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Even though many wrestlers dream of working for WWE for most of their life, in its most basic form WWE is just another place of employment.
This means that sometimes Superstars can be unhappy in the role that they are given and leave the company feeling disgruntled. Over the past few years, there have been many stars who have asked for their release and opted to walk away from the company due to issues in creative or just a difference of opinion.
Whilst CM Punk seems to be the best-known example of a WWE star who left the company on bad terms, there are many others who have been able to skate under the radar, and here are just five.
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#5 Melina
Even though Melina appeared on WWE TV in a backstage segment where she helped Candice Michelle to become 24/7 Champion, the former Women's Champion didn't leave the company on good terms back in 2011.
Melina was fired from the company when it was revealed that WWE had nothing for her creatively and after a number of backstage issues, according to SEScoops. Unlike many WWE stars who are released from the company, Melina then continued to attend events with her boyfriend John Morrison who was still under contract.
This forced WWE to ban Melina from the arena at one point, something that the star herself revealed on her Twitter account.
Melina left WWE but she didn't leave the wrestling business, she has since continued to perform on the Independent Circuit and is still an active wrestler at present. It's interesting that the former Women's and Divas Champion wasn't one of the women who was called ahead of the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble match back in 2018.
#4 Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio is a former World Champion and he's had two very different stints with WWE in his career. His first stint came to an end when he was fired back in 2014 after a backstage altercation with an employee.
Del Rio then took Vince McMahon to court following his dismissal since he was fired and then handed a 90-day no-compete clause which he believed was unfair. He won his case and went on to wrestle in Mexico.
Del Rio returned to WWE in 2015 but this time around he only signed a one year deal. This meant that when Del Rio was suspended in the summer of 2016 alongside his girlfriend at the time Paige, for violating WWE's Wellness Policy, he went on to negotiate his release.
There have since been some issues between Del Rio and his former girlfriend Paige and the former WWE Champion has returned to his native country.
Back in 2019, Fightful reported that the company was not interested in bringing back the former star and that he had left a poor impression backstage with talent, staff, and management due to the issues that he had when he no-showed a number of events.
#3 Neville
It has been a few years since Neville sat out his WWE contract and refused to return to the company. The former Cruiserweight Champion was unhappy about the way he was being treated creatively and walked out of an episode of RAW which forced the company to re-write his match as part of the show.
Neville then refused to return to the company and was in breach of contract for a number of months until WWE finally granted Neville the release that he had asked for in the summer of 2018.
The former Cruiserweight Champion has since been able to move over to All Elite Wrestling and switch the Neville ring name to PAC.
Neville took to his Instagram account following his release to explain why he decided to walk away from WWE.
“No, they gave me the opportunity to shine and shine I did. The lads over there are great but they ran of ideas for me so I left. It wasn’t really Enzo why I left, I don’t hate the lad he was just annoying backstage and putting the title on him was bad, especially beating me, I was worth more than being jobbed out to jobbers, that’s why I left.”
#2 Mr. Anderson
Mr. Anderson was known as Mr. Kennedy throughout his WWE run and it's become common knowledge now that Randy Orton and John Cena were behind his release from the company just days after he was the first pick of the 2009 supplemental draft.
The former star was fired from the company in what was a shock release back in 2009 and hasn't returned to the company in the years that have followed. Instead, Anderson headed over to Impact Wrestling where he became known under a different name.
Anderson was part of the Wincly Podcast back in 2019 where he was able to talk openly about his relationship with WWE and the former star admitted that in the decade he has been gone he hasn't spoken to WWE officials or Vince McMahon.
"No, I've never really gotten a chance to talk to those guys. But I have no hard feelings towards them and hopefully, they don't have any towards me. It is what it is."
Whilst Anderson has no hard feelings towards the company, it's unknown if the feeling is mutual.
#1 Gail Kim
No wrestler has ever walked out of WWE with quite as much enthusiasm as Gail Kim. The former Women's Champion walked out of WWE after eliminating herself from a Women's Battle Royale on an episode of Monday Night RAW back in 2011.
Kim literally walked out of the ring, out of the arena and out of the company. The former star has now vowed never to return to WWE and has instead concentrated on creating her own Women's Revolution in Impact.
Kim has taken to her Twitter account many times throughout the Women's Revolution and called out WWE based on their booking or their creative process.
The former Women's Champion is someone that the WWE Universe will never see lace up a pair of boots in a WWE ring again, which is a shame since Kim was a fantastic talent and admitted that her first run with the company back in 2002 was her favorite. This was a time when the Women's Division was much more competitive and as Kim put it, WWE hadn't signed up much of the competition in other promotions.
