5 WWE segments that didn't go as planned

#3 Daniel Puder shoots on Kurt Angle

Daniel Puder was the winner of WWE Tough Enough's season 4, after beating The Miz. On the November 4, 2004 edition of SmackDown, Kurt Angle challenged a bunch of Tough Enough contestants to fight him in the ring. When Puder's turn came, Angle took him down but was surprised by Puder with a Kimura Lock. Angle attempted a pinfall, to which Jimmy Korderas quickly responded and made the three count. Angle could be seen speaking to Puder right after the pin, and he was visibly furious at what had happened. Puder was a legitimate MMA fighter and could have broken Angle's arm.

At the 2005 Royal Rumble match, Puder was beaten up by Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Hardcore Holly, with all three Superstars connecting several devastating and hard-hitting chops on Puder's chest. Eventually, Puder was eliminated from the free-for-all and was released by WWE later that year. Following the Royal Rumble fiasco, Puder was never used as an active competitor on the main roster.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Edited by Kaushik Das