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WWE has seen its fair share of surprising departures from the company. An example of this is Chris Jericho, who first wrestled in NJPW before joining AEW and building the company on his shoulders. There have been many wrestlers that the fans felt would never wrestle outside WWE again, but that wasn't the case.
Leaving Chris Jericho aside for the purposes of this article, here are the seven most surprising departures in WWE history.
#7 Bray Wyatt (2021)
Bray Wyatt was a homegrown product of WWE and a creative genius. Wyatt played supernatural gimmicks to perfection and was hailed as the second coming of The Undertaker. When Roman Reigns decided to take a hiatus during the global pandemic, Wyatt carried SmackDown on his shoulders alongside then-Universal Champion Braun Strowman.
So when the news of Wyatt being released came out, fans were speechless.
While rumors suggest creative issues and Wyatt's will being the reasons why Bray left, the official reason for his release was budget cuts.
#6 Neville/PAC (WWE RAW - 2017)
PAC, formerly known as Neville, was one of the most underrated wrestlers in WWE. As NXT Champion, he carried the black-and-gold brand on his shoulders, contributing to the brand's success. While the man who gravity forgot had classics after coming on the main roster, he couldn't shatter that glass ceiling.
That was until Neville turned heel and joined the Cruiserweight division. His 'King of the Cruiserweights' gimmick worked well enough to revive the entire Cruiserweight division.
Many reasons, including creative differences and royalty issues, caused Neville to walk out on the October 9, 2017, edition of RAW. The English superstar sat out his contract before joining AEW in 2019 and becoming an integral part of the promotion.
Neville's contribution in reviving 205 Live and his position on the roster then is what made his departure surprising.
#5 Kurt Angle (2006)
The next surprising departure on the list is that of Kurt Angle. Angle left WWE in 2006, signing almost immediately with TNA after leaving. Angle was able to catapult the promotion to heights it hadn't achieved previously.
His early rivalry with Samoa Joe garnered the highest PPV buy-rates the company has ever done. While it seems ridiculous to think about now, TNA was making real strides at the time.
Angle has since attributed the rigorous WWE schedule and his frequent reliance on painkillers as reasons for his departure.
#4 the Ultimate Warrior (1991)
Another surprising departure was The Ultimate Warrior leaving WWE in 1991. Warrior and Vince McMahon had numerous issues throughout the years. The dispute they had regarding the former's WrestleMania VII paycheque led to him leaving the company.
Warrior was upset about Hulk Hogan getting paid more for his performance at WrestleMania that year. At WrestleMania VI, Warrior had defeated Hogan and was seemingly the new face of the company.
His title run didn't translate well financially, however, and WWE resorted to putting the focus back on Hogan by the next 'Mania. Warrior argued that his match with Macho Man on the same event was equally important as Hogan's match with Sgt. Slaughter. Warrior was upset that Hogan was paid more and threatened not to show up to that year's SummerSlam if he didn't receive a raise.
McMahon relented and is reported to have paid him $500,000 more.
Following Warrior's match at SummerSlam, however, McMahon suspended him. Warrior tried to quit the company but WWE continued to hold him to the terms of his contract, preventing him from performing elsewhere.
He wouldn't show up again in WWE until 1996 when again he had a very short run with the company.
#3 Brock Lesnar (2004)
Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle in the main event of WrestleMania 19. He did it by badly botching a shooting star press, but that's another matter altogether.
Shockingly, Lesnar would be gone from the company after WrestleMania 20. He wouldn't return for almost a decade.
At the time, the Beast didn't give the Universe so much as a hint about his next move, he just said he wasn't signing a new WWE contract and that was that. We would later learn that Lesnar had grown weary of the company's harsh travel schedule at the time.
Lesnar would wrestle a little bit in Japan and then attend preseason camp for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings. He didn't announce his intention to go into mixed martial arts until 2006. He finally returned to the wrestling behemoth the night after WrestleMania in 2012.
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#2 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (2002)
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin was the face of the company throughout the Attitude Era.
That is to say, he was, before the Rock was pushed ahead of him. That's why it was so surprising when Vince McMahon announced that Austin had walked out on the June 3, 2002, episode of Monday Night Raw.
McMahon and Jim Ross would famously refer to Austin leaving as him having "taken his ball and gone home". Reportedly, Austin was upset that he was booked to lose clean to Brock Lesnar that night. He was frustrated working hard to come back from a serious neck injury, only to lose clean in a match with little build up.
Austin returned to the company in 2003 after making amends with Vince McMahon. However, his wrestling days were just about over. Austin's final match would be at WrestleMania 19 in a losing effort to the Rock.
#1 CM Punk
CM Punk was noticeably absent from Raw the night after the 2014 Royal Rumble. His disappearance from the company wasn't fully acknowledged for weeks, however.
Behind the scenes, things had gotten quite heated between Punk, Triple H, Vince McMahon, and the company in general. Punk wanted to main event WrestleMania before he retired, but the promotion had let him known that wasn't in the main event for the foreseeable future.
In general, it seemed like he was just frustrated with the product and the wrestling industry as a whole. In what would be a very public break-up, Punk and WWE both communicated their sides of the story through podcasts and social media.
Following CM Punk's appearance on his friend Colt Cabana's podcast, WWE's head doctor filed a lawsuit against the wrestler for comments he made regarding his medical care.
CM Punk made his return to pro-wrestling in 2021, joining All Elite Wrestling.
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