10 Awesome Wrestlers Who Quit Before They Were 40
2. CM Punk
CM Punk was one of the top stars of wrestling's modern era, but the business took a toll on "The Straight-Edge Superstar". By 2013, Punk hated his job, and in early 2014, he walked out on his WWE contract.
Punk had many gripes with the way he had been handled by the company. He felt it was completely unnecessary for Triple H to beat him in a match so soon after he broke out as a star in 2011, and he believed that he should have been rewarded for all his hard work with a slot in a WrestleMania main event.
Though he was complimented by his co-workers for his WrestleMania 29 match with The Undertaker and told that it was "the real main event", he wasn't financially compensated to that tune.
The evening after the 2014 Royal Rumble, the 35-year-old Punk, allegedly suffering from misdiagnosed health issues, left the company and hasn't looked back. Though many held out hope for a reconciliation before or at WrestleMania XXX, it never materialized.
In June of 2014, Punk was officially released by the company (on his wedding day), and in November, he made an appearance on Colt Cabana's The Art of Wrestling podcast to run down his former employer.
Today, Punk may be out of wrestling, but he's certainly not taking it easy. The former WWE Champion is training for his UFC debut and writing for Marvel Comics.