5 WWE Superstars who refused to win huge matches 

AJ Styles faced Chris Jericho in the Phenomenal One's WrestleMania debut but came up short.
AJ Styles faced Chris Jericho in the Phenomenal One's WrestleMania debut but came up short.

Like any competitive sport, the goal of professional wrestlers is to be the best. There is simply no other alternative.

Often, this is accomplished by winning matches, with names such as Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Bret Hart and John Cena all having huge victories in their very illustrious careers. The stuff of legends which fans talk about even to this date.

When a new Superstars joins the WWE, they will no doubt be hoping to win more than they lose, and put on a good show each and every week.

But for some Superstars, they are fine with not winning, even if it means costing them glory, bragging rights, or even championship gold.

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For these Superstars, they had their own reasons why they were happy to take a loss at some point in their careers.

Here are five WWE Superstars who refused to win huge matches, and their reasons why.

#5 Orton and The Streak

After refusing to break the streak, Randy Orton became another victim of the legendary Undertaker.
After refusing to break the streak, Randy Orton became another victim of the legendary Undertaker.

By 2005, Randy Orton had already proven himself as a bonafide Superstar.

Coming from a wrestling lineage, Orton outshone his father, uncle and grandfather, winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Summerslam 2004.

And when Orton faced his greatest challenge, it seemed the Legend Killer would live up to his moniker, as he was offered the chance to end The Undertaker's Undefeated Streak in 2005, at WrestleMania 21.

Instead of taking the huge win, which would've cut the Streak at 12-1, Orton refused the win, saying he didn't believe he was the right person to end the Streak, and also arguing the Streak should never be broken, a sentiment that the WWE universe will agree to in unison.

Orton lost, the Deadman went 13-0, and continued his winning ways until the Streak was eventually conquered in 2014 at WrestleMania 30, at the hands of Brock Lesnar.

#4 AJ falters in WrestleMania debut

Despite a wave of momentum, Styles came up short at WrestleMania 32 against Chris Jericho.
Despite a wave of momentum, Styles came up short at WrestleMania 32 against Chris Jericho.

From the most iconic WrestleMania streak in history to one that never begun.

When AJ Styles entered the WWE in 2016, the former TNA star came with a whirlwind of hype. His impressive debut and peformance at the Royal Rumble Pay per view, where he lasted just under 30 mins made the WWE universe take notice of the his in ring exploits.

Teaming and later feuding with Chris Jericho, fans were confident that the Phenomenal One would win in his WrestleMania debut against the Fozzy frontman.

After all, Jericho had given Fandango the rub just three years earlier, though fans were shocked when the Canadian emerged the victor.

Despite this, Styles has said that he didn't mind losing to Jericho at all, as the two veterans had become close friends since his debut.

Even when Jericho offered to speak to management to have the finish changed, Styles refused and would do well for himself still, ending 2016 as the WWE Champion.

#3 Lesnar. Goldberg. 86 seconds

Goldberg crushed Lesnar in seconds in 2016.
Goldberg crushed Lesnar in seconds in 2016.

When Bill Goldberg returned to WWE in 2016, some thought of the huge WCW star as nothing other than a one-night returnee.

A fixture of the new WWE 2K17 game, the plan was for Goldberg to return and to lose to Brock Lesnar, with the beast getting his win back from their infamous WrestleMania 20 bout.

Ever a shrewd businessman though, Lesnar saw money in a feud with Goldberg and refused to win at Survivor Series, taking a loss in 1 minute, 26 seconds. Both the result and the manner of defeat were shocking in nature as Lesnar had annihilated opponents like John Cena, Triple H and The Undertaker in the previous years, earning a strong reputation for himself as the beast incarnate.

This was followed up at the 2017 Royal Rumble, which both men entered, with Goldberg eliminating Lesnar from the match. This angle added more fuel to the fire as the pair were now expected to face off at the biggest Pay per view of them all, WrestleMania.

Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg and picked up the WWE Universal Championship, not only avenging his embarrasing Survivor series loss, but also handing Goldberg the first clean defeat of his career.

#2 Piper passes on potential push

Piper felt his career was complete without the WWF Championship.
Piper felt his career was complete without the WWF Championship.

'Love him or hate him, you just can't ignore him' is an ideal phrase that can be used to describe Rowdy Roddy Piper.

As one of the biggest heels in wrestling (as well as part of the main event of the very first WrestleMania), it's shocking to fans that Rowdy Roddy Piper never held the covet WWF Championship.

Sure, he held the Intercontinental Title, and briefly held the World Tag Championships in 2006, but Piper's lack of a world championship is something many fans consider a crime.

According to Hulk Hogan though, if Piper had been willing to lose to the Hulkster, he would've been given a push, with a World title imminent.

Instead, Piper refused to do the job, and never became champion.

The Hot Rod probably felt that being one of the biggest stars ever was all he needed, and whilst he never became WWF Champion, no-one can deny to the truly legendary status of Rowdy Roddy Piper.

#1 Eddie Guerrero's 2005 title run

Eddie was reportedly meant to take the World title off Batista.
Eddie was reportedly meant to take the World title off Batista.

Eddie Guerrero will remain as one of WWE's most popular superstars ever. The former WWE Champion was one of the mainstays of WWE's blue brand during the Ruthless aggression era and remained a popular babyfaceduring the majority of his stint with company before his untimely death in 2005.

The final year in the life of Eddie Guerrero provided some of his finest work.

After losing the WWE Championship to JBL in the Summer of 2004, Guerrero maintained an upper mid-card push, having an epic feud with Rey Mysterio and later working with the World Heavyweight Champion, Batista.

Despite being a former WWE Champion, Guerrero turned down the offer to dethrone the Animal, for multiple reasons.

One was that he wanted to maintain the push of his friend, who would later be forced to vacate the title in January 2006.

The main reason though was that during his 2004 reign as WWE Champion, Guerrero felt under a lot of stress as one of the flag bearers of the company, and despite being just as over as a heel in 2005, didn't want to repeat it.

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Edited by Sripad
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