10: Goldberg Loses The World Title

Something was always missing from Goldberg’s initial WWE run. Whilst WWE did push him up the card, and did make him World Champion, the aura had gone, and his feuds and matches just didn’t live up to the hype.

It was common knowledge that when Goldberg signed with WWE in 2003, it was a one-year deal, and the fan expectation was that if Goldberg’s run was going well, he would likely extend the deal. However, when Goldberg lost the World Title at the 2003 Armageddon PPV, which was just 3-months before his contract was set to expire, it was a given that Goldberg’s WWE run was coming to an end.

It was evident that Goldberg’s heart wasn’t in it, and it was time for Goldberg to explore new ventures outside of WWE.

9: Gangrel Disappears From The Main Roster

When a wrestler disappears from the main roster, and mainly wrestles on c-shows, it’s usually a sign that WWE creative have nothing for them.

This was the case with Gangrel during the Attitude Era. After Gangrel was exiled from The Ministry of Darkness faction, his appearances on WWE TV gradually became less frequent.

Gangrel would find himself on Metal and Heat, and it was only a matter of time before news broke that Gangrel had been cut from his WWE deal.

This was later confirmed in 2001 that WWE had cut ties with the human-vampire, which was a huge shame, as Gangrel had a ton of potential, but sadly, WWE could just never commit to giving him a featured role on the show.

8: The Hardcore Title Is Abolished  

Upon re-joining WWE in 2000, fans were expecting Raven to have a decent run in the company. Whilst nobody expected Raven to be World Champion, Raven’s incredible character work instantly made him a perfect fit for WWE’s thriving mid-card.

Unfortunately, the best WWE could do with the former ECW and WCW star was place him in the Hardcore division. Raven would be embedded into this division, so much so that he would win the infamous Hardcore Title a whopping, 27-times.

When the Hardcore Title was made defunct in 2002, WWE struggled with how to present Raven, and the moment the Hardcore Title was abolished, was the exact moment in which it was clear that the writing was on the wall for him.

Raven would be moved to Heat, and Raven did his best to create his own storylines, but sadly, WWE just never had any plans to make Raven a big-deal in the company. Raven would be released in 2003, ending one of the most disappointing runs of the early 2000s.

7: The Revival Do Comedy

Upon being called up to the main roster, there was immediate concern that Vince McMahon was going to bury The Revival.

The Revival’s NXT run received critical acclaim, as Triple H took tag-team wrestling seriously in NXT, yet McMahon had a love/hate relationship with tag-team wrestling which would inevitably be detrimental to the tag-team’s success.

Things started off well for the duo; however, as the months went on, McMahon’s trope of losing interest began to surface. The Revival would begin to endure comedy segments alongside The Usos, and this was a case of McMahon booking the show to appease his bizarre sense of humour, as opposed to creating a lively tag-team division.

The moment The Revival entered into a comedic storyline with The Usos, it was pretty much over when it came to their WWE careers, and it was hardly a surprise that the two requested their release in the same year as this feud commenced.

Reflecting on why they wanted out of WWE, this is what the duo had to say during an appearance on Talk Is Jericho:

“That was our biggest factor as far as leaving was that tag team wrestling was featured everywhere else except for WWE. And we wanted to be a part of that because we could sit back and ... we could have no legacy aside from our NXT stuff. We could have no legacy in the history of wrestling, or we could go out and make history, and I think that was our biggest factor in leaving is that we could go out and prove to everyone that we are the absolute best tag team on this planet….”

It was also revealed that McMahon had some truly insane ideas for the tag-team. Leaked photos showed that McMahon was going ALL-IN on their new comedic personas, and this would include brand new looks, and a complete overhaul in their presentation.

It’s safe to say that the talented duo made the right call by leaving the company. 

6: Ricochet Loses WWE Speed Title

WWE Speed is an on-going partnership between WWE and the platform known as X. The idea behind Speed is matches where the wrestlers try to win as quickly as possible. The inaugural champion for the project was Ricochet, and shortly after this win, it was reported online that Ricochet’s WWE deal was set to expire.

Little information was known regarding if Ricochet was planning on re-signing, but when he dropped the title to Andrade, it was basically confirmed that Ricochet was on his way out the door.

Ricochet would also be written off TV in an angle with Bron Breakker, and some fans theorised that making Ricochet the face of the WWE Speed project was WWE’s attempt to get him to re-sign, yet obviously, it failed.

Whilst Ricochet was an incredible talent for WWE, Ricochet believed he could achieve more outside of the WWE bubble. A wrestler betting on themselves is always a courageous move, and hopefully, Ricochet finds great success in the next portion of his career. 

5: The Undertaker Suddenly Stops Wrestling

When the summer of 1999 came to an end, virtually out of nowhere, The Undertaker stopped wrestling on TV. The Undertaker would be removed from matches, and his physicality would become extremely limited.

It was apparent that The Undertaker was seriously injured, yet WWE were thinking of a way to write him off TV in order to heal up.

Unfortunately, WWE didn’t handle this in the best way, as The Undertaker just awkwardly left in the middle of a random show.

This would be the last time that fans would see the Phenom as part of the Attitude Era, as the next time he returned in 2000, he would debut the beloved, American Badass persona. 

4: Big Show Gets Humiliated

Even though Big Show was involved in some embarrassing comedic angles during his WWE career, he was often presented as a huge deal, and he was always a name that WWE could count on.

In 2021, WWE aired a segment between Big Show and Randy Orton that was so humiliating for the former WWE Champion that he decided it was time to leave the company.

The segment in question took place backstage, and it saw Orton verbally berate Big Show, and he even grabbed him by the neck. In a weird booking move, WWE booked Big Show to barely react, and it was a complete character assassination from WWE.

Fans were quick to question the segment, and a strong portion of the fans were already under the impression that Big Show was finishing up with the company.

Big Show was open and honest regarding how humiliating he found the segment, and the collective fan response was that the wrestling legend was more than justified in his decision. 

3: Chris Jericho Gets Punted

In September 2010, there were rumours that Chris Jericho could be taking a leave of absence from WWE programming.

These rumours seemed strange at the time, as Jericho was still in main event matches, and was even in the WWE Title picture on RAW.

These rumours turned out to be true, and the first key indicator for this was when Jericho was eliminated in a matter of minutes during the Six-Pack Challenge match at Night of Champions. Just a week later, Jericho wrestled WWE Champion, Randy Orton on RAW, and Orton kicked Jericho in the skull, officially writing him off TV indefinitely.

WWE did a somewhat decent job in keeping Jericho’s exit under wraps, yet when his booking on TV drastically altered, it was all but confirmed that Y2J’s latest run had come to its natural conclusion. 

2: Dean Ambrose Is Booked To Face WHOM?!

In an unprecedented move in 2019, WWE officially announced that Dean Ambrose would be leaving the company.

This announcement instantly raised suspicions of it being a storyline. However, it was reported by numerous outlets that this was indeed genuine, and Ambrose was leaving WWE once his contract expired.

It was never made clear why exactly WWE announced the departure ahead of time, and there was some hope amongst Ambrose’s loyal fan-base that he would resign or at least extend his deal.

When Ambrose was booked to face Nia Jax on a live event, it was all but confirmed that WWE were trying to humiliate the former WWE Champion on his way out.

Ambrose would be booked in segments with Jax on TV, and these segments were awkward and lifeless, and it wasn’t what anybody wanted to see.

Everyone knew what WWE were trying to do, and so did Ambrose. Ambrose would finish up with WWE following WrestleMania 35, and he would soon find himself in AEW, where he was instantly presented as one of their top stars.

1: CM Punk Sues WWE

When CM Punk walked out of WWE in 2014, his girlfriend at the time, AJ Lee was still a contracted talent for the company, so she had to stay, and try to work in what would have been an extremely awkward environment.

Whilst this would have been insanely difficult for AJ, especially when Punk was bad-mouthing the company, AJ was still pushed, which was the right move, as she was without question the most popular female talent in all of WWE.

However, when it was revealed that Punk was suing WWE over unpaid royalties, fans began to assume that AJ would leave WWE sooner rather than later.

It was after WrestleMania 31 that AJ decided to retire from WWE, and although her issues with her neck were a major factor, the atmosphere backstage must have been unbearable for the former Divas Champion. 

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