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Professional wrestlers train for most of their lives to be handed a chance to work for WWE and sometimes that dream is cut short too soon. There have been mass cuts to every roster in WWE in recent months, with 12 Superstars from NXT released just last night.
Whilst there have been a number of stars who surprisingly want to make their return to the company despite recently being cut, there are others who have made it clear that their career with WWE is over.
The following list looks at just five former WWE Superstars who have noted publicly that they don't want to make their return to WWE at any point in the future.
#5. Former WWE Champion CM Punk
CM Punk hasn't appeared in a WWE ring in more than seven years, but the former World Champion's name is regularly headline news. Punk was fired from WWE on his wedding day for breach of contract and it appears that there are still some grudges held.
In recent weeks, the self-proclaimed Best in the World has been linked with a move to AEW alongside fellow former WWE star Daniel Bryan. Whilst nothing has been confirmed as of writing, in an interview with Sports Illustrated back in April, Punk made it clear that he didn't want to return to WWE for one specific reason:
"I don’t need the money. And the way the wrestling business is now, it’s wacky. You’ve got WWE, who has multiple billion-dollar television deals, and the television’s awful, I go back there, I’m just another guy. And it’s not even that - I’d be just another guy that’s doing not-good television.I want to do stuff that’s good. I want my name attached to quality projects, where it’s fun and it makes people laugh, smile, think and people don’t hate watching it. I want to do fun stuff."
CM Punk has noted in the past that he would be open to discussions with any promotion and has been linked to several promotions in the past. That being said, it's likely that if Punk made his wrestling return anytime soon, it would be for All Elite Wrestling.
#4. Former WWE Champion Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho is a former WWE Champion but has been one of the main stars behind the success of AEW over the past two years.
Jericho has been handed a new lease on life and a new level of creativity in his career. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the former Champion has no intentions of ever leaving AEW to return to Vince McMahon's company.
Jericho made this clear when speaking to TalkSPORT last year, despite appearing on the Stone Cold Broken Skull Podcast and officially opening 'The Forbidden Door':
“To me, it’s one of those things where I’m really glad that we were able to take a chance, and get this company off the ground and make it successful. And I have no intentions of ever going anywhere ever again. I like it here, I like working for the Khan family. And it’s been a lot of fun which, sometimes, it was not as fun in WWE. So it’s definitely a whole different vibe here," Jericho said.
Jericho is a former AEW Heavyweight Champion and is currently in the midst of a feud with MJF on Dynamite.
#3. Former WWE Superstar Viktor from The Ascension
It's been almost a year since The Ascension were a part of the WWE roster. However, the former NXT Tag Team Champions were still part of some memorable moments for the company.
Konnor and Viktor were released from WWE back in September 2020. In an interview with SLAM! Wrestling following his release, Viktor made it clear that he didn't want to make his return to WWE:
"No, never. 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."
Viktor went on to reveal that he and Konnor were so miserable by the end of their WWE tenure that, following their release, they didn't want to wrestle anymore.
#2. Former WWE Superstar Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona
Zack Ryder was part of WWE for more than 15 years before he was released from the company as part of the COVID-19 budget cuts in April 2020.
Back in June, Ryder was part of an interview with Sean Waltman as part of the Pro Wrestling 4 life podcast. He revealed that he is having a lot of fun outside of WWE and is not thinking of making his return:
"Listen, they certainly never offered me anything. Never say never, I’m not going to say I’m not going to go to WWE, I hate WWE. WWE is great, it was the only thing I ever loved as a kid. I’m not saying it’s the only wrestling company I ever loved, the only thing I loved was wrestling, was WWE, I spent my whole adult life there, I’m so fortunate for everything, but right now, my goal is not how can I get back to WWE, that’s not my goal right now, I don’t even think about it.
"Will I ever go back, never say never, sure, maybe, whatever. I’m not thinking what can I do to get noticed so they’ll bring me back, no, I don’t care, I’m having so much fun outside WWE.”
Ryder has been able to work for both AEW and IMPACT Wrestling since his WWE departure. He is now in a feud alongside his real-life fiancee Chelsea Green after her recent WWE release.
#1. Former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar
It has been more than a year since former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar was seen in a WWE ring. It appears that there could be a reason for this.
The Beast Incarnate was rumored to be making his return to face Bobby Lashley at SummerSlam. Instead, Goldberg will be the WWE Champion's challenger. Interestingly, Paul Heyman was part of an interview with DAZN back in June where he revealed that Brock Lesnar hasn't returned to WWE because he doesn't want to:
“If Brock Lesnar were to return, if is a hypothetical. Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do. How you can be cognizant of the fact that Brock Lesnar does not want to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal championship, or at least not yet, is because he hasn’t done it. Because if Brock Lesnar wanted to it, it would have happened already. And it hasn’t happened already because he doesn’t want to. Now, there may be reasons why he doesn’t want to, and that’s for Brock Lesnar to reveal if Brock Lesnar ever decides to reveal it. Man doesn’t tweet. He doesn’t post pictures on Instagram. He’s not a public persona. He’s a very private beast. He does enjoy being on his tractor and on his combine, and the man loves the farm. If Brock Lesnar ever decides to appear in public, it’ll be when Brock Lesnar wants to appear in public because Brock Lesnar does what Brock Lesnar wants to do.”
Recently there were rumors linking Lesnar to a move over to AEW, but it was later revealed that there was no truth behind these claims.
Update: Lesnar proved speculators wrong and returned at SummerSlam 2021. While nothing is confirmed, it seems he's going to enter into a rivalry with Roman Reigns.
