10 Matches That Nearly Made Wrestlers Quit For Good

Personnel-wise, wrestling is an inherently volatile form of entertainment, with high turnover present in almost every major western promotion, with new performers coming through the door on a constant basis, often crossing paths with those pushed out of it on their way.

True stability is a luxury only afforded to the industry's biggest stars. WWE are a lot less trigger-happy than they used to be, but can still swing their "future endeavours" axe at will, cutting hordes of "independent contractors" from their payroll at a time. As Neville found out last year, however, walking away is an entirely trickier proposition.

Leaving the business (or even one of it's biggest promotions) is often a complex decision at end of of a long period of deliberation and reflection, but sometimes, as we're about to prove, a single match is the trigger point for a wrestler saying "screw this, I'm done," packing their bags, and trying to get the hell out of there.

But just when these guys thought they were out, the business pulled them back in, even if the following bouts gave each one a legitimate reason to walk away, whether creative, personal, injury-related, or something else entirely...

Chris Jericho came within a hair of being crowned WWE Champion on the April 17, 2000 episode of Raw. He pinned Triple H that night, drawing a massive pop from the audience, and everyone thought the charismatic former WCW star had just scored the biggest win of his career. It wasn't to be, though. The vendetta-driven Earl Hebner's count was fast, and 'The Cerebral Assassin' pressured him into reversing the decision, creating a memorable in-kayfabe screwjob.

Remarkably, 'Y2J had come within a hair of quitting WWE that very evening. As revealed in a 2013 interview with Sirius XM's Busted Open Radio, he was on his way to Vince McMahon's office to seek his release, citing a recent loss to Viscera on Sunday Night Heat as the deciding factor, but changed his mind when the Chairman told him of the Triple H/WWE Title plans.

Jericho ended up sticking around, of course, but god bless the beautiful irony of this happening to a man who once gleefully bragged to Power Slam magazine that he could drag Viscera to a five-star match back in 1999.