Being your own worst enemy in wrestling means no matter how much the crowds love you and want you to succeed, you wind up doing something to jeopardize all of your success and hard work. No matter the excuses or the reasons, it just seems that whenever these guys reach the mountaintop, they do something to bungle it all up.
As social media grew, so did a lot of these stories. They’re just always accessible now. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t always there in some form, considering all the drama in the wrestling business. Jeff Hardy is just one example of a wrestler becoming his own worst enemy, and there are plenty of other stars just like him.
10 Jeff Hardy
Perhaps more than anyone on this list, Jeff Hardy could, and in a lot of ways, does have the wrestling world in the palm of his hands. But the demon tattoos that have a stranglehold on his neck are also all too real for The Charismatic Enigma. His last WWE run was slowly but surely getting him back on top, but he bailed in the middle of a house show and ran through the crowd. Instead of going to rehab, he chose to get released. After about a cup of coffee with All Elite Wrestling, Jeff was again arrested for DUI and was immediately suspended by AEW.
9 Shawn Michaels
For nearly a decade, whether it was in a tag team or as a singles star, there was seldom anyone who could match Shawn Michaels as far as in-ring performance. Even after four years away, he returned in 2002 without missing a step. Now imagine a world where Michaels wasn’t the arrogant handful that the wrestling world knew him to be.
He could’ve had a hand in making all sorts of new stars instead of just having great matches. Montreal might not have happened, and the debacle with Sunny might not have happened. Shawn on various forms of narcotics nearly ended his career and worse.
8 Teddy Hart
The first of the next generation of the Hart Dynasty is the definition of too much too soon. The prodigy had been signed by WWE at the young age of 18 and even roomed with Kurt Angle while training. He was released and has toured the indies ever since. But he has also raised the ire of several of those promotions whether it being continuously pulling Moonsaults off of a steel cage or attempting to train his cats to wrestle.
7 Rob Van Dam
Not only would Rob Van Dam agree with the fact that he might be his own worst enemy, but he also probably couldn’t care less. In 2006 after years of consistently proving himself in both ECW and WWE, he finally became a world champion of both promotions. But because of the alternative lifestyle that he led, he and Sabu were pulled over and arrested for possession of marijuana. Nearly 20 years later, this wouldn’t have been as big of an issue. But it immediately grounded his massive push and he never got back to the mountaintop in WWE.
6 Kurt Angle
In 2006, Kurt Angle was working a very rough schedule and rough style of wrestling. Firmly entrenched in his wrestling machine character, Angle was a bruised and battered mess who was hooked on painkillers. When WWE tried to get him help, he asked for and was granted his release.
But instead of getting the help that he needed, he spurned the company and headed to TNA. He was never quite looked at by the WWE the same way. When he finally returned, he wasn’t booked anywhere near as strong as he once was.
5 Hulk Hogan
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In recent years, "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan has learned to keep his immortal mouth shut. At the height of Hulkamania, he supposedly lied about his steroid usage on The Arsenio Hall Show. Years later, Hogan was caught on video saying some unsavory things, which nearly cost him his legacy as he was removed from Tough Enough and for a brief time, the search engine of the WWE Network.
4 Ivelisse
Debuting during the Stone Cold Steve Austin hosted season of Tough Enough, Ivelisse was forced out of the competition due to a leg injury. But she also has found a way to blame everyone else for her issues. In FCW and later NXT, it was the training of Bill DeMott. Later on, she filed a lawsuit with Lucha Underground along with several other performers against the El Rey Network. She later was released from AEW reportedly due to her issues with backstage trainers, coaches, and Thunder Rosa. Basically, the girl has an excuse for every one of her major releases.
3 Jake Roberts
With his story being common knowledge by now, you can’t have a list like this and not include Jake "The Snake" Roberts. He’ll tell you himself how much he messed up over the years and nearly tossed his life down the toilet and even failed at doing that. It wasn’t until he agreed to let Diamond Dallas Page try to help him out and save his life that the battle for Jake’s soul truly began. So far, several years later, that is a battle Jake is winning.
2 Eddie Kingston
As part of his character in AEW, Eddie Kingston has alluded to the multiple demons he has tried to hold at bay on his rise to becoming one of the promotion’s top stars. But he knows full well that he and his battles with depression and other mental illnesses are some of the reasons that have consistently held Eddie Kingston back.
Here’s to hoping that being a top guy for the up-and-coming promotion is good enough to quell those demons.
1 Alberto Del Rio
When he debuted in WWE, it seemed that the world was at Alberto Del Rio’s feet. El Patron was pushed through the roof until WrestleMania 27, where that push seemed to have petered out. In the years since leaving the company, he has said some incredulous things about working for Triple H and has been accused of doing plenty of terrible things as well.