Over the years, WWE has gifted us with some of the most electrifying, charismatic, S.O.Bs to ever grace television.
The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and Triple H immediately spring to mind.
But the wrestling industry can be a cruel one at times, and there are just as many talented, young prospects who never quite make the grade in the squared circle.
One such prospect is Daniel Puder.
Who is Daniel Puder?
Puder began his combat sports journey as an MMA fighter, but is most famed for having won the WWE's $1 million Tough Enough competition in 2004. He defeated the now-staple WWE star The Miz in a 'Dixie Dogfight' in the final bout of the series. Neither man managed to knock the other out during the contest, but Puder took the W by way of 'crowd reaction.'
In truth, the $1 million dollar prize for winning the contest was to be divvied out over a four-year period, and Puder didn't stick around in the WWE for long enough to claim it all.
Puder was also involved in a bizarre encounter with the legendary Kurt Angle on a SmackDown card in 2005. Angle had been pencilled in as the victor of the bout, but Puder, determined to make an impression, kept hold of a deep 'Tazmission'-style choke on the mat, almost forcing the former Olympian to pass out.
Angle took the win only because of some swift thinking from the referee, who, noticing Puder's shoulders were touching the mat as he held onto the submission, gave a rapid three-count to get Puder to release the hold.
Puder went on to appear at Armageddon and the Royal Rumble in 2005, but after WWE attempted to slash his $250k wage down to $75k, Puder refused and was shipped off to developmental wrestling franchise the OVW.
Kurt Angle gave his thoughts on Puder's short-lived stint in the WWE during a recent interview with Hannibal TV, stating: "The company felt that he wasn't picking up on the technique as quickly as they wanted him to so they decided to let him go.
"I think he lasted for a good six or eight months, but his contract was coming up again and they didn't want to renew the contract for $250,000 guarantee. They wanted to drop it to $75,000 and he said no.
"So, I think they wanted to train him for another year or so and I think Daniel just decided not to because the money dropped dramatically."
What did Daniel Puder do after leaving WWE?
Puder did eventually agree to make the switch to the OVW, but the former Tough Enough winner didn't last long, vacating the organisation within a year and firing off this parting shot in an interview with Yahoo Sports, as per Wikipedia, not long after his departure: "I was in OVW. And we had this one town in Kentucky we went to every week, it was basically an old barn. There were the same 20 people there every time, they all looked the same, they all had maybe three teeth each and they all had the same name. Finally, one night I walked in and saw all the inbreds and thought to myself, 'What am I doing with my life?'"
What did Puder do post-OVW?
Puder didn't give up there, though, and went on to enjoy two more tours of duty on pro wrestling circuits, notably with Ring of Honour (2007-2008) and the NJPW (2009-2011) where he would go on to fight alongside current WWE mainstay Shinsuke Nakamura.
Destined for combat sports, Puder quit the wrestling business and returned to MMA in 2011. Chalking up an 8-0 record in such organisations as X-1, Puder was even scheduled to fight MMA legend Tank Abbot at one point, but had to pull out due to injury.
What does Daniel Puder do now?
Though he did make a brief return to the ring last year to wrestle at an event hosted by his own company (My Life My Power), Puder is more of an entrepreneur than a cage-fighter or a wrestler these days, and he's done rather well for himself.
The former WWE and X-1 star is the founder of six businesses and is reported to be worth somewhere between approximately $2.5 million.
Despite his wealth, the man who once defeated The Miz also serves as a Deputy Sheriff in St. Francis County, Arkansas.
We wonder what ever happened to that man, The Miz...