10 WWE Superstars That Got Out At The Right Time

4. Michelle McCool

Shawn Michaels
WWE.com

As evidenced by her efforts in this year's Royal Rumble and the Evolution Battle Royal, Michelle McCool still had the knack for a job she eventually got rather good at after entering a doomed Divas division as one of Vince McMahon's "athletic tens" and little else.

The multi-time Divas/Women's Champion and Lay-Cool star was limited to linking to the arms of lower card males early in her career, but rose up the ranks relatively quickly to replace recent retirees Trish Stratus and Lita as the league's ring general by 2007. Her career was over and done with by 2011, with McCool citing back injuries amongst other knocks as a reason for stepping away from full time action.

In the break between then and her reappearances this year, she's started a family with second husband Mark 'Undertaker' Calaway, implying this too was a reason to step back from the grind of WWE's all-encompassing lifestyle. All told, her legacy will be positive too - the company have given up spinning the pre-Evolution period for women's wrestling as anything other than a disparate disaster. In contrast to that narrative, her work was often great when little greatness was required or requested.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett