WWE might have lost faith in a former champion after he denied major offer due to hair transplant surgery

Countless wrestlers have not made it to the promised land in WWE despite showcasing immense potential. Kurt Angle recently opened up about how Shawn Stasiak might have negatively affected his WWE career due to a decision he made years ago.

Shawn Stasiak debuted on the main roster in 1999, but before that came to fruition, he trained at the developmental zone, which also had Kurt Angle at the time. The Olympic Hero even wrestled Stasiak in Memphis-based Power Pro Wrestling. He recently rewatched the bout on the latest episode of his podcast.

Kurt Angle also revealed a story about how Shawn Stasiak wasn't ready to make the main roster when WWE wanted to call him up. Stasiak was losing hair and wanted to undergo a transplant surgery before he truly began his career.

"I want to tell you a story about Shawn. This also affected his career. I hate to say this, but I have to let the cat out of the bag. Alright, Shawn was losing his hair just like I was. So, he decided to get a hair replacement surgery," said Kurt Angle. "And it was a week before he was called up. So, he called the WWE and said, 'Hey, I can't be called up right now. I'm getting my hair done.' And they were like, 'Oh, okay! Alright, we'll take care of you then.'" [25:50 to 26:27]

Check out the entire interview down below:

Kurt Angle stated that despite having tremendous athletic capabilities, WWE officials might have lost faith in Stasiak being a "team player" as he seemingly turned down their massive request.

WWE had to delay their plans for Shawn's debut, and this incident happened when he was still an unproven talent in the management's eyes.

Kurt Angle continued:

"I think that's part of the reason, he didn't lose his confidence because of that, but I think that painted him a corner where it was like, 'Okay, this guy is not going to be a team player.' They were like, 'We want you to debut right now, and he's like, 'I can't. I have to wait about two months.' 'Okay, you can wait for two months, and we'll see what happens then.' When I look at it, I wonder if that might have affected his career a little bit." [26:27 to 27:00]

A look into Shawn Stasiak's WWE career

Having spent most of his childhood on the road with his father, Hall of Famer Stan Stasiak, Shawn joined the company during the tail end of the Attitude Era but didn't have a long stint.

The second-generation star was fired in 2000 for a bizarre reason, and after working for a year in WCW, he was among the talents that got hired by WWE when the latter went out of business.

Shawn won the hardcore title 15 times during his second stint, which unfortunately didn't last long as well. He left the promotion again in 2002 to pursue other business interests.

While he did wrestle a handful of matches in the mid-2000s, Shawn Stasiak mostly stayed retired from the ring and transitioned to a successful career as a chiropractor. The 52-year-old veteran is also a motivational speaker these days, and he's still in phenomenal shape, going by the photos and videos on his Instagram handle.