10 Wrestlers Who Walked Out On Live TV

3. CM Punk (27 January 2014 - Raw)

CM Punk Royal Rumble 2014
WWE.com

Less than 24 hours after working almost 50 minutes in the 2014 Royal Rumble match, CM Punk told Vince McMahon and Triple H to shove it and strolled out before the 27 January Raw. His walk out sent shockwaves throughout the entire wrestling world, and reminded everyone of the kind of rebellious spirit the man had.

Not everybody viewed him as a renegade hero however.

Some fans rolled their eyes when reports dripped out that Punk had been unhappy about his lack of WrestleMania headline opportunities. He'd been the longest-reigning World Champ in modern company history just the prior year, but that wasn't enough - Punk wanted that elusive main event berth on the biggest show of the year.

Supposedly feeling it'd never come, he decided to leave in typically dramatic fashion. Punk wouldn't return to WWE until randomly showing up on the 12 November 2019 edition of Backstage; that's something nobody could've predicted.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.