5 WWE Superstars who retired too soon
WWE Superstars are notorious for holding on too long. The monetary rewards of working for a massive company and the thrill of performing in front of a live audience can be hard to leave behind. Promoters are also happy to use big names from the past to put over the stars of tomorrow.
Even some of the greatest of all time, such as The Undertaker and Ric Flair, continued to wrestle even after they were shadows of their former selves. Terry Funk had his first retirement match in 1983 and continued to perform until 2017 when he was 73 years of age.
But there have also been wrestlers on the other end of the spectrum who walked away too early. Here are five WWE Superstars who retired too soon:
#5 Three-time WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee
At a time when WWE's presentation of women's wrestling left a lot to be desired, AJ Lee became something of a trailblazer. She was an integral part of television and found herself in storylines with some of the big names in the company, including John Cena, Daniel Bryan and her husband, CM Punk.
Lee eventually became the standard bearer for the women's division, holding the Divas Championship for a record 406 days. She set herself apart from the rest of the roster with her performances in the ring and on the microphone.
She often feuded with the cast of Total Divas -- The Bella Twins, Natalya and Naomi -- expressing her disdain for the message they were sending to women. She called time on her career in April 2015 after having fulfilled her goals at only 28 years of age. Injuries were starting to take a toll on her body and CM Punk's legal issues with WWE didn't help matters.
Lee was ahead of her time and just missed out on the women's revolution in WWE. She could have had great programs with the likes of Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Bayley.