The professional wrestling industry is very difficult, as wrestlers have to work themselves to the very limit for almost 7 days a week, but it can also be a lucrative situation for the popular wrestlers who make a ton of money after attaining fame. While most of the wrestlers are actually clever enough to invest their money properly and take the help of others to save their fortune for a comfortable life after their popularity wears out, some wrestlers aren't that smart and end up losing all their fortune after some problems begin in their lives.

Many of these wrestlers often lose everything they have due to their addictions, which have absolutely destroyed numerous wrestlers over the years and reduced them to be dependent on others' help. But some other wrestlers end up losing their fortune due to their lavish lifestyle or being forced to give up their fortune because of legal issues.

There have been many cases of wrestlers falling into hard times in their lives and losing all their hard-earned fortune as we take a look at these riches to rags stories.

15 15. Marty Jannetty

Marty Jannetty was quite The Rocker when he was part of an exciting tag team with Shawn Michaels in WWE, but while HBK went on to achieve great things in the company after their break-up, Jannetty couldn't do the same. Marty was a really impressive wrestler who did win the Intercontinental Championship from Michaels after their break-up, but his terrible addiction to drugs and problems with WWE cost him his fortune. Jannetty was helped by WWE who brought him back in 2005 and kept him appointed for a few years, but he continued making enemies in WWE and has been extremely critical of them ever since leaving. Jannetty also didn't save up his money well enough and is so broke nowadays that he can't even finance his own surgeries, as the once shining star of the tag team division is now reduced to a struggling old man.

14 14. Daffney

Daffney will probably be remembered by fans of TNA as this terrifying knockout who helped to kick-start their own "Women's Revolution" and played a big part in Knockout's wrestling getting over at the company. Daffney portrayed this creepy, face-painted character who took a lot of pain through violent matches and this all came back to haunt her later on. Daffney suffered a lot of injuries due to her risky work at TNA and went to war with the company after they did not want to pay her huge medical bills after recovering from all those injuries. Daffney did file a Workers' Compensation claim against TNA but she announced herself to have gone broke from paying the medical bills and failing to pay some other ones. Daffney has fallen on hard times ever since that debacle and has become forgotten and broke despite being a pillar of TNA's success at an important point.

13 13. Joey Mercury

Joey Mercury will mostly be remembered by recent WWE fans as part of J&J security with Jamie Noble and helping Seth Rollins during his heel run, but he was himself a very good wrestler in WWE before all that. Mercury was part of MNM with Johnny Nitro and the two did some amazing work in the tag team division and while Nitro prospered at it, Mercury was being destroyed by drugs. He even got warned by Vince McMahon to give it up as he was wasting his fortune on drugs and when he was released by WWE, he had lost everything and was on the verge of homelessness as well. But CM Punk bought his house and let him stay in it as Mercury would lay off the drugs and reshape himself in the next few years, later returning to WWE in a backstage role and living a respectable life once again.

12 12. X-Pac

X-Pac was definitely one of the more exciting stars during the Monday Night Wars. He worked for both major promotions and made a lot of money in both WWE and WCW during that time, but his stock started to fall with the turn of the century. X-Pac was deep into his drug addiction at the time and splurged all his fortunes on his habits and ended up penniless after a few years of leaving the WWE. He worked in some Independent promotions and even TNA but couldn't save anything and was in a terrible situation. He had lost everything he had and even attempted suicide a few times but was eventually saved by his WWE buddies who sobered him up and got him back on the right track.

11 11. Justin Credible

Justin Credible may not be remembered by WWE fans because of his rather awful stint in the company, but he will definitely be known amongst ECW faithful because of his amazing work for the company. Credible put on some really good work at ECW and was even ECW Heavyweight Champion for a period of time, but he has come upon some really hard-times in the past few years. Credible has lost all his fortunes in the past few years due to not getting proper work and wages ever since retiring from wrestling in 2015 and his alcohol addiction doesn't really help his case either. Credible recently announced on social media that WWE was sponsoring to send him to rehab to sort out his alcohol addiction, as he's looking to come clean after having lost everything in his life.

10 10. Perry Saturn

Perry Saturn was actually quite the promising wrestler back in the 90s when he ravished as part of the Flock in WCW and his feud with Raven got him really over with the fans, but things started to go down for him once he joined WWE. Whilst his friends Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero attained much fame in the company, Saturn was reduced to a lower mid-carder and later given a gimmick where he was infatuated with a mop! Saturn was later released by WWE and after heroically saving a girl from being sexually molested, he'd disappear off the map for many years after getting addicted to meth. He returned a few years ago but cannot work anymore because of a terrible brain trauma. He has lost all his fortunes and is asking for money from fans to help with his medical treatment which could help get him out of his terrible situation right now.

9 9. Lex Luger

Lex Luger was destined for great things when he initially joined WWE in the early 90s as he was apparently groomed to be the "Next Hulk Hogan" in WWE. That didn't go so well with the fans and some of his own choices also cost him the main-event push, as he was degraded into a mid-carder after being the first man to bodyslam then WWE Champion Yokozuna. Luger stunned WWE when he moved to WCW without Vince's permission, as he went onto make a lot of money in WCW who paid him in millions as a star attraction. But Luger's life started to go haywire with the turn of the century as his drug-addiction made the end of his fortunes. Luger would go sober after Miss Elizabeth's shocking death but he lost everything due to legal settlements and drugs as well as losing his popularity after WCW winded up.

8 8. Scott Hall

Scott Hall will always remain as a legend in the wrestling industry because of his amazing work in the 90s as Razor Ramon in WWE and later moved to achieve great things in WCW including the formation of the nWo. Hall was at the peak of his power in the 90s but unlike buddy Kevin Nash, Hall couldn't handle his mega-finances properly and wasted it all on drugs and alcohol. Hall ended up becoming absolutely broke after he left WWE for the 2nd time, as his obsession with alcohol wasted all his fortunes. Although Hall has been saved by DDP Yoga and is quite sober right now, he has lost all his fortune to the alcohol addiction which prevented him from becoming an even bigger legend than the one he is right now.

7 7. Dynamite Kid

Dynamite Kid was definitely one of the most undervalued wrestlers in the WWE in the 80s when he was part of the legendary British Bulldogs along with Davey Boy Smith. Dynamite Kid was a versatile wrestler who gave his all in the ring and wrestled constantly for many years before he was forced to retire in 1997. Kid has lost any feelings in his left leg and is currently paralyzed on that leg, being forced to use a wheelchair. He has not been able to work or do anything for many years now as all his fortunes have faded away because of his medical needs and after suffering so many tragedies in the past, the once-amazing wrestler is now bound to a wheelchair and is extremely broke due to his terrible condition.

6 6. Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Jake "The Snake" Roberts' story is quite the depressing one because he failed to control his own demons at the peak of his career, as Roberts was actually quite the terrifying figure in WWE because of his daunting character. Jake was renown for his chilling promos and terrific feuds with the other wrestlers, but his alcohol addiction is what killed his wrestling career. Roberts was out of a job after the turn of the century and couldn't even pay his child-support due to being completely broke all the time. He sacrificed all his fortunes to his alcohol addiction and was on the crisp of death when he was saved and resurrected by DDP. While he's sobered up right now, Jake has lost everything over the years(even his pet snake Damien) to alcohol addiction with his story showing just how bad addiction can reduce a man to nothing.

5 5. Ric Flair

Ric Flair has been wrestling "Nature Boy" for many decades now and is heavily respected because of his contributions to the wrestling industry over the years. Flair has been with WWE for a long time now as well and has been earning a lot of money for the last three decades at least, but he cannot seem to save it due to his lavish lifestyle. Flair has been broke quite many times in the past decades or so as he cannot seem to control his lifestyle and his addiction to the "high-life" and alcohol doesn't help either. Flair has had four divorces in his life and has lost a lot of money due to the legal settlements and he also owed money to people and companies a few years ago. Flair cannot seem to get rid of his desire for a lavish lifestyle and it's this type of a lifestyle that's left him penniless many times.

4 4. Nick Gage

Nick Gage might not be the most recognizable wrestler amongst the wrestling fan-base, but fans of the Independent promotions will know that name as he was quite the stunning wrestler for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW). He was a hard-core wrestler who could take a lot of punishment and bled a lot of blood for CZW and attained much fame for being one of their biggest stars, but even he fell into hard-times in 2010 when he committed a terrible sin. Gage was arrested in 2010 after he robbed a bank and stole $3,000 of their female employee as he lost all his fortune to gambling and drugs. He was later arrested and forced to serve many years in Jail and will have now cough up the compensation money to the bank he stole from as well as the employee and things don't look good for him at all.

3 3. Kamala

Kamala was quite the terrifying wrestler in the 80s when he appeared as one of the first wrestlers to put on body paint and terrorized wrestlers with his gimmick. He was quite the intimidating heavyweight who was a solid mid-carder for WWE in the 80s but lost his way in the 90s. He did make a few appearances in wrestling with the turn of the century but things started go really wrong for him later on as he had to have his left leg amputated because of his high blood pressure and blood sugar. He later also had to get his right leg amputated till the knee as he's completely broke right now and relies on disability checks and selling handmade wooden chairs to cover his bills as Kamala's awful deterioration in health is the reason it's been an awful case of riches to rags for him.

2 2. Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan is the reason why professional wrestling attained a mainstream status all those years ago, as he escalated WWE to the top during the 80s and then helped WCW win the rating battle in the 90s as well. Hulk was always the top star for both companies and earned in millions at the time as well as getting a lot of control as to how his character is portrayed. Despite leaving permanent wrestling in WWE, Hulk still had the cash inflowing due to various advertizing and other deals. But it all came crashing down for him in 2011 when his wife Linda divorced him and took most of his fortunes in the settlement. Hulk lost almost all his assets and was riding a tight ship before he got the millions of dollars in his settlement from the Gawker case which will help reassert everything that he lost a few years ago.

1 1. Virgil

Virgil was never really a star to begin with in the wrestling industry but he did make some good bucks as the "servant" of The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase in the WWE and later as a wrestler himself. He even moved to WCW where he was a "bodyguard" for NWO and also made quite a lot of money in WCW before he was released. Virgil did move on from wrestling for some time afterward, but he came back thinking that he's still a big star. But he didn't know that he wasn't popular anymore as all he could do was travel to wrestling conventions to make some money by selling autographed pictures. This also sparked the "Lonely Virgil" jokes where everyone would mock him for being alone in wrestling convention stands as Virgil destroyed his reputation and lost all he had in his years outside wrestling and is now scrounging for money in various wrestling conventions.