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Whenever a wrestler parts away with the WWE, it gives a great deal of disappointment for the fans. however, when a the same happens in a controversial manner, what the fans will have is a talking point that they are going to play up at the mere mention of that particular wrestler.Throughout the history of WWE, there have been many such instances where the company was put under the scanner with a superstar on the other side.The motives of most of these incidents may not be clear like everyone would want them to be but there are certainly enough details to make a list out of them. So here is a look at some of the most controversial departures in professional wrestling.
#11 Honorable Mention: Lex Luger joins WCW in 1995
Just before the start of the Attitude Era, WWE had the lights of Diesel, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels fighting it out in their main event scene. Then there was Lex Luger, who was getting a big push but never made it to the level of the big names.
This failure drove Luger away from WWE and landed in WCW. He appeared on WWE on one night and showed up in WCW on the next giving one of those classic jumping ship moments.
His contract ending as the reason WCW snatched him but not even Vince McMahon would’ve imagined him appearing in WCW the just a night after his contract ended with WWE. It was a big blow for the company in all aspects as WCW was able to project themselves as a bigger promotion.
#10 Mike Awesome joining WCW from ECW in 2000
Awesome was one of the top guys back in Paul Heyman’s ECW and was the World Champion there in 2000. But what Awesome did was he got tied up in a contract with WCW and appeared on Nitro where he was recognized as the ECW champion.
Heyman was furious with what happened and things got worse when he realized that Awesome didn’t sign a deal with ECW because Heyman didn’t pay him the overdue wages.
Eager to get the title back, Heyman filed a case which restricted Awesome from having the title appear on a WCW show. The way in which the title was brought back to ECW was even bizarre. ECW arranged a house show in which Awesome lost the title against Taz, who was a WWE wrestler then.
Taz would later lose the title to Tommy Dreamer and bringing it back to ECW while Awesome never found his foot at WCW.
#9 Sgt. Slaughter leaves WWE in 1984 after dispute over an action figure
One of the silliest stories from the lot, Sgt. Slaughter once walked out of WWE after Vince McMahon denied him the permission to feature in the GI Joe toy series.
He was recognized as one of the top heels in the company in 1984 due to his feud with the Iron Shiek which was fed by a certain sense of patriotism. But Slaughter decided to throw it all away by demanding that he wanted an action figure in the GI Joe toyline.
Slaughter simply wanted to be a part of the GI Joe series in the future and saw the action figure as the first step. But McMahon didn’t want Slaughter to miss the WWE events for that which proved to be the final nail in their relationship.
He later returned to WWE after a small stint in the cartoon series but never found the success he had earlier.
#8 Ultimate Warrior leaves WWE in 1991 over wage dispute
Ultimate Warrior was one of the biggest names in the business without any doubt. He was controversial at the same time especially in 1991 where he demanded same pay as Hulk Hogan.
Warrior made it clear to Vince McMahon that if he didn’t get same amount of money as Hogan he wouldn’t show up in the WWE events. McMahon was furious with the ultimatum but wanted Warrior to appear in the SummerSlam.
The equal wages to Hogan wasn’t a reality at that stage but Vince submitted to the demand only to make Warrior appear in SummerSlam. Once Warrior completed his match, McMahon put Warrior in indefinite suspension which was met up with a resignation letter of Warrior.
#7 Edge leaves in 2011 due to injury
Many might see Edge with a lot of sympathy due to the abrupt way in which career ended. However, behind all that sadness is a shocking revelation that he had is life on the string when wrestling his last match.
Edge faced Alberto Del Rio in WrestleMania 27 for the World Heavyweight championship and successfully defended the title.
After his WrestleMania match, Edge came out a week later on Raw and said that he could no longer wrestle which was a big shock for everyone. Edge was one of the top stars in the company and was the reigning champion as well.
The doctors however had no intention of putting his life in danger again and told Edge to never step inside the ring again. The fans didn’t even realize that it was Edge’s last match at WrestleMania and eluding him of a proper farewell.
#6 Rick Rude in Raw and Nitro at the same night
Rick Rude was a great midcarder back in the late 90s and was working for WWE in a pay-per-appearance as one of the founding member of D Generation X.
However, the thing with pay-per-appearance is that it doesn’t hold one back from signing a contract with another promotion. And that is exactly what happened with Rude who signed with WCW after becoming furious in the way Bret Hart was screwed in Montreal.
He had already taped an episode of Raw prior to the Montreal incident and when WWE aired that, the same night he appeared live in WCW. He delivered a shoot on Shawn Michaels and WWE for screwing Hart as well.
#5 Randy Savage leaves over Stephanie McMahon affair in 1994
Ever wondered why Randy Savage never made it to the WWE Hall of Fame even after all these years?. Well according to various sources, this is the reason.
Savage decided to choose WCW back in 1994 and it was believed that he did that because the company gave him better schedule and pay than WWE. However, later it was alleged that Savage was having an affair with the 17 year old Stephanie McMahon which forced Vince to cut the ties with the macho man.
The allegation is still not proven by anyone but according to many insiders and famous Wrestling writer Dave Meltzer, this was clearly the reason for the friction between Savage and McMahon which still keeps the macho man out of Hall of Fame despite a celebrated career.
#4 CM Punk
The rise of Punk from an Indy darling to the biggest superstar in the company was monumental. He excelled inside the ring and proved to be one of the best workers in the mic as well.
However, the busy schedules and the professional wrestling career soon caught him and drove him away from WWE just months before WrestleMania. WWE clearly had big plans for him at the big event and the fans also were looking forward to seeing him.
The reason for Punk’s departure is still up for debate up there as no body still knows what the clear reason is. Some suggest that it was because of the push WWE gave to part timers in the company while others suggest that Punk wanted to retire.
Whatever the reason might be it was a controversial way to walk out of the company that gave him so much in his career.
#3 Brock Lesnar leaves in 2004
The moment that Lesnar stepped into the squared circle, WWE knew that they had something special with this guy. They put a lot of money and big pushes behind him and within no time, Lesnar established himself as the biggest star in the company.
He would main event WrestleMania and win the WWE title in just under 2 years making him one of the prized possessions of the company.
Lesnar however had another plans. In 2004, just two years after his debut Lesnar wanted to tryout NFL and thus leaving WWE. McMahon was furious as usual with the decision especially since he had put so much money behind Lesnar’s development.
McMahon however had no choice, but he made a deal with Lesnar which prevented Lesnar from wrestling in any other promotion. Lesnar failed miserably in his NFL tryout but found his foot in UFC which propelled him to stardom again.
#2 Stone Cold Steve Austin
Austin was one wrestler around which WWE built up the whole Attitude Era. No one would ever question the way he contributed to the company in the toughest times when they were struggling to keep up with WCW.
But his wrestling career with WWE ended in a manner in which it shouldn’t have ended. In 2002, Vince McMahon wanted to give Steve Austin a new direction which would’ve saw him in the midcard.
Austin, who had a big ego didn’t like the way Vince planned his booking. Austin appeared on WWE’s web show and made it clear that he didn’t like where the company was going and literally walked out.
Vince took a big dig at Austin after his departure, projecting him as the selfish start that packed his balls and went home.
#1 Bret Hart leaves after Montreal Screwjob
The fans might not get to see such a departure in the future as it was a reflection of how far the WWE was willing to go to survive.
WWE was clearly behind WCW at that time in case of ratings and finance which ended up in Bret Hart singing with WCW after a stint in WWE. In his last match at WWE, Bret faced his longtime rival Shawn Michaels for the WWE title at Survivor Series in Montreal.
Triple H in the backstage gave a ridiculous idea to Vince McMahon to screw Bret and let Shawn Michaels win the title. Vince did just the same as he ordered the referee to ring the bell when Bret Hart never submitted.
The incident led to the biggest controversy that professional wrestling has seen making Vince McMahon the bad guy, a persona which he used to his aid in sailing WWE to success.
