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:

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#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.

#4 Four-time WWE Women's Champion Lita

One of the pioneers of modern-day women's wrestling, Lita honed her craft with CMLL and ECW before joining WWE. Lita initially connected with the audience as a member of Team Xtreme alongside the Hardy Boyz. She went on to defeat Stephanie McMahon, one of the top heels in the company, to win her first Women's Championship.

Lita also played an integral role in establishing Edge as a main eventer. She became his manager in 2005, instantly boosting the Rated-R Superstar's credibility. With Lita in his corner, Edge cemented himself as WWE's top heel - a position he occupied for several years.

Lita retired in 2006 after dropping the Women's Championship to Mickie James at Survivor Series. Although she has returned for a few appearances, she hasn't had a dream match with the current generation of female wrestlers.

Perhaps we'll be fortunate enough to see Lita make good on her tweet and wrestle Becky Lynch in the near future.

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#3 Seven-time WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus

Trish Stratus inspired an entire generation of children to take up professional wrestling. She was initially recruited as a fitness model but sharpened her in-ring skills over time and became an incredible performer.

When Stratus retired from professional wrestling there was a significant void in the women's division. She had a dream send-off, defeating long-time rival Lita to win the Women's Championship for the seventh time at Unforgiven 2006 in her farewell match.

Stratus has occasionally returned to WWE since her retirement, most notably as one of the returning legends in the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble in 2018. Stratus also joined forces with Lita at the all-female Evolution pay-per-view and then had a dream match with Charlotte Flair at SummerSlam 2019 in her hometown of Toronto.

There has been speculation about Trish Stratus having one final match with Sasha Banks but the WWE Hall of Famer has confirmed that she's unlikely to ever wrestle again.

#2 Three-time WWE Champion Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels first stepped away from WWE after WrestleMania 14 due to a back injury. He stunned the world when he returned to feud with Triple H in 2002, looking better than ever before. Michaels cemented himself as an all-time great during his second run, which was arguably even better than his first.

He finally called time on his career after losing a retirement match to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26. The former World Heavyweight Champion has stayed true to his word outside of his match at Crown Jewel 2018.

While he appears content with his decision, one can't help but feel he retired too early and missed out on dream matches with the likes of Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles. The current generation of professional wrestlers were inspired by Michaels, and they would have been chomping at the bits to work with their idol.

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#1 Two-time WWE Champion Batista

During his initial stint with WWE, Batista connected with the audience and cemented himself as one of the biggest stars in the promotion. Triple H took him under his wing and ensured that The Animal went on to become a main eventer.

Batista broke away from Evolution after months of anticipation and challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 21. The show was a tremendous success and drew one of the biggest buy rates in WWE history.

Since Triple H played such a big role in making Batista a big star, the Guardians of the Galaxy star was determined to repay the favor. He lost his final professional wrestling match to Triple H at WrestleMania 35.

While this was a nice way to end Batista's career, one can't help but feel that he had a few more main events left in him.