9 WWE Superstars who retired before they turned 40

#1 Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold

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".