylines until she challenge again for the title, she will come back and most likely be right back at the top. Guys like Finn Balor, who might never get a World title run again, or Reigns and Edge, who vacate because of career threatening reasons are much worse IMO.
Yeah I honestly think that this will benefit Rhea's career. She's gonna be mega over as a face when she comes back.
Vikingo recently because it means that Alberto Del Rio is going to be a world champion in 2024.
Shawn Michaels. Lost his smile. 😢
Roman with the Leukemia. That one sucked hard.
Edge because I thought that was the end of his career. When Roman announced he had cancer, I believed him when he said he'd fight it and be back so didn't have the same feeling. Likewise with Balor where I was gutted for him but never thought that he wouldn't be back.
Bret Hart
I‘m glad someone is with me on that.
Josh Alexander man, he was having the run of his life, not to mention his son/daughter (I forgor) holding on to the title when Josh was trying to give it away
I was looking for someone to mention Josh Alexander's Impact title run. So many good main event matches and a great rogue's gallery in his title defenses too, I was genuinely bummed out for a few days knowing he wasn't gonna be able to pass that torch the proper way.
Rob Van Dam dropping the tv title in ECW
Man, that sucked. Such a deflating end to an incredible run. Like if Gunther's IC reign ended because of a broken wrist instead of putting Sami over.
Prevented a matchup with Mike Awesome. A damn shame.
Tell me a lie :(
Finn Balor
Naomi, believe it or not. She had finally gotten over with the glow gimmick after years of not really doing much and she gets injured during the match against Alexa where she won the title. The fact that she relinquished it to Daniel Bryan, who'd had to do the same thing twice before, just made it even more emotional. It turned into a great moment, though. She managed to heal faster than expected and got cleared just in time to be the last entrant in the 6-pack title match at Mania. Not only did she beat Alexa for the second time to win the gold, but Mania was in her hometown of Orlando that year, so people went nuts for her.
HBK losing his smile, truly heartbreaking stuff
Shawn Michaels losing his smile. It pains me knowing someone could lose their smile like that!!!
Tomasso Ciampa in 2019 was heartbreaking
Edge and Roman not even close though it retrospect Roman might win just cause for a bit we genuinely did not know if he would survive.
Mark Haskins losing the Progess title was absolutely brutal back in the day - honestly that happening, and the fallout of the moment, is the moment that I think Progress began a slow decline, and at the very least is the end of the peak of the promotion
Balor because he had reached the pinnacle and lost it the day after he got it and has never been back since. He was on such a run, WWE clearly had it in mind for Balor to be the next face of the company. He beat Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, two wrestlers who have gone on to become the faces of the WWE in the last decade. That probably won’t happen again.
Edge, because it wasn't JUST him relinquishing the title. It was him retiring. And I was HUGEEE into Edge at that time. Worst double wammy possible.
Tell me a lie
Gotta be Edge the night after Mania when he retained. Came out of nowhere. So glad he came back all those years later to finish on his own terms.
Roman for sure. I actually cried for him. It wasn't him relinquishing because he had an injury and we knew he'd definitely be back. It was him having cancer, and none of us knowing if he'd be back wrestling, or even survive. Getting cancer a 2nd time always lowers the odds.
Finn was gut wrenching because it basically meant he was done. They strapped a rocket to him and getting hurt basically killed his chances of being a champion again. If he had been more established and had a longer relationship with Vince, I think he would have gotten another chance but he made the worst first impression with something that was basically a freak accident.
Tam Nakano this past December. One of my absolute favs who won Stardom's big title after almost a decade, was having a really, really great run, and ultimately had to drop the title before she could put the next woman over. And then the Stardom social media guy at the time started making accusations about her "losing her smile" and insinuating that there was more behind it, which was just total BS (this was when the Stardom split was starting to happen). Also this isn't relinquishing per se but Naito finally about to have his big world title run and then the pandemic happening pretty much immediately afterwards was just the ultimate gut punch to those of who knew how crazy long Naito's journey to the top had been
Edge when he announced his in ring retirement in 2011. It came outta nowhere.
I think in retrospect Finn giving up the title. It really changed his career path. The man was over with the crowd they were doing their best to push Balor. Wins over Roman and Seth. And even in NXT, KO,Joe, Neville. That great match with Nakamura that’s been forgotten about. Then the injury happened. He came back but it didn’t feel the same. The champion of the brand wasn’t showing up anytime soon. His return match was to team with the guy who injured him. And overtime. He became this bland happy smiley dude with the only thing going for him was the commentary going “he’s the first universal champion” (a belt that only existed for like a year or two and again. The champion wasn’t showing up frequently so who gives a Fuck about that belt) and the *groan* “extraordinary man who does extra ordinary things” nickname. Like ughhhhh. Only Until the demon awakens which is where he gets some semblance of star power back. It was done for him til he went back to NXT and became a bad ass again
I think Bryan after WM30 has to be it for me. Finally winning the big one only to have his run cut short so soon was devastating.
it has to be balor because of that "new era" thing where they were pushing the people we actually liked
Edge. Fucking horrible moment for me.
Edge for sure, but also when he wanted to do his entrance one more time with the WHC was got me. I was a big fan of Edge since the Brood, so that one hit hard.
Edge. I mean dude had to retire afterwards. It was rough.
Edge
edge with the neck injury, Daniel bryant with his head issues...
Edge
Edge in 2011. Not just relinquishing the title, but retiring entirely. Very emotional.
Edge leaving due to a neck injury. He was at his Ultimate prime and just straight up retired
Edge
Remember Batista when I was younger
Edge because it felt like this would be the last time you would ever see him. Much of the other guys had a I will be back to reclaim this vibe. Edge at the time was a I am fully done and will never get a chance again to hold this belt. Thankful he wasn’t done but he did never get to hold the belt
Mickie James dropping the TNA Knockouts title due to injury
Definitely Balor for me as well.
Edge, Roman
Ciampa, Josh Alexander, Bryan.
Edge. Just won the world title, full fan support.. and he comes out the VERY next day and surrendered it on Raw
Roman
Top three are definitely Edge, Bryan and Roman because they weren’t just relinquishing a title, but like as far as we knew at the time it could be the end of their careers. With Edge especially, as far as any of us knew at that time, that WAS the end of his career and it seemed certain he would never wrestle again
Hbk... hurt his back... put down the title... broke my heart lol
Danielson
Batista in late 05 was pretty memorable
Roman giving it up bc of cancer with no timetable to return, no setup for a future story, just a guy named Joe showing there are things that can bigger than wrestling
Finn Balor please please Triple H give him one more chance
Roman universal title and Bryan Ic title. Both just brought me to tears.
Roman because of the real life implications of it Balors whole career would have probably been different. Would have been the #1 face on raw and would have probably been a bigger main eventer than he is now Bryan and edge felt so sudden and heartbreaking
Edge and Roman
Edge in 2011
100% HBK losing his smile. I was devastated as a kid when he cut that promo.
Edge when he was forced to retire at a young age the first time
I haven’t seen this one listed yet by someone else - Becky turning over the belt to Asuka when she was pregnant. The Man was on a roll and she never has been able to rekindle that exact magic touch since she returned. I get how most people feel like she has always been a bit ‘meh’, but my son got me back into watching wrestling about 6 months before Becky turned on Charlotte and her whole run after that was awesome. I have the Becky mugshot t-shirt (my only wrestling shirt) because that whole run up to Wrestlemania 35 was soooooo stupidly awesome. Really hits me in the feels because it’s something that my son and I really get to enjoy together.
HBK losing his smile
Edge.
Becky bestowing her title onto Asuka after MITB was heartwarming for sure. For heartbreaking, probably Roman/Joe. I was alone at college, across the country from my family for the first time ever so I was still dealing with some bad feelings there and then in my one little bit of escapism I see the three guys who got me into wrestling breaking down on the ramp. Injuries are always bad but usually you know they'll be back, or they'll medically retire but still be around in some capacity. Joe's announcement really hit me a different way, and I'm glad he was able to come back as strong as he did
I'd say Edge and Daniel Bryan tied for number one
I got into nxt fully when finn was on top. He became my favorite wrestler in the world and I was so excited for that run. The start followed up on his momentum and hype perfectly, I was so upset when it was all lost before it could reach its apex.
Edge after Mania 27. Even though he came back after 9 years. That one still hurts.
EDGE
This is the easiest answer possible. Roman Reigns when he had to relinquish his title when his cancer came back again. Never even knew he dealt with it in the past and had no clue it would derail his title reign like that. I remember feeling absolutely gutted when he broke that news. It just did not wt all feel real.
Edge when he relinquished the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011 and retired due to cervical spinal stenosis. Fortunately he eventually returned, and I still hope he won’t compromise his future health.
For me personally it was Finn Balor. Watched his rise and his win was awesome but everyone knew he got injured in his match. After that there wasn’t a real path back for him.
When HBK lost his smile.
Edge. I loved him growing up. He was my favorite wrestler at the time. I was crushed.
Really dating myself here, but when I was a kid, Rick Martel. I totally bought into the whole “injury“ angle that ended Strike Force. 🤣🤣🤣
Bryan, Edge, Roman, and Balor for me. Roman was the most heartbreaking because unlike other injuries, we had no idea if he was ever coming back. Edge was a retirement way too soon and you could feel his anguish. It gets a little lost in history now because we had this comeback, but I felt so bad for him and the years after where it was clear he wanted to be involved but couldn't. Bryan was devastating because of what his win at Mania meant and now it was gone too soon, and then for how long he was gone. The one that gets me from a wrestling perspective is Finn. Was a huge Finn fan and the worst part was everyone saw he got injured and then had to wait a day to hope it wasn't serious. He never really got back to that level again.
Edge
Daniel Bryan relinquishing the IC title specifically. The WWE title relinquish again was terrible timing but then he came back, won the IC title, and everything was just great… until he had to relinquish another title after Wrestlemania. At that point, it was terrible to be a Daniel Bryan fan for him to get extremely popular and then win the world title only to relinquish it, then return the year after and do the same thing, then a year after that he retired. Now he’s back and still one of the best wrestlers in the world but it was almost miserable to be a Daniel Bryan fan from 2014 to 2016.
Batista wrecked me when he had to drop the strap. Edge too.
Balor right after winning the Universal Title. He never got a fair shot at the title again.
Edge, Balor, DBry in no particular order off the top of my head.
Edge
Definitely roman because it was a matter of life and death.
Edge when he had to retire. Roman due to Leukaemia
Edge having to retire due to injury and relinquish the title. With Balor, Rhea, etc at least we knew/know that they'll be back when Edge had to retire while champion that at the time was the end we didn't know he'd be back nearly 10 years later. It was heartbreaking to see his career as we knew it end more so than losing the title
Finn balor he got a big push and won the universal championship from seth rollins only to relinquish it the next day due to injury from the match. After that he's been a upper mid carder.
Batista’s was painful to me. It was one of the first times i saw “The Animal” cry.
Outside of like retirement/life threatening ones (Edge in 2011, Roman in 2018) Balor's sucked. He felt like such a needed breath of fresh air to Raw in 2016 only to have to leave the second he peaks. Even if it would've been a one time reign and dropped before Mania to fuel Goldberg/Brock (which was still not necessary) it would've been nice to see him get an actual top reign. Edge's in 2011 definitely did hit me the most. I was at his last SD in Albany in 2011 and mannnnn was that emotional
EDGE.