5 WWE Superstars who refused to put over an opponent

Of all the professional sins that a WWE Superstar could possibly commit, it doesn’t get much worse than refusing to lose against a fellow performer.

Almost every high-profile star in the wrestling business started out by winning televised matches against more experienced pros, so it’s only natural that they are expected to return the favour later on in their career – or so you would think.

We’ve seen people refuse to ‘job’ to opponents on multiple occasions throughout the years, most notably in 1997 when Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart were involved in one of the most heated rivalries that the industry has ever seen, resulting in the infamous Montreal Screwjob.

Aside from the incident involving Shawn and Bret, did you know that somebody else refused to lose to HBK in 1995, only to then change their mind? And have you heard about the time that a WWE legend didn’t want to lose against D-Lo Brown in the late 90s?

Well, we decided to delve through the sports entertainment archives to take a look at five WWE Superstars – some past and some present – who refused to put over their opponent.

#5 Jean-Pierre LaFitte

The Kliq caused problems for fellow roster members in the mid-90s

In 1994, WWE tag team The Quebecers disbanded when Jacques Rougeau retired, meaning Pierre had to work as a singles wrestler.

Repacked as Jean-Pierre LaFitte, he was involved in an entertaining three-month feud with Bret Hart before he began to work with some members of The Kliq.

Speaking on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast in 2016, Pierre confirmed that he once refused to lose against Shawn Michaels in Montreal, before later agreeing to do the job, while he also changed the finish to a match against Diesel (aka Kevin Nash) in the same city.

Pierre never got along with The Kliq and wanted revenge against them for being “cool, cocky and constantly using a demonstration of pure power”, so he refused to lose against Nash at a Montreal live event and the finish was changed to a double count-out.

#4 Rey Mysterio

In 2009, the Intercontinental Championship was as relevant as it had been in a long time after a back-and-forth feud between Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho over the title between April and July.

At the end of the rivalry, Mysterio was apparently promised a long run as the champion. However, he was then informed that his next challenger, an up-and-coming Dolph Ziggler, would defeat him for the title – something the former WCW star disagreed with.

In the end, after defeating Ziggler at Night of Champions and SummerSlam, Mysterio violated WWE’s Wellness Policy and he was forced to lose the title to John Morrison at a SmackDown taping in September.

#3 The Shield

Speaking on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast in 2014, Dean Ambrose revealed that all three members of The Shield refused to lose a match against John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus at Elimination Chamber 2013.

Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were still relatively new to the main roster and had quickly established themselves as one of the most dominant factions that WWE had seen in years.

The three men were unhappy with the finish to the match, which Ambrose said would have made them “just like everybody else” if they lost clean to Cena, and WWE’s decision-makers agreed to change the outcome.

In the end, Rollins picked up the win for The Shield after Reigns hit Ryback with a spear.

#2 Triple H

You only have to scroll through a few pages of Google to come across stories about Triple H either burying or refusing to put over various WWE talent throughout the years.

One example came in the late 90s when D-Generation X was involved in their legendary rivalry with The Nation of Domination, and “The Game” was asked to lose a match against D-Lo Brown.

Speaking to Wrestling Inc in 2016, former WWE writer Vince Russo said HHH refused to do the job to the Nation member, adding that he was "surprised because so many people had laid down for him [Triple H] to get him over".

#1 Steve Austin

Aside from the November 1997 Montreal Screwjob, where neither Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart wanted to lose against the other, the most famous example of somebody refusing to be defeated in a match came in 2002 when Steve Austin walked out of WWE.

“The Rattlesnake” was frustrated with his booking at the time and was told before a June episode of Monday Night Raw that, with no storyline build-up, he would be losing against newcomer Brock Lesnar in a King of the Ring qualifying match.

Austin has recalled the famous day several times over the years, and admitted on his Steve Austin Show podcast in 2015 that his walkout was “career suicide” and “a bad part of my life that I handled in a horrible fashion”.

Eight months later, the WWE Hall of Famer returned to the company to have one final high-profile match against The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania XIX.

Edited by Alan John