Wrestling, like most sports requires peak physical condition - it requires health, muscle definition (not always), while youth is also a major advantage. As wrestlers hit the age-40 mark, their health only goes downhill from there, a decent example of this are Christian's most recent years in the WWE which have been so sporadic and on-and-off due to nagging injuries because of his age. For that reason, professional wrestling clearly isn't a life-time career, once a star gets to a certain point, their best move is probably to move on and do something else while they still have general fitness and mobility. This also factors into the WWE's recent practice of hiring part-timers like Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar - who have been wrestling less dates months at a time, with a far less-taxing work schedule. There's a certain stigma about wrestlers after wrestling, the natural assumption seem to be that it leads to sad old men like the modern-day versions of Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair, or Randy the Ram from Darren Aronofsky's haunting film The Wrestler. That's certainly one outcome, but there are several talents who went on to live successful careers doing other things, without desperately chasing their glory days from decades ago. With that, here are 8 talents who left the WWE to do better, greater or more fulfilling things.
Sam is an experienced Film, Gaming and Wrestling writer, critic and journalist who was written for a vast number of different entertainment websites. Follow him on twitter at @Sams_Reel_Views.
