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Eva Marie is the latest former WWE Superstar to make her return to the company, even though the star was released from her contract back in 2017. Marie has since returned and is expected to make quite the impact with her new Eva-Lution storyline.
Over the years, several stars have left the door open to a return despite any circumstances surrounding their release. Many stars, including Rusev and Dean Ambrose, have noted that they could return to WWE in the future. However, many other former WWE stars are not open to returning to the company where they first found fame.
The following list looks at just five former WWE Superstars who have openly ruled out a return to the company in recent years.
#5 Former WWE Superstar Viktor (The Ascension)
The Ascension consisted of Konnor and Viktor, and they were seen as another tag team with heaps of potential while coming through the ranks in NXT.
The former NXT Tag Team Champions could not capitalize on this when WWE promoted them to the main roster. They were later released along with Sin Cara and Luke Harper back in December 2019.
Several released WWE Superstars may have kept the door open regarding their return to the company. However, Viktor made it clear in an interview with SLAM! Wrestling that he wasn't looking for a way back into WWE.
"No, never," said Viktor. "It’s hard to say never, and I won’t go into why because it only partially has to do with us and our past experience, but my definitive no is a more personal reason. It’s not that I wouldn’t be happy to ever get to call and say, ‘Hey, guys, want to come back?’ But I’m pretty sure that answer will always be no. A line was crossed and it wasn’t crossed to either of us, it was due to a different situation and it caused me to lose complete and utter respect or to ever have any desire to work there again."
Since their WWE release, Konnor and Viktor have become known as The Awakening and won the Atomic Wrestling Tag Team Championships back in March 2020.
#4 Former WWE Champion Kurt Angle
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle retired from wrestling when Baron Corbin defeated him at WrestleMania 35. This was seen as Angle's retirement match from the company after being part of a lengthy storyline leading into it.
Angle went on to work behind the scenes for WWE before he was furloughed back in April 2020. He had initially returned in 2016, almost a decade after fans last saw him in a WWE ring, when he became the General Manager of Monday Night RAW.
In a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, Angle made it clear that he felt that retirement was the right decision. He stated that he was no longer performing at the level that he wanted.
"So I ended my career, Vince didn’t end it, I did because I knew it was the right thing to do," Angle said. "I just wasn’t performing at the level I wanted to."
Angle recently noted that he is in talks with WWE regarding a return, but isn't expected to step foot back into the ring if these talks do materialize.
#3 Former WWE Women's Champion Layla
The current WWE Women's Revolution has allowed many former champions to return to the company for one more match. The likes of Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria, and even Michelle McCool have all taken advantage of the spotlight to make their return.
While many former WWE stars have since teased a return, former champion Layla has made it clear that the door to her wrestling career is now completely closed.
Layla revealed the reasons behind her decision in a recent interview with Ring the Belle.
“I just feel that I had a very fruitful long career, and I attained everything I possibly could have attained in WWE, and I was given every opportunity," Layla said. "That door is closed, and I’m okay with that. And I feel just happy that I was able to have that. I look at my past, and I’m like, ‘wow I did all that stuff,’ and that’s just how I’d like to keep it.”
Layla has married and moved on to a career as a real estate agent since her departure from WWE. She seems content with the memories that she made within that time.
#2 WWE Hall of Famer-elect Batista
Former WWE Champion Batista wrestled his final match for WWE back at WrestleMania 35 when Triple H beat him in a No Holds Barred match. The WWE Hall of Famer-elect has since retired from the company and made it clear that he isn't open to returning.
Despite hints from Bobby Lashley that The Animal could be looking to step back into a WWE ring, this doesn't appear to be the case.
While speaking at Justice Con, Batista made it clear that he wasn't looking to step back into a wrestling ring anytime soon.
"It’s hard to convince people that I’m actually retired. You have no idea how tough that discussion is," Batista said. "When professional wrestlers retire, they don’t really retire. They kind of retire. But, you know, when the pay cheque’s big enough or the event’s big enough, they come out of retirement. ‘It’s just not that way with me. I exited the business in such a storybook way, I’d never go back. ‘I would never take away from that. I am just done, man. I really got to finish on my own terms and nothing is going to take away from that.’"
Since his WWE retirement, Batista has concentrated on his acting career and his famous role as Drax in Guardians of The Galaxy.
#1 Former WWE Champion Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho has been one of the most adaptable wrestlers of the current generation, but it appears the former WWE star isn't looking for a way to return.
Despite once being one of WWE's biggest stars, Jericho has become a stand-out name in AEW over the past few years and is already a former World Champion.
As part of a live stream on his YouTube channel back in the summer of 2020, Y2J made it clear that while he still had a love for WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, he wasn't open to a return.
"It’s not going to happen," Jericho said. "I'm really enjoying being in AEW. I loved my time in WWE, I love Vince McMahon, I learned a lot. I had a lot of fun, but listen, you can’t stay in the same place forever. You become stagnant if you do and I think you need to push yourself to do something new. The fact that AEW was live without a net when I first showed up and all of us have done such a great job of promoting this brand and promoting this company."
AEW has become such a success over the past few years because of the input of Chris Jericho, one of the faces of the company.
