The wrestling world is filled with all kinds of people from all kinds of walks of life all striving for two things: to entertain the fans and maximize their earning potential. Some are on top for only a brief time before they get the boot, others seemingly ride the wave forever. Some guys used to make their bones by being perennial journeymen, so even if they were losing every night, they made pretty good money looking up at the lights.

Thanks to the internet, as well as the old game “tell-a-phone, telegram, tell-a-wrestler,” wrestler stories and real-life trials and tribulations have become all too commonplace and very much common knowledge. Life on the road is filled with all kinds of temptations and potholes, and some stars have become bitter about that, while others sadly can't help themselves and the incidents that have happened to them.

Who did it to themselves, and who is living a real-life version of the classic Mickey Rourke movie The Wrestler? Who has had unforeseen circumstances smack them right in the face? Which wrestles deserve a little bit of sympathy and some of those world-famous thoughts and prayers? Who deserves the utter contempt of the fans? Let's now take a look at 15 wrestlers we don't feel sorry for anymore, and 10 others who still deserve our sympathy.

25 Not Sorry: Sunny

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Somewhere in between beautiful ladies like the Sensational Sherri who could go (and can next year’s Women’s Battle Royal please be called the Sensational Invitational?), and women like Trish and Lita, there was the Sable, Marlena, and Sunny era of women's wrestling. The first group of Divas as fans would come to know them were the very definition of what one certain podcast host from Alabama might say are “Roll Tide.” Tammy Lynn Sytch, aka Sunny, was the queen of WWE, the beautiful girl next door whose smile could melt the ice caps, never mind how smouldering the rest of her was. She could have been everything that she was during the mid-nineties and perhaps would have been a glamorous Hollywood megastar now, or simply continued her medical studies to be a successful doctor, but Tammy chose the hard life instead.

Plug for the Kliq, betraying her supposedly beloved Chris Candido, becoming a complete shell of herself, repeated trips to treatment centres on the WWE’s dime, and repeated run ins with the boys in blue have made one of the most over stars of the nineties become a walking punchline. While we should no longer feel sorry for her, perhaps a call from DDP could change her life the way it has for Jake Roberts and Razor Ramon, but until then the former bombshell will be a lot more Roll Eyes than Roll Tide.

24 Not Sorry: Sid

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Sid Eudy, aka Sycho Sid and Sid Vicious, had a career that is full of rarified air. A former WWE and WCW world champion, a two-time WrestleMania headliner, against two of the greatest of all time, a Starrcade headliner, and a member of the Four Horsemen. The one-time Master And The Ruler Of The World was destined for far better than he got, and he got a whole lot! How many people can claim they were a world champion for the two biggest wrestling companies of all time, and headlined and main evented both of their big shows?!

Then we all found out just how ridiculous the guy is. Getting into fights with Arn Anderson and scissors; Flyin’ Brian Pillman and a squeegee; squirrel stories; fake injuries; and good ol’ softball season - this guy had everything handed to him. And then had everything handed to him again when Shawn Michaels didn't want to work with Vader. As such, Sid was brought back to do business. The guy had everything Vince wanted to load the rocket ship up with and push to the moon, but the man from anywhere he very well pleases consistently got injured, faked injury, or decided softball season was more important than WrestleMania season.

23 Sorry For: Ric Flair

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The single greatest performer of all time. There is next to zero debate about that opinion. Plenty of people have listed others as their favourite wrestler, but Ric Flair is the greatest of all time. However years of sacrificing for this business, taking however many bumps, bleeding all over the world, and living the gimmick  “stay out late, and stay a little longer!”, the purveyor of the “Ric Flair Drip,” has paid for his craft.

Even after his “retirement” match at WrestleMania XXIV, Flair was unwilling to give up his passion and would work matches for TNA and the Hulkamania Tour.

While impossible to look like the Ric Flair of yesteryear, the guy still just looked like an old man who has overstayed his welcome. Hopefully now, the 16-time world champion will just stay out of the ring and not become a shell of his best memories. Marriages have suffered, and most importantly his health, which declined several months ago when he suffered a major health scare and was hospitalized. He was able to kick out of his health scare, but it stinks to see one of the greatest ever with an increasingly sullen look and realization that he simply cannot physically do what he used to be the best at.

22 Not Sorry: Billy Gunn

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For a long while, it seemed that former rodeo star, Billy Gunn was made of Teflon. He started out on his journey with Bart Gunn as kayfabe brothers, the Smoking Gunns. He was a multi-time tag team champion and then tried to have a singles career as Rockabilly. When that floundered, and really who actually thought it was going to be a success, Gunn began his most memorable run as one of the New Age Outlaws. After another attempt at singles glory, The Rock buried him with a single promo (“Bob? But my name’s Billy.”), and he didn’t do himself any favors, since he couldn’t hold his own in a single’ match.

But the guy always seemed to be around, and was always heralded as one of the most naturally gifted athletes in the history of the sport. Even after bashing the company and doing a piss-poor Outlaws reunion in TNA, Gunn still managed to stick around. His friendship with Triple H also helped him get a job as a trainer at Full Sail University. With all this time spent in the WWE, you would think the guy knows all of the rules and regulations. Heck, he’s supposed to be imparting them to his students. So, when he was let go due to finding performance-enhancers in his system to help him with a power lifting career was keeping kayfabe from the WWE, you just have to shake your head instead of feel sorry for the guy.

21 Not Sorry: Mike “Virgil” Jones

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For anyone that has been to either a comic book convention or a wrestling convention, or anywhere that will have wrestlers doing signing appearances, Virgil will be there to remind us all about the other side of the business. The side where some stars, or in Mike Jones’ case, supporting players are still clinging on to some hope that someone, anyone still cares about them.

Virgil, of course, made what little name he had being the servant to the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase. After the inevitable break-up, Virg’ hung around Rowdy Roddy Piper before heading to WCW. Where supposedly he was named in the WWE after Dusty Rhodes’ shoot name (Virgil Riley Runnels), Jones headed down south, playing off his relationship with Ted DiBiase. His new name, Vincent, was clearly a rib on the WWE Chairman. (And so was his second WCW ring name, Shane, which, of course, was a rib on Mr. McMahon's son.) Somehow, Virgil had made a career out of barely wrestling a match, barely working as a cornerman, and Virgil isn't going to go down as one of the best managers of all time. But if you're a masochist and you're willing to let him talk your ear off, the guy will try to sell you on the idea that he was a big, huge part of two of the best angles in wrestling.

20 Sorry For: Paige

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She might be the only known superstar who was actually working since she was in the womb. Her mother, Sweet Saraya, was taking bumps at seven months pregnant with the future scream queen almost ready to make her debut. Fast forward approximately 20 years or so, and the already five-year vet had been signed by WWE and would go on to become the first-ever champion to be born in the '90s. The world was completely ahead of her, and it seemed that the tribunal of Triple H, Stephanie, and Vince McMahon were all enamoured with her and what she could do in the ring. A beautiful British goth rocker who can go with anyone in the ring? For all intents and purposes, Paige was supposed to be this generation’s version of Lita.

Then Paige met Alberto Del Rio. No matter how genuine their affections are for each other, these two were far too dangerous for one another’s career. Then Paige needed neck fusion surgery. Her entire drama with Del Rio seemed to be past her and she had come back strong as the leader of Absolution. It seemed like Paige was finally ready to take her rightful place amongst the rest of the Women's Revolution. Sadly, an errant kick from Sasha Banks to Paige would level the current Smackdown GM and effectively end her career, just as it was ready to get back on track.

19 Not Sorry: Marty Jannetty

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If you've ever listened to Something To Wrestle With… Bruce Prichard, particularly the Rockers and Marty Jannetty episode, then you know what a sad sack Jannetty is. The guy was certainly one of the most talented performers of his time, but as we'd come to learn, there are a multitude of reasons why Shawn was a Shawn and he was a Marty. Perhaps he never quite got over accidentally injuring journeyman wrestler Chad Austin with a botched Rocker Dropper, irrevocably injuring him and completely changing the guy's way of life.

That's not an indictment on the guy, as accidents in the ring do happen. But Jannetty’s career was never quite the same since his face hit the window of the Barber Shop. The guy had countless chances and failed numerous tests. He had been hired and rehired more times than plenty of Superstars had been hired and rehired. All because Vince McMahon, the real person and not Mr. McMahon, likes to see the absolute good in people. Or maybe because Marty and Shawn were supposed to have had crazy matches for years. While that might be a sad story, you've also got the whole "Jannetty wants to be with his step-daughter or the girl who he raised as a daughter" deal. Whatever the real story is, that's just pretty gross stuff. He says he was hacked and he might have been, but that's a tough one to outrun.

18 Not Sorry: Scott Steiner

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Ol’ Ham Cubes himself - Big Poppa Pump, Scott Steiner should have legendary status right now, but instead becomes more and more of a joke with each tweet and news item we hear about him. He was one half of one of the greatest tag teams of all time and had the charisma enough to carry both Steiner Brothers. So much in fact that when the Bay City brothers made it up north, both bookers at the time not named Vince McMahon (Bruce Prichard and Pat Patterson) had tried to push Scott winning the 1993 Royal Rumble and then going on to win the world title at WrestleMania. But Vince couldn't see past the fact that Steiner was brand new and unknown to the WWE audience.

But several years later, the guy chopped off the trademark mullet and became Big Poppa Pump, a humongous mountain of a man.

Then his stock rose, but so did news of his backstage antics in WCW. After WCW folded, he would eventually make it to the WWE, but after a pretty paltry performance against Triple H at the 2003 Royal Rumble, all hope for Freakzilla was lost. Steiner’s mouth continues to get him into trouble. Several years ago he was banned from WrestleMania weekend in New Orleans. Repeated fights, altercations, and threats involving other people, and not just his brothers in spandex, have landed him on this side of his list, potentially forever.

17 Sorry For: Bret Hart

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Weird comments in the last few years notwithstanding, it is a terrible shame that more or less, an entire career that spanned over 30 years and several different promotions around the world, a career where you nearly earned and were awarded every single accolade you could possibly get, a career which had worldwide adoration from all of the fans, is summed up and treated as if it was just one crazy night in Montreal. November 9, 1997 - the infamous Screwjob occurred, and sadly, Bret “The Hitman” Hart’s career was never the same and his legacy, even more tragically, never recovered.

He spent the better part of next decade railing against the WWE, still bitter over the events in Montreal. He had an abysmal run in WCW, where Vince McMahon’s prediction came true and WCW had no idea what to do with him. Then came his brother Owen’s tragic accident and his own health issues, as he suffered a stroke. All of that happened and Bret still hadn't found peace. With a Hall Of Fame induction in 2006 and eventually reconciling with HBK and defeating Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XXVI, the Hitman might have finally found some solace. But his entire career and legacy has been whittled to just one moment.

16 Not Sorry: Hulk Hogan

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Say what you will about the guy and his in-ring work, but Hulk Hogan was singlehandedly the reason wrestling got so popular during the '80s. Then he did it again at Bash at the Beach 1996, when it was revealed that he was the third man of the then-unnamed nWo. From Gorgeous George to Bruno to Austin, Rock, and Cena - only one superstar was able to carry the business into not one, but two boom periods. If the nWo didn't kick off as well as it did, there might not have been an Attitude Era the way we knew it. Not bad for a guy who plenty of fans love but also know full well he doesn't know a wrist lock from a wrist watch. That's the Hulk Hogan the cultural icon.

The man, Terry Bollea, has simply not done the myth any justice.

Way back before WrestleMania I, he got into a bit of a situation with comedian Richard Belzer on late night TV. He lied on the old Arsenio Hall show about ever using steroids and then testified under oath that he had. He also has made ridiculous comments over the years, like when he claimed he was asked to be part of Metallica. Then there's the whole Gawker fiasco, and the insensitive and hurtful comments he made on tape. Several wrongs don't make a right, but evidently, they pay handsomely as Hogan was awarded $31 million for the website’s wrongdoing.

15 Not Sorry: Enzo Amore

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Enzo Amore, was for all intents and purposes, the Road Dogg-type of character for this generation. Whether intentional or not, the Smacktalker Skywalker’s gift of gab on the way to the ring was reminiscent of Brian Armstrong’s. Even Cass’s S-A-W-F-T was akin to Billy Gunn’s, “if you’re not down with that…” rap. The New Jersey native had absolutely no experience in the business before getting signed and would be a prime example of what the Performance Center could do fora  person trained from the ground up.

Once he was on the main roster, the Realest Guy In The Room might have been a little too real. Whether he was just being himself or buying too much into his own gimmick, reports came from seemingly every direction that the guy was not getting along with anyone and frankly was cheesing everyone off. In theory though, that aspect of things might have just been played up to help out with the guy’s heel turn and subsequent brief run on 205 Live. But all of those supposed headaches turned into a shoot when Amore was briskly fired from WWE. This might make you feel sorry for the guy, but with all of the times his mouth got him into the trouble, WWE was just done with him, as the PR nightmare this guy gives was just too frustrating.

14 Sorry For: Roman Reigns

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There is nothing wrong with a Roman Reigns match, as long as has a decent dance partner to follow. Suplex City vs. Superman Punch just gets boring after about three of each move. But Roman is a decent worker on any given day and has proven his mettle over the course of nearly five years on the main roster. Are they five-star insta-classics? No, but they're not taking place in the Tokyo Dome either, so certain people shouldn't judge.

But the position he's in, as the top guy in the company, has also put him square in the cros-hairs of the smart fans who want Daniel Bryan or AJ Styles or Shinsuke Nakamura or anyone who could work a far better match than Roman could. In fact just a few days after he was cleared to return, the fans were already chanting “Daniel Bryan” at the Big Dog. In any other era, Roman’s the man! A big “hulk” of a man, with a certain “excellent” greasy look, with an “attitude” when it comes to trash talking, and the kids would have likely gotten behind him back in the day. Perhaps Vince needs to just leave him alone and let the fans get him over naturally like they did for his cousin than continue to jam him down our gullets.

13 Not Sorry: Teddy Hart

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If anyone has tried to listen to and keep up with a Teddy Hart interview, then you'll know he's about as a crazy as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, or the felines that the guy trains to be a part of his wrestling gimmick. For those of you who don't know who Teddy Hart is, or why several of the Hart grandchildren seem to have a strange fascination with felines, here's a brief primer. Stu Hart supposedly just had cats running all over his property, so naturally the grandkids always had some feline friend to play with. I'm sure PETA loves the fact that Teddy trains his cats to work in the ring.

Teddy is the oldest of the Hart grandkids, the son of wrestler BJ Annis and Georgia Hart. He might be the epitome of too much too soon. Signed to a WWE contract at just 17-18-years-old, he was and still is the youngest signee ever. But a chip on his shoulder and a bad attitude did him in. Off to the indies he went, where at a ROH show, he drew the ire of several wrestlers, including CM Punk, for reportedly flipping and moonsaulting all over the ring during a cage match. Couple all of this with being wanted by the Mounties a few years back and you have a sorry case that no one should feel sorry for.

12 Not Sorry: Brutus Beefcake

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Seldom has a man done so much with so little, except a minute modicum of charisma and a friendship with Hulk Hogan goes a very long way. Ed Leslie began his career as Ed Boulder, the shoot brother of one Terry Boulder, and later he was Dizzy Hogan, once Hulk Hogan was born. For years fans had just assumed the two were shoot brothers; which explained a whole lot of the opportunities “Brother Bruti” had been given in the WWE and beyond. First, he was worked with David Sammartino (Bruno’s kid) at the inaugural WrestleMania and he more or less had a marquee spot, either defending a championship for challenging for one in four of the first five WrestleManias and famously helping to chop off Adrian Adonis’ hair at WrestleMania III. At WrestleMania VI, #BTFFB of all people was the one chosen to end the perfect record of Mr. Perfect. After his parasailing accident, Beefcake took a few years off from the ring before returning, and again got to wrestle in a championship match at WrestleMania IX.

Then he followed his super famous and super over friend all the way to WCW, where he would wind up with 853 gimmicks and none of them were worth anything, but due to his friendship with Hogan, his career persisted. In recent years, the guy has let his struggles get wildly out of control, even inciting an airborne attack threat scare at a The T in Boston, when a passenger found an unmarked bag at his booth and alerted the authorities.

11 Sorry For: Vince Russo

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Like it or not, agree with the style of booking or not, but the combination of Vince McMahon, Vince Russo, and the ridiculously amped up roster they had to work with at the time have birth to some of the most memorable moments in Raw history, even over 20 years later. Then when SmackDown was just getting underway and Russo was feeling overworked and the pangs of not being home enough, he asked McMahon for a raise or some extra days off. By Russo’s account, the older, more powerful Vince had suggested that he makes enough money to hire a nanny.

A devastated Russo signed with WCW and seemingly left WWE in the middle of the night, under cover of darkness.

His reputation, which might not have been that heralded to begin with, was forever tarnished. He became the albatross around the neck of all that was bad with wrestling and whatever started the heat with Jim Cornette continues to this very day, as Russo even felt it was palpable enough to get a restraining order against him. He's seemingly the only person blackballed from the industry, but no discernible reason as to why. Before he put everything (including Buff Bagwell's mom) on a pole, he presented a different point-of-view for Vince McMahon…shouldn't he be thanked for that?

10 Not Sorry: Raven

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A little over a decade ago in Ring Of Honor, CM Punk was feuding with Raven. It was a very unique feud for the company at the time. Previously, the promotion was more interested in the in-ring work and not so much angles and storylines. But this feud involved hardcore matches and the future Best In The World bemoaning the fact that he is still fighting and scratching and clawing to earn his spot in the business, while Raven was handed his place in wrestling and then he threw it all away with his vices. It might be Raven’s greatest blood feud after the one with Tommy Dreamer in the original ECW.

The character of Raven has always been the best of all of Scott Levy’s characters. Perhaps because plenty of the character’s traits are Levy’s as well - the guy has attention seeking habits, as well as a general me-first attitude and chip on his shoulder. So the fiction wasn't all that far from the truth. While he has thrown several opportunities down the drain based on his behaviour, it's a shame that one of the greatest characters of the '90s winds up being remembered more for his sad story and less for what he brought to the business.

9 Not Sorry: Lacey Von Erich

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Wrestling royalty below the Mason-Dixon Line essentially falls to families like the Rhodes and Armstrongs. But while those families are adored for select member’s accomplishments, no family is more beloved and admired for all of the members than the Von Erich family. Ask any Superstar who grew up down south or with cable and they all have wild childlike glee about heading to the world famous Dallas Sportatorium to see the beloved Von Erichs do battle with those nasty, vilainous Freebirds.

Fans wept with the family whenever tragedy struck them and cheered at the triumphs of the family as well.

The Von Erich legacy in wrestling is strong. Lacey Von Erich’s legacy didn't go that great. Trained by Tom Prichard, she had a brief stint in FCW before being released, and headed to TNA to join the Beautiful People. While she stuck around for a few years, it was clear that Lacey wasn't going to be able to uphold the Von Erich name. She also paid no attention to what was going on in the industry, as she thought it would be a good idea to run down the Women’s Revolution on Stone Cold’s podcast when trying to push her own project she was supposedly working on with other wrestling daughters, like Brooke Hogan.

8 Sorry For: Victoria

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In the reworked history of the WWE there seems to be one female noticeably absent from speaking about the Woman's Revolution and the women that have come before it. All of the wrestlers talk so lovingly about females like Lita and Trish Stratus who got to main event Raw long before Sasha and Charlotte. They talk about women like Molly Holly and recent Hall of Famer Ivory. They talk about Johnnie Mae Young and with the Mae Young Tournament meant to all of them. It's all really cool, but what about Victoria, and whose pooch did she screw?

Victoria actually might be on this list more for her relationship with John Cena and less for anything else that she did outside of WWE. Seemingly all she did outside of WWE was go to TNA and help their women's division become pretty decent, which forced the WWE to make their women's division even better than just decent. Victoria is one of the best wrestlers the WWE ever had during the 2000s, and she's also one the most beautiful females they ever had during that decade. If the rumours are indeed true, then Victoria deserves her rightful place amongst the rest of the female Hall of Famers instead of being held back and not allowed backstage when WWE comes to her neighbourhood, as has happened in recent times.

7 Not Sorry: Dynamite Kid

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Yes, Tom “Dynamite Kid” Billington was one of the most influential wrestlers of the past 30 years or so. Yes, his intensity, along with propensity for suplexes, stiff clotheslines, and of course the diving head-butt helped captivate capacity crowds and propel the British Bulldogs to the upper echelon of tag teams. Sure, his matches with Tiger Mask are still lauded over and dissected today. But for all of his troubles, for all of his passion to entertain at all costs, Tom Billington is confined to a wheel chair.

Now while being paralyzed due to all of the hard work and effort he put into his craft might be something to feel bad for the guy for (and true enough, no one should have to suffer like he has over the past decade or so), but do not feel sorry for the Dynamite Kid. Not. One. Bit. The guy was known for punching Bruce Hart in the face a day before Owen’s wedding, and also had an altercation with the Rougeau Brothers. Several wrestlers over the years have also claimed that they saw Billington feed the Bulldogs’ mascot, Matilda some steroids. If that's true, Billington isn't just the most influential ring-wise, he's the biggest POS outside of the ring too.

6 Not Sorry: Bill DeMott

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Sometimes, having decent wrestling ability doesn't always translate to top spots on the card. Sometimes, having decent wrestling ability doesn't always translate to being a nice guy either. Case in point, Hugh Morrus, aka Bill DeMott. Trained by Johnny Rodz, DeMott got his start working as Crash the Terminator in both ECW and Japan before landing a WCW contract and being given the punny name Hugh Morrus. He was a member of the Dungeon Of Doom, did the job for Bill Goldberg in his very first match, and then he was General Rection as one of the Misfits In Action. Clearly, the guy was built for journeyman status.

Somehow, the skills he had practiced had earned him a spot as a trainer at the Performance Center.

Not just any trainer, but DeMott was the head trainer for the Performance Center, and by extension NXT. But the guy’s gruff exterior was a little more than gruff and little more than just exterior. Rumblings and rumours began to swell that trainees were being forced to strip to their birthday suits and hit the kettle bells and battle ropes - that was just the tip of the iceberg of issues raised against DeMott. Bill resigned from his post as to not disparage the company… but if you weren’t guilty of all of these serious things, why wouldn’t you fight back instead of let your reputation be tarnished? Probably because you might have actually done some of the things these people say you did?