5 Times WWE Superstars wanted to leave the company (and how Vince McMahon reacted)

Landing a job in WWE has been the dream of countless wrestlers over the past several decades. A select few of them end up realizing their dream and bag a WWE contract, while the vast majority never make it. The ones who do though, have to be up on their toes for the better part of the year, as WWE's hectic schedule isn't something everyone can commit to.

In other cases, Superstars feel like they aren't being used to the best of their ability, and aren't doing much of note while being a part of the biggest wrestling company in the world. Many others believe that they can do better elsewhere. This culminates in a Superstar requesting their release from WWE. Over the years, a string of WWE Superstars have requested to let go by WWE, or have refused to renew their contracts. Here, we'll talk about 5 such instances. We'll also discuss Vince McMahon's reactions when these Superstars revealed that they were done with WWE.

#5 Luke Harper

Back in March, former WWE Superstar Luke Harper appeared on Chris Jericho's "Talk Is Jericho" podcast, and discussed the events surrounding his WWE exit and getting hired by AEW. Now dubbed as Brodie Lee, Harper revealed Vince McMahon's reaction when he requested his release from WWE last year. After having a couple of talks with Vince, Harper received a call from the WWE Chairman himself, who made it clear that he can't let him go.

Shawn Spears had done the same thing a few months earlier, and they granted his release. I thought they were gonna do it. After the second conversation with Vince, he called me and said, 'Hey man, for business reasons, I can't let you go.', and I said, 'Okay, it's totally fair, it's your decision obviously.'

Harper was finally released by WWE in December. He went on to make his AEW debut in March and was revealed as The Exalted One of The Dark Order.