9 WWE Superstars who retired before they turned 40

Sports entertainment is a ruthless business, where careers usually don't last as long as other jobs. Professional wrestlers have a limited shelf life and the injuries they suffer throughout their careers make sure that they don't wrestle for very long.

Although there have been several wrestlers who managed to keep their body fit enough to wrestle way into their 60s or even 70s, WWE history is full of Superstars who retired way too young or were forced to quit because of injuries. There are also some who themselves chose to leave the business at an early age. In the following list, we'll take a look at 9 such Superstars.

#9 CM Punk

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At the age of 36, CM Punk left WWE in 2014, immediately after the Royal Rumble match. Creative differences between Punk and Triple H were instrumental in him quitting abruptly. Punk had an unsuccessful stint in MMA and stated at the time that he won't return to WWE after his UFC run.

Punk had recently named 3 Superstars he would come out of retirement to take on: John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and Rey Mysterio. Six years after leaving WWE, Punk is now working as an analyst on WWE Backstage, and only time will tell if we get to see him wrestle ever again.

#8 Eve Torres

The 2007 WWE Diva Search winner, Eve Torres went on to have a six-year run with the promotion. Torres won the WWE Divas title on three occasions and was involved in a romantic storyline with John Cena and Zack Ryder.

Torres turned heel on Zack Ryder at WrestleMania 28, leading to SmackDown losing an inter-brand multi-man match to WWE RAW. Torres left WWE in early 2013, to plan her upcoming wedding. She was just 28 years old when she left WWE.

#7 Ashley

Ashley won the 2005 WWE Diva Search and was soon promoted to WWE's main roster. Her first feud was against Vince's Devils, consisting of Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, and Victoria. Ashley aligned with Trish Stratus to take on the villains.

She never managed to taste championship gold in WWE, and was released by WWE in July 2008. Ashley was 29 at the time of her release. In 2017, Ashley made a brief return to wrestling alongside Jillian Hall, competing in Zero1 Professional Wrestling. She was 38 years old at the time.

She tragically died last year in May, with the apparent cause of her death being deemed as suicide by hanging.

#6 Ted Dibiase

After a brief stint in FCW, Ted Dibiase moved up to the main roster and soon became a part of Randy Orton's Legacy, alongside Cody Rhodes. The trio wreaked havoc on WWE RAW for months on end, before the faction disbanded on the road to WrestleMania 26 in 2010.

Dibiase, contrary to Cody, failed to make an impact following the split. He won the World Tag Team titles with Cody on two occasions and left WWE in 2013 to spend more time with his family. Dibiase was 31 years old at the time. He remained active in the independent circuit for the next four years, before finally calling it quits, at age 35.

#5 AJ Lee

Soon after CM Punk left WWE in 2014, he tied the knot with AJ Lee. For the next year or so, Lee remained a mainstay in WWE and went on to register a win over The Bella Twins at WrestleMania 31, with Paige as her tag team partner.

The next night on WWE RAW, Lee wrestled her final match in WWE. She teamed up with Naomi and Paige to defeat The Bella Twins and Natalya. Lee was 28 when she left WWE. She won the Divas title 3 times during her stint in WWE.

#4 Paige

When she returned on WWE RAW as a heel in late 2017, Paige aligned with the debuting Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, with the trio naming itself Absolution. Weeks later, a kick from Sasha Banks led to Paige getting injured at a house show, and the referee had to immediately stop the match.

Paige came out on RAW after WrestleMania 34 and announced that her injuries had forced her to retire from active competition. The announcement left fans baffled, as Paige was a mere 25-year-old at the time. Paige went on to become the GM of SmackDown and is currently a panelist on FS1's WWE Backstage.

#3 Corey Graves

Although he has made a name for himself behind the announcing desk on SmackDown, Corey Graves once had a promising future as a professional wrestler. He spent around a decade in the indies, before moving to WWE. His brief stint in WWE NXT saw him winning the NXT Tag Team titles on one occasion, with Adrian Neville.

After suffering a second concussion in 2014, Graves' career came to an end. He was 30 when he announced his official retirement.

#2 Tyson Kidd

Famously dubbed as the final graduate of the legendary Hart Dungeon, Tyson Kidd was a main roster regular from 2009 to 2015. He and David Hart Smith formed a team, with Natalya by the duo's side. Kidd won the tag team titles on three occasions, alongside Smith and Cesaro.

Cesaro and Kidd competed in the first-ever Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match in 2015, which was the latter's last televised match. He suffered a spinal cord injury during a dark match against Samoa Joe on WWE RAW, which ultimately ended his career. Kidd was 35 at the time of his last match.

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin

Possibly the biggest WWE Superstar of all time alongside Hulk Hogan, The Rattlesnake's career was cut short way back in 2003. His neck injury deemed him unable to compete following his third WrestleMania match against The Rock at the 19th edition of The Show of Shows.

Austin made his way to WWE in the mid-90s. He was a decent mid-card star during his WCW stint prior to signing with WWE, but his popularity shot up the roof when he won the WWE King of the Ring tournament in 1996 and delivered his now-famous line of "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your a**". He headlined WrestleMania events with the likes of Shawn Michaels and his arch-enemy, The Rock.

Austin was 39 when he wrestled his last match and went on to appear on WWE TV as an authority figure following WrestleMania. Over the next several years, Austin made sporadic special appearances for WWE, including a bunch of major WrestleMania appearances. He also currently hosts a WWE Network podcast dubbed as "Broken Skull Sessions".

Edited by Raunak J