5 times WWE Superstars were almost persuaded out of the company

The wrestling business has been dominated by WWE for the last few decades, but the existence of other promotions has helped talent. The more competition, the more the talent benefits. And in these cases, WWE Superstars were persuaded to leave the company.

None of them took the big leap, of course, and here are five different instances explaining what happened and why they chose to stay in WWE:

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#5. Edge - Did AEW's existence fuel his return to WWE?

Edge.

Edge's return to WWE in 2020 took everyone by surprise. While there were rumors, it was surreal to see The Rated-R Superstar make what many deemed as an impossible return.

His 2019 SummerSlam appearance saw him spear Elias, which was the first physical contact he had in WWE in nearly eight-and-a-half years. After that, "another company" contacted him regarding a return. It's no secret that this company is AEW. Edge gave some insight about it:

"Another company within the industry contacted me and said they were interested and wanted to know if I could wrestle. At this point, I didn’t know if I could... Some discussions were had. The one thing I told them, through all of this, was ‘When you give me your offer, I need to go talk to Vince.’ He’s done right by me my entire career. He gave me my chance."

Ultimately, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said that the offer AEW had was nothing compared to WWE's. Chris Jericho even hinted that AEW's existence fueled edge's return to WWE.

While Edge wasn't technically a WWE Superstar when he was being persuaded, he seemed to have always been one in his own mind. Although the money was an extra benefit, it was hard to see Edge returning anywhere else except WWE.

#4. AJ Styles - The Good Brothers tried to pursue him out of WWE

AJ Styles with Luke (Doc) Gallows and Karl Anderson.

Luke/Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were released from WWE during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. AJ Styles was furious about it, especially since he was the one who convinced them to re-sign with WWE. Eventually, they found a home in IMPACT Wrestling and have found success ever since.

The Good Brothers openly told Sportskeeda that they were trying to pursue AJ Styles to leave WWE and sign with IMPACT Wrestling:

"Ultimately, we're going to talk AJ Styles into coming back to IMPACT. That's what we're doing every single day. We're texting him and telling him to come back."

This isn't the first time AJ Styles will be featured on this list. It isn't surprising since he is widely considered the greatest in-ring talent of his generation. However, it seems like Gallows and Anderson's attempt at pursuing AJ Styles back to IMPACT Wrestling didn't work out. He is signed to WWE for another few years.

#3. Shawn Michaels - His best friends, jumped ship to WCW before his prime

Shawn Michaels.

Shawn Michaels was among WWE's biggest stars in the mid-1990s. His best friends from The Kliq - Scott Hall and Kevin Nash - jumped ship to WCW due to much better offers. And it was no secret that there was an attempt to persuade Michaels to jump ship as well.

However, Shawn Michaels told Ric Flair that he never thought of himself as anything other than a WWE guy:

“It's one of those things where you talk about it and you fantasize about it, but really, legally and contractually, no. I mean, I could never go. It's just one of those things where you can, in the theatre of your mind, you can fantasize about it, think about it, wonder what it would be like, but, ultimately, I think I've always felt like I was a WWE guy and I honestly didn't want to be anywhere else and the only reason you'd ever go anywhere else is for money."

Vince McMahon told Shawn Michaels that he wouldn't enjoy the same level of creative freedom in WCW and that they wouldn't be able to handle him the way WWE did. Ultimately, Shawn Michaels decided to stick with WWE and enjoyed a few more good years before going into his first retirement.

#2. The Undertaker - WCW's persuasion attempt kept him in WWE

The Undertaker and Vince McMahon.

The Undertaker proved to be a WWE Lifer. With a career spanning 30 years, no WWE Superstar enjoyed the same tenure that he did. Not many fans know, but The Undertaker was in WCW before he joined WWE. It was when WCW officials told him that "nobody" would pay to see him wrestle that he decided to jump ship to WWE.

A few years on, The Undertaker was given an offer by WCW, as were many other top stars in the company. Bruce Prichard explained why both he and Vince McMahon were sure that The Undertaker would prove to be a WWE "lifer":

“I was confident that Taker was a WWE lifer. I believe that Vince was confident that Taker was a WWE lifer. It was just timing, and I don’t know that WCW would know what the hell to do with him. You take him out of the gimmick and you go back to Mean Mark, and I truly believe that the Undertaker was such a strong character that you wanted to keep that aura. You wanted to keep that mystery. You wanted to make sure that’s what the audience wanted. I think that’s what everybody wanted," said Bruce Prichard.

The Undertaker went on to become one of WWE's most iconic Superstars and perhaps the most universally respected backstage figure in all of professional wrestling. Vince McMahon's faith in him paid off, and his investment proved to be invaluable.

#1. AJ Styles - The Young Bucks tried to pursue him from WWE to AEW

AJ Styles on RAW.

AJ Styles' second entry on this list was well before The Good Brothers persuaded him to leave WWE for IMPACT Wrestling. This was before AEW officially began Dynamite, and The Young Bucks reportedly spoke to AJ Styles, Luke (Doc) Gallows, and Karl Anderson

The idea was for AJ Styles and The Good Brothers to appear on AEW's Dynamite debut to set up a Bullet Club reunion. AJ Styles later confirmed this rumor and revealed that AEW's offer made him get a much better deal from WWE:

"When we were originally going to do Dynamite, we were going to debut at Madison Square Garden. After the match, three of you, not just the two of you, the three of you were going to jump the guardrail, and we were going to have like a Bullet Club reunion. We were gonna throw up the too sweet and then the three of you were going to jump us and make us bloody and destroy us and then we were going to be off to the races. And it obviously didn't work out. I remember the first guy in this conversation we're talking about right now, he buzzed us, and he's like 'I just got too good of an offer, and I would have never got the offer without your guys offer, so I just wanted to say thank you."

It's not surprising that WWE decided to give AJ Styles a much better offer. In 2019, WWE was giving good deals to anyone just to prevent AEW from signing with them.

AJ Styles eventually signed a new contract and revealed that it would be his last. While it's hard to judge, he's now well past his 40s and has accumulated a Hall of Fame-worthy career in just five years.