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It's the dream for many aspiring wrestlers to be able to make it to WWE one day and push towards that WrestleMania main event, but sadly this isn't the career route for many stars who make it to the main roster.
There are several who are only in the promotion to make up the numbers, and even an appearance at WrestleMania could be considered a pipedream. This means that when their release finally comes around or they decide it's time to request their release, there is no chance that they want to go back.
At the same time, there are stars who are happy with what they accomplished during their first stint with WWE and wouldn't want to diminish that by returning and ruining their own legacy.
The following article looks at just six former WWE stars who have made it clear that they don't want to return to WWE.
#6. Former WWE World Champion Chris Jericho
There was once a time when Chris Jericho and Vince McMahon were close friends when the former World Champion would even ask the WWE Chairman's permission to perform for other companies, despite not being contracted to WWE.
Times have definitely changed since then. Jericho is now one of the main headliners for All Elite Wrestling and has made it clear several times that the door is now closed on his WWE career.
During a Youtube live stream back in 2020, Chris Jericho reiterated that a WWE return wasn't going to happen at any point in the future.
“It’s not going to happen. 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.”
Jericho has been able to have much more freedom in AEW and is already a former World Champion in the promotion.
#5. Former WWE Women's Champion Layla
Layla won the 2006 Diva Search and went on to remain with WWE for almost a decade before she announced her retirement from the business back in 2015.
The former Women's and Divas Champion had a fantastic run with WWE and has since stepped into a career as a real estate agent outside of the business.
Whilst many women have made their return to the company in order to be part of the Women's Revolution, the British star has been noticeably absent.
Layla recently revealed in an interview with Ring The Belle that the reason behind this was that she was happy with what she accomplished during her time in WWE. Layla added that she isn't prepared to return to the company any time soon.
“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. That door’s 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 was just how I’d like to keep it.”
The former Champion left WWE in 2015 and has since married former WWE star, Ricky Ortiz. It looks like she is happy to have closed the door on her wrestling career.
#4. Former WWE Star Rusev/Miro
Rusev was released from WWE alongside several other stars back in April 2020 as part of the budget cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst his wife Lana has remained part of the company, Rusev has moved on to sign with AEW.
In the months that have followed since his release from the company, Rusev, who's now known as Miro has revealed some interesting backstage stories from WWE and even highlighted the negative aspects during his time with WWE.
The former WWE star told Chris Van Vliet that now he's left WWE, he no longer has "dreadful" moments in his life.
"I've never been worried about anything, even before. It doesn't matter what people think. I've always been happy. Always been happy, just going to work [at WWE] was a bit of a dreadful moment. But now that's gone, there are no dreadful moments in my life at all."
Miro has been very open about his thoughts on his WWE career in recent interviews. Even though his wife is still working with WWE, he has no desire to go back to Vince McMahon's promotion.
#3 and #2. Former WWE Tag Team Champions The Revival
The Revival was seen as the future of WWE's Tag Team Division during their time in NXT. But after being pushed up to the main roster, the company didn't know what to do with the former Champions.
The Revival was released from the company back in April 2020 after requesting their release on several occasions over a period of more than a year. The duo has been quite outspoken about their time in the company since their WWE release.
The former Champions have become FTR - Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler - in AEW since their WWE departure and have noted in several interviews that the plans that WWE had for them forced them out of the door, going as far as to say that staying in WWE would have diminished their legacy.
"Our legacy is probably the most important thing to us as far as our career goes and we weren't going to create a legacy in WWE, we were just going to diminish what legacy we had already created. We bet on ourselves and we bet on tag team wrestling and I hope that this is not the pinnacle of tag-team wrestling. I hope it's the beginning of another boom period for tag team wrestling."
In AEW, FTR has since been able to work with The Young Bucks which was a dream for them. The duo seems happy with their decision to walk away from WWE.
#1. Former WWE Tag Team Champion Paul London
Paul London was one of the most exciting WWE stars to watch in the early 2000s and even won Tag Team Championship gold with Brian Kendrick during his stint on SmackDown.
London's career took quite a hit back in 2007 when he was released from the company after a backstage issue with Vince McMahon. London has since remained part of the wrestling business and appeared on several independent shows including Ring of Honor. The star made it clear that he wouldn't necessarily want to go back to WWE.
"WWE is just not a flavour that really appeals to me unless they would throw an insane amount of money at me to go back to that environment. Japan is different. I would love to have the opportunity to go back to Japan. That being said, I would love to go back to the big stage, but it’s not a priority right now. I like the fact I’m traveling and getting to know new cultures.”
Like many former stars, London has lashed out at WWE following his release. Even though Brian Kendrick has returned to the company in recent years, London hasn't decided to follow his partner back to WWE.
