# What is the biggest what-if in WWE history?

> Neck injuries, contract jumps, Hollywood and the NFL each kept a star out of WWE at the wrong moment. Imagine the main events that never happened.

*By YPB Team · Published November 2, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-is-the-biggest-what-if-in-wwe-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Steve Austin's 1997 neck injury** — score 1000/1000
   A botched piledriver from Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1997 injured Austin's neck; he retired after WrestleMania XIX at 38.
2. **Sting skips WWE in his prime** — score 927/1000
   Sting stayed with WCW and then TNA; his first WWE match came at WrestleMania 31 in 2015, at age 56.
3. **Kurt Angle leaves WWE in 2006** — score 800/1000
   Angle was released by WWE in August 2006 and spent the next decade mostly in TNA.
4. **Hall and Nash jump to WCW** — score 709/1000
   Scott Hall and Kevin Nash left the WWF for WCW in 1996 and formed the nWo with Hulk Hogan.
5. **Eddie Guerrero's death in 2005** — score 600/1000
   Eddie Guerrero died in November 2005, 21 months after winning the WWE Championship at No Way Out 2004.
6. **Bret Hart leaves after the Montreal Screwjob** — score 600/1000
   Hart left the WWF for WCW after the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997.
7. **Edge's 2011 retirement** — score 600/1000
   Neck problems forced Edge to retire in April 2011; he came back at the 2020 Royal Rumble.
8. **The Rock leaves for Hollywood** — score 466/1000
   The Rock's last regular WWE match was at WrestleMania XX in 2004; he did not wrestle again until 2011.
9. **Shawn Michaels' 1998 back injury** — score 466/1000
   A back injury at the 1998 Royal Rumble led Michaels to retire after WrestleMania XIV; he returned in 2002.
10. **Brock Lesnar leaves for the NFL** — score 466/1000
   Lesnar left WWE after WrestleMania XX in 2004 to try out for the Minnesota Vikings.
11. **Steve Austin's 2002 walkout** — score 466/1000
   Austin walked out of WWE in June 2002 rather than lose to Brock Lesnar on Raw.
12. **CM Punk walks out in 2014** — score 0/1000
   Punk left WWE in January 2014 and did not return until Survivor Series 2023.
13. **Daniel Bryan's 2016 retirement** — score 0/1000
   Concussions led Bryan to retire in February 2016; he was cleared and returned in 2018.
14. **Hulk Hogan leaves for WCW** — score 0/1000
   Hogan left the WWF in 1993 and signed with WCW in 1994.

Tags: wrestling, wwe, injuries