10 WWE Wrestlers Who Suddenly Vanished

8. Ken Shamrock

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WWE.com

With so many talents migrating North or South during the Monday Night Wars, WWE and WCW ordinarily had no problem burying performers as a way to write them out in the most damaging fashion for their competitor - if somebody was switching sides, there was a good chance they'd be made to start on the backfoot.

It was perhaps what made Ken Shamrock's WWE exit in 1999 so jarring.

'The World's Most Dangerous Man' was far more than fringe player during the company's chaotic re-emergence late in the decade, but his silent departure spoke volumes about how ruthless the churn was at the time. The fact he wasn't going to North American opposition meant he simply didn't warrant any kind of attention on the way out.

Shamrock was a bonafide star on his own terms, but didn't get any kind of send-off after being forced out of a pay-per-view clash with Chris Jericho in September 1999. 'Y2J's sidekick Curtis Hughes was credited for the injury that cost Ken the spot on the Unforgiven supercard, but Shamrock's failure to reappear ever again laughably went without mention.

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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