10 Awesome Wrestlers Who Quit Before They Were 40
9. Billy Kidman
Even when WCW started losing ground to WWE in 1998 and 1999, many fans still felt that the former company had the stronger talent roster.
Billy Kidman was one of the stars responsible for that perception, an exciting youngster who wowed fans of cruiserweight action and helped popularise the Shooting Star Press in the U.S.
Kidman remained with WCW until the company was purchased by WWE, then made the journey with his fellow contracted talent. Like almost all of the ex-WCW stars, though, he never reached the same heights he did under his former employer.
While he did win the Cruiserweight Title and the WWE Tag Team Titles, the company didn't invest in him as a star fans were meant to get behind. In 2005, he was released - according to Kidman, it was due to an argument he had with management over their refusal to book wrestlers on first-class flights overseas.
Kidman wrestled internationally for the next few years, but in 2007 he started working with WWE's Florida Championship Wrestling as a trainer. That took up more and more of his time, and in 2008, the 33-year-old Kidman had his final match.
In 2010, he transitioned to a production role within the company, and that's where he continues to work.