Surprising Win Loss Records of WWE Superstars
In the pre-scripted world of professional wrestling, does it really matter who wins and who loses? [...]
Bray Wyatt
The biggest knock on Bray Wyatt has been that WWE continues to give him the same storyline with every top babyface. A lot of mind games with very few victories. WWE likes to say wins and losses don't matter in the New Era, but there's only so many times fans can buy into Wyatt being a threat when he can't back up his voodoo magic with actual victories. If his recent feud with Seth Rollins is any indication, WWE clearly knew it was time to give the Wyatt fam patriarch something in the W column.
prevnextSeth Rollins
This one is surprising. Considering Rollins was a Mr. Money In The Bank winner and a US and WWE Champion, it feels like Seth would be on the 63% winning side at the least. However, if you think back to his actual WWE Championship run, it felt like the Architecht was losing every single non-title match WWE put him in.
Also, when you think back to his time as a heel, he was probably losing a boat load of house shows to Roman Reigns.
prevnextJinder Mahal
Ouch. The current WWE Champion has only won 18% of his matches. Jinder's staggering loss total is hardly surprising, considering he was, at best, a mid-card jobber until getting shipped to SmackDown in the Superstar Shake-Up.
Jinder's pathetic win loss record is either an example of how losing can make it hard for the WWE Universe to accept a former jobber getting pushed to the top or how quickly a few key wins can change everyone's mind. Winning is actually WWE's greatest currency and easiest way to tell the audience that a superstar is a big deal. The Maharaja's road to the top was such a jolting u-turn that it definitely put the significance of a losing record into greater focus.
prevnextNeville
Bow down to the King of the Cruiserweights. The Man That Gravity Forgot would likely have somewhere around a 50% win record. Thankfully for Neville, WWE found the perfect role for him as the Game of Thrones-esque ruler of 205 Live. Neville is one of the greatest in-ring performers in the WWE and it's nice to see that his win/loss record reflects that. Until 205 Live can find another performer with the star power to rival The King, look for the W's to keep mounting.
prevnextJohn Cena
John Cena has been the most dominant superstar of the past 15 years and perhaps the most dominant in WWE history. It would be surprising to see him not have such an enormous winning percentage. Still, to see the 232 losses just goes to show how the knock against him refusing to "put people over" is just ridiculous. Cena wins because it's best for business. If he loses, it's to turn someone else into a mega star. What they do after they're done being a part of his storyline is, well, another story entirely.
prevnextRoman Reigns
The yard may belong to him, but The Big Dog has taken plenty of losses in his WWE career. It may feel like he's booked as an invincible superman, but Roman Reigns is often on the wrong side of a three count. With the former WWE Champion coming off retiring The Undertaker (or so we think) look for the wins to keep on coming this year. Unless Braun Strowman decides he's still not finished with him, of course.
prevnextHulk Hogan
Listen here Mean Gene, the Hulkster didn't want to lay down for just anybody, brothers! The 141-30-6 record does not take his WCW record into consideration. From 1985-90, Hulk Hogan had a vice grip on the WWE Championship. Most of Hogan's 30 losses were by nefarious means such as a DQ or a countout. Hogan only lost cleanly 5 times in his WWE career with 4 of those losses coming during his final 2002 run with the company.
Was Hulk Hogan viewed as a big deal because he won all the time? You're damn right he was. Would fans embrace another run like that in the modern WWE? Hell no. If you think Roman Reigns gets booed for "being shoved down our throats", imagine what they would do to the Hulkster.
We modern wrestling fans are a finicky bunch. We want wins and losses to matter, but we don't want anyone to lose or win too many times. Or at the wrong time.
I don't envy the WWE's job of trying to appease us.
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