When and why did Ken Shamrock leave the WWF?

[Rammsteinmad]

I've been watching some old WWF Attitude-Era tapes, and damn Shamrock was badass. I reckon he coulda been huge if he stuck around.

[mrslackalack]

I believe it was around Sept 99. He was starting a feud with Jericho. I think he left to rejoin UFC for a bit and then come back but then he got hurt and never returned to the WWF although he was in TNA for a bit in the early years and won the title.

[Fox]

Despite Shamrock's arguable success in the WWE during the late 90's, his star shone much brighter on the Ultimate Fighting scale. He did TNA a favor by winning the newly reborn NWA Championship for the company, but left. He's now got a much more lucrative position as a team leader on The Ultimate Fighter, and I doubt WWE or TNA has anything that could persuade him from leaving that current post.

[Stickman]

I'm only starting to get into UFC so I dont' really know, but do they have the kind of money backing them that Vince and the WWE have? What does the average UFC fighter make in a year compared to the average wwe guy?

[NeanderCarl]

Shamrock left in the middle of the Jericho feud due to injury, I think he was replaced by X-Pac on a PPV where he was meant to face "Y2J".

He was due to return, but opted to return to UFC for "one last run" and then return to WWE at some point in 2000/2001. Obviously, this has yet to transpire.

An Angle vs Shamrock feud would be gold, but the longer he leaves it, the less impact a Ken Shamrock return would have on WWE fans.

I was randomly thinking about a Shamrock return recently after watching the 1999 Over The Edge PPV somebody posted on here. He really was the star of the Union vs Corporate Ministry Survivor Series match on the card, and reminded me that he really was a great performer.

He has shrunk an awful lot lately though, plus he is nearly a decade older than when he was last in WWE (and he was no spring chicken back then!) so I think unless he comes back in the next 2-3 years, we won't see Shamrock in a big-time wrestling promotion again, at least not in a prominant position.

[Kane Knight]

Shamrock injurded himself multiple times in pro wrestling, which also complicated his UFC career. While he wasn't the greatest, he probably would have been less lackluster in his career had he not hurt himself so often. His last injury was training for a UFC rematch, several months before UF3 or whatever.

[Stickman]

What would be worse on your body, UFC or wrestling?

[NeanderCarl]

What would be worse on your body, UFC or wrestling?

Good question.

I reckon a UFC bout would be more physically taxing, with a higher chance of injury due to the full-contact nature of it, but wrestlers compete more often than UFC fighters do. A wrestling match is less demanding than a UFC fight, but they do it virtually every day.

It probably depends on the individual competitor.

[Dorkchop]

I'm pretty sure Shamrock's last match was agaisnt Jericho on Smackdown. jericho came out and wrestled in hockey equiptment. What made me laugh was that he cut a hole in the hockey helmet and put his tiny ponytail he wore on top of his head through it. Jericho beat him with a hockey stick, thus making Shamrock "suffering" internal injuries.