10 Wrestlers Who Retired Too Young

There comes a time in every wrestler's career when they simply can't perform as well as they'd like to. Maybe they struggle to stay up-to-date in the ever-changing world of professional wrestling, or maybe they simply get too old. Either way, when the time comes for this wrestler, they usually wind themselves down, wrestle a few more matches, then bow out gracefully. Or, they wind themselves down, wrestle a few more matches, bow out gracefully, come back for a few more matches, wrestle continuously for years and years, wind themselves down, wrestle some more, wind themselves down again, have a tearful and magnificently booked retirement match, go to TNA, wrestle much much more, sort of just stop, wrestle again, then actually sort of stop. But that last one's just Ric Flair. The perfect, textbook example of a retirement done well is Shawn Michaels. He felt he had done it all, had achieved all of his goals. He saw the next generation of up-and-comers and thought they were better than he was. He had his retirement match when he was still good enough in the ring to make it amazing, and he went out on a high; with fans and peers alike praising his career. Sometimes though, a wrestler is forced to retire before they're quite ready. Sometimes it's politics, or a sudden injury, or maybe they just lose their love of the game. When this happens we, the wrestling-loving audience, get robbed of some great matches, great promos, or even just a chance to say goodbye. Here are 10 wrestlers whose career ended too early...