5 WWE stars who almost walked out (and the reasons why)
Nowadays, the majority of WWE departures are announced by the company when several people receive their release at the same time.
In April 2020, more than 20 main-roster stars were released in the same month as a cost-cutting measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From January 2021 to August 2021, a further 54 people were released from RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and the Performance Center.
Needless to say, not every WWE exit goes as smoothly as the company’s decision-makers initially planned. CM Punk, for example, walked out of WWE in January 2014 despite having five months left on his contract.
Punk is one of the few WWE stars who threatened to leave and went through with the idea. However, did you know that several others considered taking the same approach before deciding to stay?
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE stars who almost walked out on the company.
#5 Sheamus almost walked out (2016 WWE Draft)
Sheamus was selected by WWE RAW as the 30th overall pick in the 2016 WWE Draft. Had the Irishman been drafted one spot lower, his draft position would have been revealed on the WWE Network post-show instead of the television broadcast.
The Celtic Warrior’s surprisingly low position in the WWE Draft came just seven months after he lost the WWE Championship to Roman Reigns.
Speaking in a WWE 24 documentary about WrestleMania 37, Sheamus opened up about some of his WWE career struggles. Discussing the 2016 WWE Draft, The Celtic Warrior revealed that he questioned at the time whether he belonged in WWE.
“The draft came and I had just been WWE Champion up until the end of December [2015],” Sheamus said. “And I was the last pick on the draft. I’m thinking to myself like, ‘How have I gone from ‘The Guy’ to the last pick of the draft?’ I was like, ‘This is a serious fall from grace.’ I was so angry, man, I was ready… I kind of felt like ready to walk [out]. I really did. I felt like, ‘What am I doing? I’m not enjoying this anymore.’”
Fortunately, Sheamus turned his fortunes around after the 2016 WWE Draft. He feuded with Cesaro before forming a tag team, known as The Bar, with his fellow European.
Sheamus and Cesaro teamed together between September 2016 and April 2019. During that time, they won the RAW Tag Team Championship (x4) and SmackDown Tag Team Championship (x1).