10 Major Stars That Left WWE In 2004

Every year WWE goes through a series of personnel releases. This could be because of budget cuts, which in most cases it is, but can also be because of an incident with the talent, no longer having a use for them or just a mutual parting of ways.

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In recent years the amount of talent released has grown but WWE's insanely large roster does not help. When the roster was a lot smaller years ago, releases were less common and more surprising when a notable name made the headlines. 2004 was a year that saw several big names leave.

10 Brock Lesnar

Being the breakout star for the future of professional wrestling, "The Next Big Thing" Brock Lesnar impressed fans every night with his strength and athleticism since debuting at the Raw after WrestleMania 18. Lesnar would quickly make his way to the top of WWE by winning the 2002 King of the Ring tournament and the WWE Championship at SummerSlam against The Rock. Lesnar would also defeat Hulk Hogan on SmackDown leading up to SummerSlam with the title match on the line.

Lesnar would win the 2003 Royal Rumble match and main event WrestleMania 19 for the WWE Championship in his first appearance at the event, coming out victorious. A landmark career was halted 2 years later when Lesnar elected to leave professional wrestling for professional football following WrestleMania 20 in March 2004. Vince McMahon would say regarding Lesnar following his departure that he did not like the travel and was not a people person, making it hard for them to work together at times.

9 Goldberg

He was not the first to make his WWE debut by interrupting The Rock but Bill Goldberg sure left "The Great One" on his back to end his first night in the company. Disappointing fans for not coming over in the WCW merger in 2001, Goldberg finally appeared in WWE to a great ovation the Raw after WrestleMania 19. Though he had the name value and credibility, Bill was not immediately placed in the title picture.

Goldberg would begin his hunt for the World Heavyweight Championship in August but would lose his first big opportunity in the Elimination Chamber match at SummerSlam. Goldberg would win the title the following month but would only hold it for 3 months. Bill would then enter a storyline with Brock Lesnar that ended both their first WWE runs at Wrestlemania 20. Goldberg only signed a 1-year contract with WWE but as for not re-signing, he would later say he stopped having fun being with a company that put out programming he did not agree with.

8 "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

A departed name that truly stunned fans was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Along with the haunting of old injuries, Austin was having personal life troubles in the early 2000s that caused a lot of pain, anger, and even the end of his marriage. Austin infamously walked out of WWE in 2002 but returned in February of 2003. Austin would enter a program with The Rock for WrestleMania 19 that Steve was barely able to make, having suffered a medical emergency hours before the show. The match against Rock would be the last of Austin's career.

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Austin remained on WWE TV but transitioned to an authority figure role on Raw that still saw him deliver the occasional Stunner. Austin would be later would be added to the Goldberg-Lesnar story by being the Special Guest Referee for their WrestleMania 20 match and like the combatants, he too would leave WWE shortly after by not re-signing.

7 Gail Kim

A big loss for the women's division came with the release of Gail Kim. Kim signed with WWE in late 2002 and spent months in development before debuting as a Matrix-inspired character. Kim's first match in June 2003 was taking part in a Battle Royal for the vacant WWE Women's Championship where she was victorious, winning a championship on her first night on Raw. Gail lost the title a few weeks later and would suffer an injury later in the year.

Kim returned from injury in April 2004 and would attempt to regain the Women's Championship but would be unsuccessful. Months later in November, Kim was released from her contract due to budget cuts that upset the former champion, being told the women's division was being taken in a new direction. Kim returned to WWE years later and had another unceremonious run and exit.

6 Scott Steiner

He may not have won any championships during his second run in the company but "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner made an incredibly impressive company return at Survivor Series 2002, despite an F-bomb being audibly captured by ringside microphones. Scott was a 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion from his first company run in the early '90s but would evolve into a singles main event player in WCW later in the decade.

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Steiner, having been a world champion in WCW, wanted to recapture the world title and got the opportunity months after returning at the 2003 Royal Rumble and No Way Out the following month but failed both times; this was the biggest push of Steiner's return. Scott would later enter patriotism and managerial storylines before getting injured in mid-2004. While sidelined, Steiner and WWE came to a mutual release from his contract in August.

5 Paul Heyman

2004 saw a career resurrection for Paul Heyman. Though still on WWE TV since 2001 as a commentator, manager, and authority figure, 2004 saw the release of The Rise And Fall of ECW DVD which made popularity soar for ECW and its personalities. Although he would lead the return in June of 2005, Paul had a bad falling out with the McMahons in 2004. When serving as the head writer for SmackDown, on December 3, a conference call was held by Vince McMahon with both the Raw and SmackDown creative teams individually regarding the upcoming WrestleMania 21 event.

Heyman told the story on Steve Austin's podcast where he said he dialed into the conference early, during the Raw call, and left his cordless landline phone on standby in the receiver to be ready for SmackDown's call immediately after; the receiver on that day was left unplugged. During the Raw call, Heyman's phone died and the conference was interrupted by an automated message saying someone had left the call; it was traced to Paul. Heyman claims he did not listen to the call and would keep that word to Vince and Stephanie McMahon which infuriated them. Paul would be sent home but later laughed at the fact that he wasn't asked about the other 6 Raw calls he listened in on.

4 Ultimo Dragon

WWE had yet to develop its international roster in the early 2000s to what it is today but certain names needed no introduction. Japanese wrestlers were not exactly foreign to WWE and American wrestling in 2003 and in that year, WWE landed one of its biggest international stars ever by announcing the signing of Ultimo Dragon. Dragon had won titles all over the world, and for North American audiences, he was remembered for his time in WCW.

Shortly after debuting, Dragon unsuccessfully took part in a tournament to crown the inaugural WWE United States Champion. He would then be moved to the cruiserweight division and seemingly relegated to SmackDown's supplemental show Velocity before taking an on-screen hiatus. Dragon competed for the Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania 20 but would lose and a month later would ask for his release to return to Japan.

3 Rikishi

Rikishi was an entertainment fixture for WWE going into the new millennium. The 400+ pounder first appeared in WWE in 1992 as part of the team The Headshrinkers and would go through several character changes before finding his trademark identity as the sumo-inspired Rikishi (Phatu). Rikishi would become part of the popular group Too Cool and would transition between tag team and singles competition.

Rikishi won championships in both tiers but never captured the world title, though he was part of the title picture in late 2000. He bounced back from an uneventful 2002 and 2003 by winning the WWE Tag Team Championships with Too Cool member Scotty 2 Hotty in early 2004; the duo would defend their titles at WrestleMania 20. Despite being a great fan attraction for his appearance, athleticism, and showmanship, Rikishi was released in July after failing to lose weight after numerous requests from WWE.

2 Billy Gunn

He had a tremendous physique, incredible athleticism, but according to The Rock, everybody thought that he absolutely sucked! Billy Gunn seemed to have it all but could never make it to the top of WWE. He was a tag team and singles star, having won numerous championships as well as the 1999 King of the Ring tournament. Gunn was also bestowed with popularity by being part of D-Generation X, but the breakout star of the faction would be Triple H.

Gunn worked in the mid and lower-card in the early 2000s, portraying several gimmicks such as "Billy and Chuck" and "Mr. Ass" but injuries plagued his continuity. Billy worked mostly supplemental matches in 2004 before being released in November.

1 The Rock

Potentially the most baffling and jaw-dropping reason for a release in 2004, and possibly in the entire history of WWE, had to be for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. In 2004, Rock had become solidified as the next big star in Hollywood and with that, his professional wrestling career was seemingly over. Rock had competed at WrestleMania 20, which would be his last WWE match for 7.5 years, and made sporadic appearances on Raw throughout the year.

The Rock's WWE contract apparently ended on December 31, 2004 and the reason he did not remain with the company was explained by WWE producer Bruce Prichard many years later on his podcast. Prichard revealed that Rock's contract status had fallen through the cracks and many people, including Vince McMahon, were not aware that his contract was going to expire. The expiration date came and went and without anyone knowing until after the fact, Rock was no longer under WWE contract.