Just refusing to job

[Boxer 0]

So what are moments you can remember where a wrestler refused to put over another wrestler? I can only go back as far as the 90's since that's when I started watching wrestling. Here's what I can remember reading through the boards over the years.

 

Hart vs. Hogan Summerslam 1993. The way Wrestlemania 9 ended and the lead up to summerslam was suppose to have this passing of the torch match. Apparently Hogan refused because he believed Bret wasn't on his level.

 

HBK vs. Dean Douglas. In Your House Oct 1995. Apparently heat between the clique and Douglas lead to this result. Leads to another clique member getting the title back the same night anyways.

 

HBK vs. Vader. Summerslam 96 and Survivor Series 96. Michaels throws a hissy fit during Summerslam and doesn't want to job the title to Vader. Same thing at Survivor Series, eventually picks Sid to drop the title. Beside the WHC in 2002 to Triple H and Austin in 98, is this the ONLY other title HBK jobbed to someone?

 

HBK vs. someone, Bret Hart perhaps? Early 1997. The knee injury makes him forfeit the title. Some say he refused to job the title, was suppose to be to Bret or someone else?

 

HBK vs. Bulldog. One Night Only 1997. Apparently, Bulldog was suppose to retain, but HBK changed those plans because he didn't want to do the job. Really buries Bulldog, wife and his sister after the match.

 

Hart vs. Michaels Survivor Series 97. Enough said about this one.

 

Austin vs. Rock late 97. Didn't want to drop the IC title to Rock, felt he was below him. In this instance, he was probably right anyways. This was when Austin was starting to turn Red hot.

 

HBK vs. Austin. While this job did happen, not without incident though. Still the story of Undertaker threatening to harm HBK if he didn't job merits this instance. Plus Shawn was running around telling people he wouldn't do the job.

 

Giant vs. Kevin Nash. Didn't Nash fake a heart attack to get out of a job?

 

Hogan vs. Jarrett. Bash at the Beach 2000. Apparently, he refused to job to Jarrett so that led to Russo buring him after the match.

 

Triple H vs. Booker T. Was going to be the original plan at Wrestlemania 19, but instead changed his mind and decided to drop the title to Goldberg instead.

 

Triple H vs. RVD. Not so sure about this one, but wasn't there talk of HHH droping the title to him in late 2002 but HHH didn't want to job?

 

Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. Unforgiven 2002. At first, I remember people were pissed when they heard this, seeing how Taker refused to job to a new star and make him. I believe it was true Taker didn't want to job, but it was because he wanted and rightfully did job to Lesnar in a Hell in a cell match on month later.

 

Austin vs. Lesnar. Raw 2002. Austin felt it was stupid to job on free TV and walked out on the company shortly after.

 

That's all I can remember for now, please feel free to add more to the list. Feel free to correct me if some of those ones I remember were wrong.

 

Man, looking back, I just HBK's line about he doesn't lay down for nobody was true after all.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Austin vs HHH vs Foley at Summerslam 99. Foley shockingly wins the title by pinning Austin clean, only to drop the title the next night to HHH, which is what Austin didn't want to seem to do

[alfdogg 0]

HBK vs. someone, Bret Hart perhaps? Early 1997. The knee injury makes him forfeit the title. Some say he refused to job the title, was suppose to be to Bret or someone else?

He was supposed to drop it to Sid at Thursday RAW Thursday.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

HBK vs. Vader. Summerslam 96

 

I am an HBK fan, but not an apologist. That withstanding, the company had no plan whatsoever of Vader winning the WWF Championship at SS96.

[cabbageboy 0]

If Vader hadn't been hurt he might have gotten the belt at Survivor Series 96, but at the time I didn't think he would win at Summerslam.

[luke-o 0]

Hogan vs. Jarrett. Bash at the Beach 2000. Apparently, he refused to job to Jarrett so that led to Russo buring him after the match.

 

IIRC, wasn't this just Russo trying to "play the boys" and it was a fake shoot?

[Alro 0]

If Vader hadn't been hurt he might have gotten the belt at Survivor Series 96, but at the time I didn't think he would win at Summerslam.

 

Vader getting the belt at Survivor Series is probably true, as the next month's IYH was subtitled It's Time.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

If Vader hadn't been hurt he might have gotten the belt at Survivor Series 96, but at the time I didn't think he would win at Summerslam.

 

Vader getting the belt at Survivor Series is probably true, as the next month's IYH was subtitled It's Time.

 

I remember hearing that he was initially supposed to win it then, too.

 

And I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I don't like your use of Montreal in "just refusing".

[TheFranchise 0]

I think Montreal is the perfect example of just refusing to job.

 

There was no way in hell Bret would agree to lose in his home country, and likewise there was no way to hell Michaels would agree to lose to his bitter rival.

 

Simply put, they just both refused to lose.

[Papacita 0]

I don't think I've heard anyone other than Shane portray HBK's concussion forfeit as a refusal to put him over. Wouldn't surprise me if it was true, but like with the Vader rumors, I think it's one of those stories that gets blown out of proportion because of his rep.

 

Hogan over HBK at SummerSlam 05 was another example.

 

There was also some shit about Honky Tonk Man refusing to drop the title to Randy Savage in the 80s, which resulting in them rebooking WMIV to give Savage the World Title...I never understood how that worked though.

[Diamonddust 0]

I think Montreal is the perfect example of just refusing to job.

 

There was no way in hell Bret would agree to lose in his home country, and likewise there was no way to hell Michaels would agree to lose to his bitter rival.

 

Simply put, they just both refused to lose.

 

Agreed. Bret flat out refused to do that job.

[Diamonddust 0]

I don't think I've heard anyone other than Shane portray HBK's concussion forfeit as a refusal to put him over. Wouldn't surprise me if it was true, but like with the Vader rumors, I think it's one of those stories that gets blown out of proportion because of his rep.

 

Hogan over HBK at SummerSlam 05 was another example.

 

There was also some shit about Honky Tonk Man refusing to drop the title to Randy Savage in the 80s, which resulting in them rebooking WMIV to give Savage the World Title...I never understood how that worked though.

 

Honky Tonk explained it on a shoot interview with Raven. He was in possible negotiations with the NWA at that point, and they told him not to drop the IC Belt on TV in front of millions of people. The justification was that back in the day, stars did not job on television due to the fact you could be let go immediately after a loss. If Honky Tonk lost the belt on the NBC program, it would have crippled any momentum he had jumping ship. On the other hand, however, as Raven mentioned... if McMahon wanted the IC Belt on Savage, it would have been put on Savage regardless.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Hart vs. Hogan Summerslam 1993. The way Wrestlemania 9 ended and the lead up to summerslam was suppose to have this passing of the torch match. Apparently Hogan refused because he believed Bret wasn't on his level.

 

The plans for this match got for enough along for them to shoot pictures for the poster. And yes, Hogan didn't want to put Bret over because he thought he was too small.

 

HBK vs. Dean Douglas. In Your House Oct 1995. Apparently heat between the clique and Douglas lead to this result. Leads to another clique member getting the title back the same night anyways.

 

It probably wouldn't have mattered who was getting the belt, Michaels wasn't doing the job for anyone. Now, whether Shawn could have still gone out there and done his best had he been scheduled to win, is up to you.

 

HBK vs. Bulldog. One Night Only 1997. Apparently, Bulldog was suppose to retain, but HBK changed those plans because he didn't want to do the job. Really buries Bulldog, wife and his sister after the match.

 

True story. Bulldog was told he was winning, hence dedicating the match to his dying relative, only for Shawn to refuse to do the job at the last minute.

 

Austin vs. Rock late 97. Didn't want to drop the IC title to Rock, felt he was below him. In this instance, he was probably right anyways. This was when Austin was starting to turn Red hot.

 

Austin refused to do the job with the belief that, because he was main eventing Wrestlemania a few months later, he shouldn't be doing jobs at that point in time, especially to someone who wasn't at that top level.

 

Giant vs. Kevin Nash. Didn't Nash fake a heart attack to get out of a job?

 

To be fair, there is a history of heart problems in the Nash family. Also to be fair, it was not, nor will it be, the last time Nash has claimed an injury to get out of a high profile job where he's actually putting someone over.

 

Hogan vs. Jarrett. Bash at the Beach 2000. Apparently, he refused to job to Jarrett so that led to Russo buring him after the match.

 

Long story short, Hogan's refusal to job to Jarrett was part of the work that would eventually turn into a shoot.

 

Triple H vs. Booker T. Was going to be the original plan at Wrestlemania 19, but instead changed his mind and decided to drop the title to Goldberg instead.

 

Goldberg was always getting the belt. Hunter felt that doing a short-term title change right before dropping the belt to Goldberg (which was meant to happen at Bad Blood but got postponed when Hunter wanted to keep feuding with his best friend, Kevin Nash) wasn't good business and vetoed the title switch to Booker. While Hunter was right about a short-term title change being bad business, it does make you wonder why this was never decided upon before the heavy racial angles were run.

 

Triple H vs. RVD. Not so sure about this one, but wasn't there talk of HHH droping the title to him in late 2002 but HHH didn't want to job?

 

Hunter refused to drop the belt, citing numerous reasons why he felt RVD wasn't good enough. Bottom line, it doesn't matter if RVD was 'good enough', the main thing was he was 'over enough'.

 

Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar. Unforgiven 2002. At first, I remember people were pissed when they heard this, seeing how Taker refused to job to a new star and make him. I believe it was true Taker didn't want to job, but it was because he wanted and rightfully did job to Lesnar in a Hell in a cell match on month later.

 

I think what people most take issue with is how Undertaker basically treated Brock like he was his bitch in that first match. Brock was the new champion, the rising star, the monstrous powerhouse, and Undertaker barely sells a thing for him and ends up casually tossing him through the scenery to end one of the most poorly received PPV main events in a long time.

 

Austin vs. Lesnar. Raw 2002. Austin felt it was stupid to job on free TV and walked out on the company shortly after.

 

Austin was wrong to walk out in the manner he did, and I don't think anyone can deny that. However, Austin losing to Brock on free TV with no build, or even facing him in that manner at all, was stupid. Equally petty was the reasoning behind the match being booked in the first place.

 

Re: Austin vs. Hunter at Summerslam '99

 

Austin was fine with doing the job, and never had a problem with it. Mankind was added for two reasons; they wanted a kick-ass match, which Austin was too banged up for, and they wanted Jesse Ventura to raise a babyfaces hand at the end of the night.

 

There was also some shit about Honky Tonk Man refusing to drop the title to Randy Savage in the 80s, which resulting in them rebooking WMIV to give Savage the World Title...I never understood how that worked though.

 

What part don't you understand?

 

Agreed. Bret flat out refused to do that job.

 

Technically, Bret just refused to job to Shawn in Canada. He was willing to do the job in America, or anywhere else. It seems a little silly, but at least Bret was still willing to job to Shawn, even if he was upset about doing so. Shawn flat out refused to job to anyone, ever.

[Papacita 0]

Re: Honky and Savage, Diamonddust pretty much captures what I didn't get about it with his last post. You'd figure that if Vince was banking on Savage and Dibiase as I-C and World Champs respectively, he'd have gone through with it regardless. Also, this could be because Honky was a little before my time, but I couldn't see Vince just conceding to him like that. I know he was a fairly big draw but that's a little mind boggling...the explanation above clears some of that up, though.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Also, this could be because Honky was a little before my time, but I couldn't see Vince just conceding to him like that. I know he was a fairly big draw but that's a little mind boggling...the explanation above clears some of that up, though.

There were no contracts to speak of back then, so if Honky felt upset enough he could have simply walked out of the WWF and straight onto a primetime NWA broadcast.

[Matt Young 0]

No contracts? I doubt Vince would have allowed his champions to walk away at any time. They had to at least have had top stars under contract.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

No contracts? I doubt Vince would have allowed his champions to walk away at any time. They had to at least have had top stars under contract.

Honky would have walked out had Vince not changed his mind. Clearly, Honky was legally able do that, suggesting he wasn't under any kind of contract, or if he was it wasn't a very good one.

[Diamonddust 0]

No contracts? I doubt Vince would have allowed his champions to walk away at any time. They had to at least have had top stars under contract.

Honky would have walked out had Vince not changed his mind. Clearly, Honky was legally able do that, suggesting he wasn't under any kind of contract, or if he was it wasn't a very good one.

 

In the interview, he gave the impression that at the time of the Savage match, he was just then making real good money. As IC Champion, he would headline the B-Shows, and those would generally sell-out. He also said that after the planned loss to Savage, the idea was to "rebuild" him, in his words... which meant going back to the lower portion of the card and taking a major income cut in terms of how much he got paid each night.

[Naked Snake 0]

I was in the middle of writing a long post, and my computer crashed.

 

So I will post briefly and then explain it later, as I don't have the time/energy to repost everything I just did.

 

 

Jean Pierre Lafitte refused to job to WWF Champion Diesel in 1995 at a house show in Quebec. This actually caused a big stink back in the day and showed the true power of the Clique.

 

Ahmed Johnson was fired in early 1998 for refusing to put over Kurragan (sp?) at a Raw.

 

Vince McMahon wasn't going to put over Ric Flair at the 2002 Royal Rumble, but it could have been a swerve.

 

Hogan didn't want to job to Michaels because he was thinking Austin/Hogan was still going to happen at Mania 22.

 

Austin apparently didn't want to job the title to Kane at KOTR, so that's why the first blood stip was put in.

 

 

I had more, but I will fill these in later.

[Diamonddust 0]

I was in the middle of writing a long post, and my computer crashed.

 

So I will post briefly and then explain it later, as I don't have the time/energy to repost everything I just did.

 

 

Jean Pierre Lafitte refused to job to WWF Champion Diesel in 1995 at a house show in Quebec. This actually caused a big stink back in the day and showed the true power of the Clique.

 

Ahmed Johnson was fired in early 1998 for refusing to put over Kurragan (sp?) at a Raw.

 

Vince McMahon wasn't going to put over Ric Flair at the 2002 Royal Rumble, but it could have been a swerve.

 

Hogan didn't want to job to Michaels because he was thinking Austin/Hogan was still going to happen at Mania 22.

 

Austin apparently didn't want to job the title to Kane at KOTR, so that's why the first blood stip was put in.

 

 

I had more, but I will fill these in later.

 

Austin should have never lost to Kane at KOTR '98 regardless. Still, him winning the belt back on Raw the next night was a very entertaining episode.

 

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Jean Pierre Lafitte refused to job to WWF Champion Diesel in 1995 at a house show in Quebec. This actually caused a big stink back in the day and showed the true power of the Clique.

 

JPL wanted to lose by countout instead of pinfall, feeling that losing clean would damage him in the city. This upset The Clique, which is ironic for all the obvious reasons, who let Vince know all about it.

 

Ahmed Johnson was fired in early 1998 for refusing to put over Kurragan (sp?) at a Raw.

 

There is a story that WWE knew Johnson would respond in such a manner and did it because they wanted to fire Johnson and were looking for an excuse.

 

Vince McMahon wasn't going to put over Ric Flair at the 2002 Royal Rumble, but it could have been a swerve.

 

True story. Vince felt that because he was so much bigger than Flair nobody would buy Flair beating him, so if they ever wrestled then Vince would have to win.

 

Hogan didn't want to job to Michaels because he was thinking Austin/Hogan was still going to happen at Mania 22.

 

For once, Hogan was right.

 

Austin apparently didn't want to job the title to Kane at KOTR, so that's why the first blood stip was put in.

 

Never heard about this; the way it went down is how it was always going to.

[Drury37 0]

When I read this topic the first thing I thought of was the 1990 Royal Rumble when Hulk Hogan would not allow Mr. Perfect to get a monster win.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Road Warrior Animal related a story on their dvd about refusing to job to the Freebirds in the AWA. I forget the venue.

[Gert T 0]

Don't forget the classic Alex Wright-Paul Roma match that got Roma fired, and featured Roma's partner Paul Orndorf coming out in the middle of the match to keep an eye on Roma.

 

 

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Was that the reason Orndorff was sent out? I always figured Roma kept not wanting to lose to himself and just sandbagged Wright during the match.

[Diamonddust 0]

Was that the reason Orndorff was sent out? I always figured Roma kept not wanting to lose to himself and just sandbagged Wright during the match.

 

Roma didn't want to lose to Wright, and he made Wright look like a fool in the match. I imagine they sent Orndorff out there in case they needed to "beat" a little sense into Roma on the event he didn't go along with the finish.

[Naked Snake 0]

Steiners versus Outsiders at 1997 Road Wild. All the booking made it seem like the Steiners would finally go over, but Nash complained the frequent title changes were hurting the drawing power of the belt. Keep in mind Hogan won the title back from Luger at this same PPV where Luger won the title from Hogan six days before.

[Epic Reine 0]

Jean Pierre Lafitte refused to job to WWF Champion Diesel in 1995 at a house show in Quebec. This actually caused a big stink back in the day and showed the true power of the Clique.

 

Didn't Nash bring that up during a promo on Nitro? (I wanna say around 1999).

[Gert T 0]

I guess my question is, who the hell did LaFitte think he is to not lose to the World Champ, hometown or not?

 

 

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Re: Hogan, Perfect and the 1990 Rumble

 

Hogan was always going to win. With the dream match of Hogan vs. Warrior headlining Wrestlemania, and Hogan the one losing, he wasn't going to not the win the Rumble; he was going to look strong going into his first major, and clean, loss in over eight years.

 

Re: Paul Roma and Alex Wright

 

Roma didn't refuse to job, but he absolutely hated that he had to put Wright over. Because he was the heel and calling the match, Roma made sure to look Wright as weak as possible en route to doing the job, because he, in his mind, didn't want to look weak.

 

Re: Jean Pierre LaFitte

 

Most people wouldn't be happy about having to loss clean in their hometown, even if it is to the company's champion. However, most people would know enough to just keep quiet about it and do their job, as it were. The real question is why someone in power didn't just tell LaFitte to shut the hell up and do what he was told to do.