10 Awesome Wrestlers Who Quit Before They Were 40
3. Goldberg
In 1998, Bill Goldberg skyrocketed up the wrestling hierarchy to become one of the top stars in the entire business. Given that wrestling was becoming more popular than ever before, his exposure levels were very high.
It was a mix of Goldberg's charisma and pure luck that made him so popular, but soon, WCW's propensity for screwing things up caught up with the undefeated World Heavyweight Champion.
He lost the title to Kevin Nash in a terribly bad decision, and despite the fact that "Da Man" was the most popular star in the company, they never gave him another run with the belt. When WCW closed in 2001, Goldberg had a guaranteed contract with Time Warner, so he was paid huge money to do nothing.
When that contract finally expired, Goldberg was able to negotiate with WWE. He joined the company in 2003 with a huge victory over The Rock, but he soon saw that things in WWE weren't like they were in WCW.
The star was undermined and misused in WWE, and despite the fact that he won the World Heavyweight Title again, he came out of a program with Triple H the worse for wear.
By 2004, Goldberg's one-year contract was expiring and neither side was interested in renewing. "Da Man" defeated Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX in a much-maligned match - Goldberg's last to date - then left wrestling at the age of 37.
Though Goldberg has always been open to a comeback if the money was right, no one has met his price thus far.