5 WWE careers ruined by backstage politics

Over the years, we've found out just how important it is in WWE to be respectful backstage to management and to veterans to behave in a certain way. However, there have been some WWE Superstars whose pushes were killed or they were released due to backstage politics and for no fault on their side.

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#5. CM Punk

CM Punk

By all accounts, CM Punk had more than a successful career in WWE and you could argue that he's the last massive star that WWE created. However, Punk isn't like a lot of other Superstars who keep their heads down and the outspoken former WWE Champion had been promised the main-event of WrestleMania a number of times.

The longest reigning WWE Champion of the modern era had enough when he was passed over for the main-event again at WrestleMania 30 in favour of Randy Orton versus Batista. Punk left the company on the RAW after the Royal Rumble and has often criticized WWE since leaving and you can definitely tell that backstage machinations played a part in his decision to leave.

Punk has been particularly critical about Triple H since leaving WWE. He spoke about Triple H failing to live up to his promise of putting him over soon after leaving the WWE. Here's what he said:

"I told them again and Hunter, he was gritting his teeth and I knew... he [Triple H] never liked me. It's one of those situations where you always hear those stories in the dirt sheets about 'Hunter says this about Punk' and all this negative stuff but me and him in a room together? Never any good vibes. Always negative, the way he would always look sideways at me, the way he always treated me."

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#4. Chyna

Chyna

Although Chyna became a victim of backstage politics and eventually left the company but her hands weren't entirely clean either. She wasn't below politicking either and Chris Jericho noted in one of his books about Chyna badmouthing him during their feud.

We all know that Chyna and Triple H were in a relationship for a number of years before Triple H started dating Stephanie McMahon while the duo were paired on television. We can't say sure if Stephanie McMahon played a part in Chyna's departure from the company but there's definitely a chance.

#3. Mr. Kennedy

Randy Orton, Vince McMahon and Mr. Kennedy

Another well-known victim of backstage politics in WWE was Mr. Kennedy. Ken Kennedy allegedly pissed off the wrong people backstage and it all came to a head on the May 25th 2009 edition of WWE RAW. Kennedy had just returned from a shoulder injury and took part in a 10-man tag-team match.

During the match, botched a suplex on Randy Orton and 'The Viper' was livid. He went backstage and along with John Cena, told Vince McMahon was unsafe to work with. Four days later, Kennedy was released from the company.

Kennedy said the following about his release in an interview:

"He went to Vince and said something, that I was dangerous to work with. And I think Cena had a hand in that too. Like, Cena helped out, and he said, ‘hey, we need to go to Vince.’ I didn’t get along with him too well.”

#2. Kenny Dykstra

Kenny Dykstra

The next WWE Superstar on our list has his release also allegedly tied to involvement from John Cena.

The talented Kenny Dykstra made his WWE debut as part of the Spirit Squad before later returning as a singles competitor, showing a ton of potential for someone so young.

Dykstra was engaged to current RAW star Mickie James in 2006 when the latter allegedly started to see John Cena behind his back.

In 2012, Dysktra revealed how he found out James and Cena were seeing each other:

"She was googling mickie james and john cena dating. I asked why, she broke down crying. Then I heard more from others. She was checking to see if it was on the net yet"

Dykstra was later moved to SmackDown while Mickie James remained on RAW. He was jobbed out for the rest of his run before being released from the company.

#1. The Nexus

Wade Barrett was the leader of The Nexus

The last entry on our list also features involvement from John Cena.

The Nexus were on a roll in 2010 and the main event of SummerSlam saw The Nexus taking on John Cena, Chris Jericho, and Edge. By all accounts, Cena pushed for the finish to be changed and ended up burying The Nexus that night, regardless of whether he knew what was going to happen.

Here's what Chris Jericho said about it on Talk Is Jericho in 2013:

"It was WWE Team vs. Team Nexus...and the finish boiled down to you [Edge] and me [Jericho] were in there, but it was Cena against a couple of them. John wanted to do things a certain way and we told him 'you're wrong'. Remember that? And he did it anyways, and it sucked. And then afterwards he came over to us and said 'I should have listened to you, but I wasn't seeing it that way. And sometimes you just don't see it that way, you know?"

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