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Top 5 Backstage Incidents Of A Wrestler Turning Down A Storyline - Part 1
5 KEVIN OWENS NOT WANTING TO JOIN LEAGUE OF NATIONS: The League of Nations is barely remembered as the stable turned out to be a massive flop. Upper card performers from various countries outside of the United States such as Rusev, Sheamus, Wade Barrett and Alberto Del Rio worked together as a heel faction.
A short feud with Roman Reigns saw them move down the card and become glorified enhancement talents. Kevin Owens was sick the night the faction was born and had to miss the show.
Various insiders reported that Owens was supposed to join the group as the last member. Owens reportedly didn’t want to join the following week as it made no sense to be the only extra member to join a week later. Maybe he was smart enough to realize this was a lost cause as his career has thrived while the others have fallen drastically since the League of Nations flop.
4 CHRIS JERICHO NOT RETURNING TO FACE FINN BALOR AT TLC: The dream match between A.J. Styles and Finn Balor was one of the best WWE matches of 2017. Styles came over to the Raw PPV from SmackDown as a replacement for the ill Bray Wyatt.
No one would wish illness on Wyatt, but fans weren’t complaining about getting to see Balor and Styles battle it out in a match between two former Bullet Club members. Vince McMahon originally wanted Chris Jericho to face Balor rather than Styles. Jericho was called and pitched the idea of having the one-off match with Finn at TLC.
The storyline of it just being a cool match with nothing at stake convinced Jericho to shut it down. Jericho was in the middle of his Fozzy tour and thought it was better to avoid this return. Instead, he went to New Japan to have a classic match with Kenny Omega and add more momentum to his name. It worked out best for all involved.
3 JOHN CENA REQUESTING WWE CHANGE NEXUS STORYLINE DIRECTION: John Cena is relatively respected by the wrestlers to work with him in WWE. Despite having major power backstage, Cena endeared himself to most of his peers.
However, there is one skeleton in the closet of Cena for those that want to bash him for holding down young talent. The Nexus faction was the hottest thing in WWE in 2010 and had a huge chance to be something special. A massive Summerslam main event for Nexus saw the team all together in an elimination match facing the past, present and future of WWE stars led by Cena.
It came down to two members of Nexus against Cena at the end of the match. Cena defeated both Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel to win the match.
The original plan was for Nexus to win easily and continue their dominance. Cena thought it was the wrong way to go and convinced WWE to change plans. It hurt the careers of the Nexus wrestlers going forward.
2 AJ LEE NOT WANTING TO PLAY MENTAL PATIENT: The successful autobiography of AJ Lee revealed her battles with mental illness and how she overcame it to become a huge WWE star. Lee went into detail discussing how her mother’s mental illness impacted her family. WWE was aware of this during her career and tried to make it part of her character.
A storyline was pitched that Lee would be a character that hallucinated and took part in “wacky skits” like making out with leprechauns and seeing dinosaurs. AJ turned down the storyline feeling it would hit too close to home in a negative way. WWE responded by punishing her.
Lee was kept off television for months due to saying no to the storyline. Things eventually changed when she received another chance and became a massive star. Still, the fact that WWE tried to punish her for saying no shows how cruel they can be.
1 AUSTIN ARIES SAYING NO TO MORE 205 LIVE FEUDS: Austin Aries was one of the big signings by WWE in 2016 when he joined the roster for NXT.
WWE called him up to the main roster for a spot in the Cruiserweight division at the end of his first year. Aries worked as a commentator during an injury before wrestling in the division on Raw and 205 Live.
A feud with Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship saw them have a couple of great matches. Aries had nothing else left to do in the division when he lost the title feud. WWE tried placing him in an angle with Jack Gallagher, but it didn’t take off. Aries was removed from television after a week of the feud being teased and never returned.
It turns out Aries had no interest in continuing to work on 205 Live due to the lack of opportunities to make big money or move up the card. WWE responded to him turning down their storyline by firing him.