10 WWE Exits Which Seriously Affected Other Wrestlers
5. Chris Jericho's Exit And Eventual Move To AEW Inspires Other Stars To Do The Same
'Sure, Chris. Go and wrestle in Japan. What's the worst that can happen?'
Allowing the first ever Undisputed WWF/E Champion to take on Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12 may go down as one of the single biggest regrets of Vince McMahon's career.
Once Jericho got a taste for the modern wrestling world outside of WWE, it was always going to be hard for him to return to the over-produced system he'd grown tired of.
Yet, he still remained adamant he wouldn't wrestle for another American company outside of McMahon's empire. But, then Tony Khan came along with his Elite buddies and changed the game entirely.
Choosing to become All Elite, 'Y2J' turned his back on WWE and in doing so he proved just how exciting - and profitable - life could be for a talent outside of the biggest promotion in town.
This eventually inspired numerous other WWE stars to run down their contracts and request their releases in order to find out if the grass really was greener on the other side.
As of writing, FTR, Brodie Lee, Jon Moxley, Shawn Spears, Dustin Rhodes and BROKEN Matt Hardy have all found more joy in AEW colours, and it's likely many more will attempt to follow them in the coming years.