Roman Reigns reached breaking point with WWE creative. Then...BOOM! 'Tribal Chief'!
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00:00As the great Owen Hart once said, enough is enough and it's time for a change.
00:05WWE burns through a lot of creative, there isn't much time to sit down and plan things out long
00:11term. This only makes it even more remarkable that the Roman Reigns-led bloodline story has
00:15been so carefully constructed and executed to perfection. That might never have happened had
00:21Roman not looked writers in the eye and asked something like, what are we doing here?
00:25So I am Gareth, this is What Culture Wrestling,
00:28and here are 10 exact moments wrestlers told WWE creative enough is enough.
00:34Jon Moxley's inoculation pain
00:36This was quite literally a pain in the arse for Jon Moxley, and it was very much a final straw
00:41moment for him. Moxley later told anyone who'd listen in interviews that he hated the inoculation
00:46segment with a passion. WWE's kayfabe doc was supposed to protect Ambrose from a disgusting,
00:52disease-riddled fanbase. He was all rather over the top, not especially a bad thing in pro
00:57wrestling, but this sure did not suit Mox. Ambrose detested the skit so much, it hurled him towards
01:03the WWE exit doors, and the former Shield man elected to leave the promotion completely,
01:09then popped up amidst much fanfare at AEW's first Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
01:13And speaking of WWE slash AEW history, who do you think has had the best move from WWE to AEW?
01:209. Big Show feels disrespected
01:25You've likely forgotten all about one throwaway backstage skit from the 4th of January 2021.
01:30There, an arrogant Randy Orton pushed Big Show back down into his seat, and would not let him
01:35stand up to tower over him. This one moment told Paul Wight his time was up in WWE. Wight didn't
01:42mind giving Orton the advantage, but he did think he should have managed some sort of retaliation,
01:46or at least shown some defiance. Later, he also felt like others in the company spoke down to him.
01:51He was keen to move on from an absolutely horrendous evening, and he fancied branching
01:56out to do something different beyond the company anyway. He has since shown up in AEW,
02:01but hasn't really done much of note on screen with Tony Khan's group.
02:048. Neville walks out
02:06Behold the moment when Neville slash Pac realized he was powerless to make WWE's top brass look at
02:12him as a credible ongoing concern. The Geordie native hadn't enjoyed his feud vs Enzo Amore
02:17anyway, but props hoped he'd be able to swerve it eventually, and continue shining as a reborn
02:23heel promo machine who could also work excellent matches. And nope, Neville rocked up to the 9th
02:28of October 2017 Raw, and was told by agents he'd be dropping the Cruiserweight title to Enzo that
02:34evening. He walked out on the organisation before Raw, then eventually managed to negotiate his
02:39release from contract following some lengthy, confusing back and forth. The Flyer had seen
02:44enough to know he'd never be taken seriously. 7. Drew McIntyre wants some assurances
02:50It would be guesswork, and probably false, to suggest Drew didn't like his hot triple threat
02:55bout with Gunter and Sheamus at WrestleMania 39. That trio tore the house down on the midcard,
03:01but one key word there might have been the problem. Midcard. McIntyre had been sliding
03:07into that groove ever since failing to win the undisputed title from Roman Reigns on Clash
03:11at the Castle in September 2022. And according to various reports earlier this year, McIntyre
03:17was thrashing out terms on a new potential deal with WWE, but seemingly wanted assurances he'd
03:22be handled correctly. It also led to conjecture about the fascinating now Raw heel potentially
03:28jumping to AEW or taking some time away from the spotlight if his deal is allowed to expire next
03:34year. But it is also worth noting that the Scotsman has been at the centre of one of the
03:38strongest storylines on WWE programming since making his return at Money in the Bank earlier
03:43this year. 6. Seth Rollins watches babyface fire die
03:47What was running through Seth Rollins' head as he lay on the ground in Saudi Arabia at Crown
03:51Duel 2019 is less of a mystery. He'd been one of the best babyfaces of WWE's entire year,
03:57but the creative team effed that up when booking Seth against the late Bray Wyatt's fiend offshoot.
04:02Their non-finish at Hell in a Cell borderline destroyed the famous gimmick bout's entire
04:07luster in minutes, and that led to the follow-up battle having this bizarre
04:11can't-be-stopped-for-any-reason tagline. Then Rollins dropped the Universal title to Bray,
04:16and knew his workhorse babyface run was over. Fans had started to boo him before that. Seth
04:22ended up turning heel less than two months after dropping the belt in October, and that shift to
04:26the dark side might have saved his bacon. It handed Rollins some breathing room and eliminated
04:31the embarrassment of being heckled when playing hero. Let's just say WWE's writers probably
04:36didn't get a Rollins Christmas card that year. 5. CM Punk has had enough
04:47This image was taken during CM Punk's entrance at the 2014 Royal Rumble. As he stared towards
04:52the heavens and prepared to work a gruelling 49-minute stint in the 30-man match, Punk already
04:58knew something else. Less than 24 hours later, Punk informed both Vince McMahon and Triple H he
05:03was taking off before Raw even started. Most of the wrestler's unhappiness seemed to stem from
05:08working through various injuries without the promise of ever headlining WrestleMania,
05:12but he was just generally beat up and tired from the rigours of the road, too. This wasn't exactly
05:17Punk's first run-in with wrestling management, and it wouldn't be his last. Hell, the guy is still
05:22making headlines for this kind of stuff in 2023. 4. Chris Jericho's WrestleMania demotion
05:28No, Chris Jericho is nowhere to be found in this pic. It's from Kevin Owens' Universal
05:32title defence vs Goldberg at Fastlane 2017, but it started pushing Jericho towards a WWE departure
05:39long before that actually happened. The veteran was sick and tired of how things were handled.
05:44Goldberg beating KO at Fastlane was a death knell for Jericho's full-time WWE career,
05:50and his excitement for Vince McMahon's leadership overall. McMahon demoted Jericho vs Owens from
05:55title marquee slot at WrestleMania 33 to second on the card in a United States title scrap.
06:01Then the Boss bashed their performance behind the curtain in Orlando. That was too much for Y2J to
06:06take, and he's since revealed that this series of events led to him departing WWE entirely.
06:11He has not looked back since. 3. The Undertaker visibly needs a break
06:16By late 1999, The Undertaker didn't feel like his long-standing supernatural deadman persona
06:22was working any longer. So in a bid to shake things up, Mark Calloway planned to become a
06:26more realistic character. Vince McMahon was hesitant to pull the trigger on change, but
06:30Taker wasn't taking no for an answer. The loyal but wounded soldier needed some time off to heal
06:35up injuries anyway. His tag team with Big Show had been middle of the road, and his in-ring
06:40performances first decreased in quality then evaporated in favour of promos when injuries
06:45got on top of him. Before his time off and grand return in May 2000 as The Biker, it's possible
06:50to see Taker looking proper brassed off on countless episodes of Raw. The dude was going
06:55through creative burnout. 2. Steve Austin is horrified by his mania role
07:002002 was a rough old year for Steve Austin. WWE's top star since 1998 was physically struggling,
07:06but viewed company creative as an even bigger pain. The writer suddenly downplayed his importance to
07:12the cause, and programmed Stone Cold in a nothing mid-card match with Scott Hall at WrestleMania X8.
07:17Rewatch Mania now and you'll see Austin look totally disinterested by everything around him.
07:22Steve walked out before the 10th of June episode of Raw, and the promotion bashed him on live TV
07:27for it. Austin was flat out finished with the creative team's ideas for him. Losing to rising
07:32star Brock Lesnar in a one-off King of the Ring qualifier was an insulting thought for the
07:37rattlesnake, especially after months and months of mediocrity not becoming of a star his stature.
07:431. Roman Reigns has enough of the Big Dog
07:45Paul Heyman recently admitted during interviews that the 6th of December 2019 Smackdown was a
07:50turning point in the career of one Roman Reigns. Both Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler cuffed Roman
07:55to the ring post, then covered him in dog food on that show. It was a miserable moment for the
08:00Big Dog. It ended his willingness to use that nickname and play his babyface character. Heyman
08:05called it a breaking point for Reigns with company creative. The future tribal chief knew he had to
08:10be more hands-on if he wanted to live the moments he fancied living on WWE television. Instead,
08:16Roman, ably backed by a supporting cast and a creative process that embraced his seriousness,
08:21has helped produce one of wrestling's most epic tales since starting the Bloodline
08:25narrative in 2020. He certainly didn't want any more dog food skits. And if you liked this,
08:30then check out this awesome 10 Best Wrestling Matches of 2023 video too. Bye!