10 Controversial Wrestlers Who Were Amazing In The Ring

Many of the best wrestlers believed that controversy creates cash since it leads to having the audience talk about them. Some names became stars by keeping their names clean as the ultimate professionals, like John Cena or Triple H. However, plenty of controversial names loved to push the envelope to have their egos match their talent levels.

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Promotions are more willing to put up with drama or wild news stories if the subject is making them money or using controversy productively. Each instance in play here showcases that fans could still enjoy names with baggage. The following wrestlers proved that they could be amazing in the ring along with being controversial.

10 Ric Flair Is Considered The GOAT By Many

Classic Matches Allowed Him To Get Away With Controversies

• Left WCW For WWE With The World Championship Belt
• Had High-Profile Backstage Drama With Mick Foley & Others
• Delivered Too Many Classic Matches To Not Deliver Strong Reputation

Few wrestlers will ever feel as important as Ric Flair due to his contributions to the industry. Flair welcomed controversy since he played a larger-than-life character that wasn’t afraid to rub others the wrong way.

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There have been various controversies for Flair in his personal life and in the wrestling industry with many names like Mick Foley. Flair having stellar matches and defining what fans wanted from wrestling in the ring allowed him to continue thriving through controversies.

9 Randy Orton Got Away With A Lot In His Earlier Years

WWE Believed In His Potential Too Much To Ever Fire Him

• Admitted That He Used To Get Into Controversy For Being Immature
• WWE Suspended Him Multiple Times For Various Problems
• Has Cleaned Up His Act Once Maturing In Veteran Stage Of Career

Randy Orton will be the first to admit that he had a lot of regretful moments earlier in his career. Drama always followed Orton with backstage issues involving others or getting into trouble on the road in his personal life.

WWE suspended Orton a few times and gave him more leeway than almost any other wrestler in company history. Orton being a top wrestler and delivering strong performances helped him get away with his bad moments to still have a job as a more mature person today.

8 Tessa Blanchard Was A Star In The Ring, But Not Outside Of It

Impact Wrestling Got Burned By Her Controversies

• Helped Turn Impact's Reputation Around Before Controversy
• Allegations During Historic Title Win Ruined Reputation
• Ugly Ending To TNA Run Led To Her Getting Further Blacklisted

TNA has some momentum today with the name coming back and new talents like Nic Nemeth arriving. However, there were many tough times for Scott D’Amore during the rebuilding phase as Impact Wrestling while trying to resurrect a dying company.

Tessa Blanchard was actually one of the first home run signings that gave Impact some buzz. However, allegations of racism and bullying on the night her historic TNA Championship win took away from the moment. Blanchard made it even worse when she refused to drop the title at the end of her run during the pandemic before Impact let her contract expire.

7 Teddy Hart Could Have Been The Next Big Hart Family Star

Wasted His Potential After A Historic Signing

• Received Developmental WWE Contract At 18 Years Old
• Had High-Flying Athleticism Before Wrestling Embraced That
• Scandals & Backstage Completely Ruined His Career

WWE made Teddy Hart the youngest wrestler to ever sign a deal for them at the time in 1998. Teddy was just 18 years old and delivered some of the most impressive high-flying moves for a different style than what the Hart family was known for.

The hope was that Teddy would evolve into the next generation of Hart stars after his uncles Bret Hart, Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith all had great WWE careers. Teddy unfortunately wasted his immense in-ring talent by always getting into controversy and making poor decisions before he could break out.

6 Brock Lesnar Attained "Final Boss" Status In WWE

Calling His Own Shots Worked Out For His Career

• Left WWE In 2004 After Getting Rookie Push Of A Lifetime
• Used His Increased Power When Returning To WWE Bigger Star
• Still Delivered Great Matches In The Ring While Demanding To Look Strong

Not many wrestlers would get away with making demands or decisions on their own terms, but Brock Lesnar made it happen. WWE saw Lesnar becoming a controversial figure at the end of his run when leaving after just two years and a top spot in record time.

Brock not enjoying the traveling or wrestling lifestyle saw him changing career paths. WWE gave more power to Lesnar the second tenure after his fame grew brighter in the UFC. Many stories have shared how Brock makes demands backstage, but he gets away with it due to his star power and stellar work.

5 Triple H Played The Game

Controversy Followed His Entire WWE Career All The Way To Top

• Controversy Started In His Early WWE Run With Kliq
• Marrying Stephanie Ensure He'd Be All-Time Controversial Figure
• Has Deep Library Of All-Time Great WWE Matches

Triple H had controversy associated with him from the early years of his WWE career due to his presence in the Kliq. However, it was the relationship and ultimate marriage to Stephanie McMahon that caused him to become an all-time controversial figure.

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A reputation for burying others and the backstage power from his relationship led to constant headlines about him. Triple H has a backlog of great matches from each chapter of his controversial career in WWE before his rise to the top spot in the company.

4 Jeff Hardy Had Demons

Continued To Get Multiple Chances In Multiple Companies Due To Talent

• Survived Multiple Arrests & Suspensions In Multiple Promotions
• Fan Connection Made Companies Keep Giving Him Chances
• Jeff Is Trying To Salvage AEW Run After Most Recent Issues

The personal demons of Jeff Hardy have followed him from WWE to TNA to AEW over the past few decades. All three promotions witnessed Jeff letting them down with scandals outside of the ring, despite making efforts to clean up his life with multiple rehab stints.

Wrestling fans have a special connection with Hardy since he did things like no one before him. The classic ladder matches and ability to make fans believe he’d try anything during a match made him a star. Most wrestlers with as many mistakes as Jeff would not get all those chances for good reason.

3 Brian Pillman Was "The Loose Cannon" For A Reason

Intentionally Becoming Controversial Added To His Greatness

• Wasn't Getting Over Just Having Good Matches In WCW
• Created Loose Cannon Gimmick To Create Controversy
• Worked Controversy To Become Part Of His Legacy

The “Loose Cannon” was a great gimmick created by Brian Pillman at the end of his WCW career. Pillman was already known for having stellar matches, but he didn’t gain strong attention until he started creating controversy.

Breaking the script and doing things that blurred the lines led to Pillman having heat with other wrestlers. Pillman committing to his gimmick to draw controversy made him an all-time controversial wrestler outside of his expected good matches.

2 CM Punk Gets People Talking, For Better Or For Worse

Most Polarizing Name In WWE & AEW’s Recent History

• Left WWE With Arguably Most Controversial Departure Ever
• AEW Run Only Created More Negative Stories For Reputation
• Fans Loving Punk's Work Made His Reputation Charming At Times

The name CM Punk just screams controversy after the stories from both WWE and AEW chapters. Punk has shown a new side in his recent WWE return, but that doesn’t take away from his history of having enough incidents to create a full Royal Rumble match or past and present enemies.

AEW saw Punk’s presence play a role in backstage fights and public bickering multiple times. WWE had Punk constantly making controversial comments about the promotion during his first run. Punk being an all-time wrestling great in every area of the job is why he’s been able to get away with his reputation.

1 Shawn Michaels Was A Degenerate

‘90s Problem Child Was Best Wrestler Of His Generation

• Leading Kliq Led To Backstage Wars With Many Wrestlers
• Bret Hart Fight Was Among Low Points Of Toxic Backstage Stories
• Michaels Still Performed At The Highest Level For Years

The 1990s chapter of Shawn Michaels is remembered for two major reasons – his in-ring greatness and the controversy that followed it. Vince McMahon allowed Michaels to get away with more than any top star before him with constant backstage issues.

Michaels and Bret Hart having backstage fights made it clear WWE wasn’t big enough for both of them. The Kliq also gained massive power with Michaels as their leader for backstage battles with various names. However, HBK’s time is remembered more for the on-screen greatness that many fans believe will never be passed.