10 Old-School Wrestlers Who Had Problems With Management
Wrestling used to be different than it is today as drama has become more prevalent. The Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars were the turning points to more leverage allowing talents to make demands or butt heads with management. WWE was the top promotion in the 1970s and beyond, but other companies created competition.
Unfortunately, even some of wrestling’s greatest matches or at least the matches that were perceived as classics don’t stand the test of time.
Names to run into drama with Vince McMahon or other people in management showed they were not afraid to lose their jobs. Future generations followed that by making it more common since they had more job security in the industry. The following names were rare old school talents to have issues with management.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
6''2'' |
280 pounds |
Few wrestlers were as controversial as Ultimate Warrior during the Golden Era. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage witnessed Warrior joining them as the faces of the company from the 1980s into the 1990s decade of change.
There are plenty of brilliant managers from wrestling's past that have been forgotten about and deserve more credit.
Warrior made no-showed events and made demands at various points after winning the WWE Championship. The first departure came when Warrior held up Vince McMahon for money to make a scheduled PPV main event. Warrior lost his job a second time due to missing more advertised events.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
6'1'' |
235 pounds |
The history of the WWE Championship looks strange when Bob Backlund dropped it to the Iron Sheik before Hulk Hogan defeated Iron Sheik. Vince McMahon originally booked Backlund to drop the top prize to Hogan as the next face of the company.
However, Backlund felt that Hogan wasn’t a credible name and refused to lose to him. McMahon pivoted to Iron Sheik filling the gap to have Hogan become champ that way. Backlund remained employed for a little while longer until WWE stopped using him due to his refusal to help Hogan.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE & WCW |
6'6'' |
249 pounds |
Jake Roberts felt like a foolproof wrestler that had the skill set to thrive in any promotion. WWE benefited from Roberts becoming a top heel and thriving in the mid-card scene. Promo skills became more important thanks to talent like Roberts showing the full potential of talking.
Pat Patterson stepping down from his writing position in WWE led to Roberts wanting a chance at that role and demanding his release when Vince McMahon changed his mind about it. Another stint in WCW led to Roberts butting heads with booker Bill Watts to end his tenure after a couple of months.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
6'5'' |
302 pounds |
WWE utilized Nailz in a lower mid-card role as a heel ex-convict who didn’t show any remorse. Nailz didn’t have any main event potential, but he was expected to remain on the roster for a longer run until something changed that.
Vince McMahon earned the anger of Nailz over an alleged dispute over owed money. Nailz physically attacked McMahon in a shocking moment that felt impossible at the time. WWE obviously fired Nailz and never worked with him again.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
6'3'' |
252 pounds |
Multiple wrestlers started to lose faith in WWE upon business struggling in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Rick Rude was reportedly upset over his payoff for main event matches being smaller than the average name to main event a PPV.
Other issues lingered of Rude feeling that Vince McMahon was giving him the run around led to him demanding his release. WWE lost one of their most respected heels due to the backstage disagreements and Rude feeling disrespect from the boss.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
6'7'' |
302 pounds |
WWE made Hulk Hogan the face of the company after he proved to be a mainstream celebrity in the role. Hogan loved the responsibility and the perks coming from such a role having more influence than the average wrestler on the roster.
The influence of Hogan became commonly used as his closest friends received pushes. Unfortunately, things got worse when Hogan became petty about whom to put over. Hogan refused to put over Bret Hart at the end of his run, but Hulk's reputation was already building as someone who hated putting over others.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
5'9'' |
225 pounds |
Wrestling fans often wondered what happened to Dynamite Kid to cause the end of the British Bulldogs tag team. Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid had potential to have a long run together until backstage politics caused heat.
Dynamite Kid had a negative reputation for working stiff and getting into backstage fights with others. Vince McMahon butted heads once Dynamite Kid became angry about traveling issues. The Bulldogs returned to Stampede Wrestling after the WWE release, but Davey Boy went back without Dynamite Kid due to the latter’s bad blood.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WCW |
6'1'' |
243 pounds |
Ric Flair was considered the face of WCW once the promotion started and developed its own identity. New WCW President Jim Herd gained power and instantly started butting heads with Flair due to his changes upsetting the top star.
Flair chose to leave WCW upon his contract ending while still holding the WCW Championship. Herd demanding Flair cut his hair and play a gladiator character was the final straw. Flair took the big gold belt to WWE after leaving WCW and still bashes Herd decades later.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
6'1'' (Michaels) 5'11'' (Jannetty) |
451 combined pounds |
Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty had star potential from day one, but they often caused their own problems to hold them back. WWE used The Rockers for a short stint before they lost confidence due to the duo’s constant partying and refusing to follow rules.
Vince McMahon and others believed they weren’t serious enough to warrant being pushed and released them. Strong performances in other promotions gave them another chance to return when they took things more seriously to become WWE’s most beloved face team.
Promotion |
Height |
Weight |
WWE |
6'2'' |
230 pounds |
Hulk Hogan gets the reputation for not wanting to put over others, but Roddy Piper actually felt like the bigger problem in that regard at first. Piper later talked about coming up in the industry at a time when wins and losses mattered as the latter could harm his career.
The legendary feud between Hogan and Piper often featured tag matches as the big sellers since neither man was willing to take the pin. Piper allegedly refused to lose his boxing match to Mr. T as well, causing a strange DQ finish on the big stage.