WWE recently passed the torch from John Cena to Roman Reigns, a marquee moment that signified the start of a new era for the company.
Rest assured that WWE is entering a transitional period where stars who have been cornerstones of the company for 10 years or more are on their way out while rising stars are ready to take their place. We've already seen surefire Hall of Famers like The Undertaker wrestle what appeared to be his last match, but to make up for the loss of all-time great stars such as "The Phenom," WWE has replaced them with guys like Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode.
Still, there are more changes to come.
There are several major WWE stars whose contracts are nearing an end or whose time in the company is simply running out. Some of these superstars have already started to fade away while others are going to leave WWE with a major talent gap at the top of the card if they really do bolt WWE like it appears they will.
Let's take a look at five marquee stars who could soon be on their way out of WWE.
Daniel Bryan
According to Fightful.com, Daniel Bryan's WWE contract ends in September 2018, and the next step for the former WWE Champion will be one of the most interesting stories in recent wrestling history.
It's widely believed that Bryan was essentially forced to retire by WWE in 2015 because he couldn't be cleared by the company's Concussion Management Program, but since then, Bryan has been very vocal about wanting to wrestle again and to do so outside of WWE. His wife Brie Bella has said she knows "for a fact" that Bryan will wrestle again, and Bryan himself has teased a return to Ring of Honor and has even said he's growing out his hair for a future hair vs. hair or hair vs. mask match.
Bryan hasn't at all tried to hide his aspirations to wrestle again, even teasing a feud with the Bullet Club on Twitter, and he's let it be known that WWE won't clear him to wrestle again even though he's passed a number of concussion tests that would seemingly open the door for his return. It appears that WWE simply doesn't want to risk putting Bryan in the ring and having him suffer a catastrophic head injury, which would be a public relations nightmare for the company.
However, Bryan comes across as someone who wants to wrestle because he loves to do so, not because of money or fame, and when September 2018 comes around, it's a virtual certainty that he'll leave WWE to wrestle elsewhere, unless WWE does a 180 and allows him to wrestle again. Given how unlikely that seems, expect Bryan to hit the independent scene in less than a year and be the most sought after name in all of indie wrestling, with likely stops in places like ROH and New Japan soon to follow.
Dolph Ziggler
In 2015, Dolph Ziggler said he would retire in two years, which presumably means that he could retire any given day now.
In fact, Shinsuke Nakamura may have spoiled Ziggler's plans to leave WWE on an episode of Talking Smack earlier this year when he said Ziggler could go to Japan "probably soon." There has also been an unconfirmed report floating around which indicates that Ziggler's contract is set to expire soon, meaning that we could soon hear the swan song for "The Showoff," at least in WWE.
Ziggler is considered by many to be one of the most underutilized superstars in WWE because he's never truly been pushed to the level you would expect for someone who is as talented as he is. Aside from two really short World title reigns, including one that didn't even last an entire episode of SmackDown, he's almost always been someone who consistently has great matches but doesn't really advance beyond the midcard.
Given the popularity of former WWE stars like Cody Rhodes on the independent scene, Ziggler could be one of the biggest names on the indies or a great fit in NJPW if he really does leave WWE. And barring something unforeseen happening, like a major main event push, Ziggler appears to be on his way out of WWE, perhaps as soon as later this month.
Kane And Big Show
Big Show and Kane are about as close as you can get to being retired without officially doing it.
According to Fightful.com, Big Show's contract expires in February 2018, and the giant has already confirmed that is when he plans on retiring. Kane, meanwhile, has all but disappeared from WWE programming as he is running for mayor in Knox County, Tennessee and has even enlisted the help of former "Team Hell No" partner Daniel Bryan for his mayoral campaign. "The Big Red Monster" hasn't been seen on WWE programming in roughly a year, and if he ends up being elected mayor of Knox County, he'll essentially have to hang up his boots for good.
Either way, it appears that WWE will soon be without two of the most successful big men in company history.
Big Show likely had his last hurrah during his recent min-feud with Braun Strowman, which seemed to be a passing of the torch of sorts that established Strowman as WWE's new resident big man. As for Kane, he recently gave the typical "never say never" answer when asked if he was retired, and one would think that the true answer to that questions depends almost entirely on how far he advances in his political career.
Regardless, Big Show has just about five months left on the main roster while Kane may have already wrestled his last match, meaning that in a span of less than a year, WWE might have lost three of the best big men in history: Kane, Big Show and The Undertaker.
John Cena
In an interview with Complex earlier this year, John Cena hinted that retirement was near, saying, "I also know that my days are numbered. I just turned 40 in April and we have so many young and talented performers, I don’t know how many years I have left."
Just this week, however, Cena backtracked on that statement a bit when he told TMZ that he will "never" retire from WWE. It's unclear, though, what Cena meant by that, and recent history suggests that "The Champ" could be on his way out of WWE sooner rather than later. He recently landed his biggest movie role yet, a leading role in the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, and he's already in the midst of his second lengthy hiatus from WWE just this year.
In recent years, Cena seems to be gone more than he is around as he is no longer advertised for Survivor Series and reportedly may not return to TV until 2018. In other words, Cena has one foot out of the WWE door, and the other isn't far behind, as evidenced by the fact that WWE has run through Cena's dream matches, including bouts with Braun Strowman, Shinsuke Nakamura and Roman Reigns.
The most logical explanation for why we've already seen those matches, two of which took place with absolutely zero build, is that WWE realizes that Cena is on his last legs as a performer and may soon leave the company, even if he says he never will. Yes, Cena will probably be one of those guys who is always around WWE in some sort of capacity, but as a wrestler?
His days are certainly numbered, and Cena said so himself.
Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar's contract expires after WrestleMania 34, and there is a legitimate chance that he won't re-sign with WWE.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reported back in July that Lesnar was exploring the possibility of returning to UFC because his "contract with WWE expires not long after WrestleMania 34 next year and he’s already made it clear to backstage officials that he currently doesn’t intend to re-sign." Is he saying that simply to leverage a better contract, or is he actually considering leaving WWE in order to return to UFC?
No one seems to know for sure, but with WWE reportedly looking to cut costs and Lesnar firmly settled in as the company's highest paid star, there is certainly a case to be made for WWE parting ways with Lesnar after WrestleMania 34. The logic behind letting Lesnar go is that the significant financial investment in "The Beast" is not producing the results one would expect, especially in the ring, where critics have noticed that the quality of his matches has dipped significantly over the last few years.
WWE is doing a great job of cultivating new stars with guys like AJ Styles, Reigns and Strowman, and one could argue that Lesnar, although he's a luxury to have around occasionally, is no longer a necessary ingredient in WWE's recipe for success. When he's around, it's often pretty fun. When he's not? Others get the chance to shine.
And maybe after WrestleMania 34 or perhaps in August of 2018, "The Beast" will be gone for good.
Blake Oestriecher is an elementary school teacher by day and a sports writer by night. He’s a contributor to the Forbes @SportsMoneyBlog, where he primarily covers WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.
