8 Wrestlers Who Turned Down Big Money WWE Deals

Sting rejecting an offer from WWE in 2001 is one of the great "what if" moments in professional wrestling history. Had he signed on the dotted line, we almost certainly would have seen him lock horns with Undertaker; a dream encounter that is now destined to top lists of "the best matches that never happened" until the end of time.

In subsequent interviews, the Icon would cite reservations about the perceived mistreatment of fellow WCW alumni as one of the main reasons for his reluctance to get in bed with Vince McMahon. "Something in me never trusted what would happen up there," he said.

We're going out on a limb here, but perhaps this had something to do with the humiliating way in which Booker T was buried by The Rock during his very first appearance on SmackDown. That was hardly going to encourage the rest of Ted Turner's roster to come on board.

Instead, Sting went into semi-retirement until 2005, when he signed a lucrative contract with TNA, albeit one that probably wasn't quite as lucrative as the one he turned down four years earlier.