WWE may not be releasing wrestlers right now due to the looming threat of competition from AEW, but prior to that letting a wrestler leave the company wasn't something that the company had two thoughts about.
WWE would quite happily cut ties with wrestlers on a regular basis and not bat an eyelid, however, that doesn't mean that letting a wrestler leave has always been the correct decision, as there have been some regretful moments.
Some wrestlers who are released go on to achieve nothing with their careers and nobody thinks of them, but on the odd occasion, they do become even bigger stars. Within this list, we shall take a look at five wrestlers that WWE does regret letting go, and five they don't care about.
10 Doesn't Regret: Austin Aries
Despite the fact that Austin Aries is quite obviously a very talented wrestler, there have been countless reports about how he is difficult to work with, which is one of the reasons why WWE ended up letting him go.
Aries went on to prove just how difficult he can be to work with when he returned to IMPACT Wrestling and caused controversy during a match with John Morrison, no-selling his finish straight after the match and flipping the bird to the audience.
Since then Aries has struggled to really make a mark in professional wrestling and it is unlikely WWE looks back with any real regrets about letting him leave the company.
9 Regrets: Goldust
When Goldust was released from WWE it was quite a surprise as the company had been refusing to let several people leave such as Luke Harper, and it was clear what Goldust's intentions were.
The legendary wrestler obviously wanted to be a part of AEW and work alongside his brother, but WWE clearly didn't understand his value and star power as he has helped the newly formed company tremendously already.
His match against his younger brother is one of the best of 2019 so far, with Goldust proving he has plenty of gas in the tank yet, with this being a release that WWE likely wishes they hadn't done.
8 Doesn't Regret: Adam Rose
Adam Rose was a fairly talented in-ring worker, but the fact was that his gimmick was so difficult to be taken seriously that he was never going to work as a long-time talent on the main roster.
After he was arrested for domestic violence it was clear that WWE had no further plans for him as they released him from the company, and he didn't exactly make a name for himself after leaving.
Rose has actually now retired from being a wrestler, which just goes to show how much of an impact he was able to make away from the WWE spotlight, proving this was the right call by Vince McMahon.
7 Regrets: Hideo Itami
This is one that likely hits Triple H more so than anybody else in the company as he was the man who championed Hideo Itami, who has now returned to using his original name of KENTA.
Itami's WWE career was absolutely plagued by injuries, with the Japanese star failing to find a groove due to the constant stop-start nature of his WWE run, yet since returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling he has become a major star once again.
KENTA has joined the Bullet Club and is back at his very best with people in WWE likely looking and wondering why they didn't get that version of him.
6 Doesn't Regret: Enzo Amore
Despite recent reports that WWE was interested in bringing Enzo Amore back to the company, Triple H made it very clear in an interview that he has no desire to bring him back and didn't sound like he missed the former Cruiserweight Champion in the slightest.
Amore may have been a good mouthpiece but since leaving WWE that is all he has done, talking a lot of trash about the company and creating a very average rap album which he tried to promote by hijacking a WWE PPV.
Amore has tried to revive his wrestling career by teaming with Big Cass again, but their attempts to get contracts with ROH blew back in their face and it looks like wrestling isn't going to treat him kindly moving forwards.
5 Regrets: Dean Ambrose
While WWE didn't actually release Dean Ambrose, the company did fail to secure him to a longer deal, with Ambrose desperate to leave, despite Vince McMahon's best efforts to keep him.
WWE probably doesn't regret him leaving, after all, he provided fantastic years of service to the company, but they certainly will regret the fact that they plugged his departure so much with major WWE Network specials.
All this did was make Ambrose an even bigger star for when he surprisingly turned up at AEW, which is something that WWE certainly did not expect.
4 Doesn't Regret: Ryback
Ryback had a very impressive WWE career when you take a look back at it, despite the fact that he didn't have many championship reigns and never quite got to the World Title reign that he deserved.
However, the Big Guy was someone that WWE simply doesn't miss with Ryback not being someone who WWE really needs right now, especially considering the size of the roster right now.
Since leaving WWE Ryback has failed to really make an impact on the wrestling business outside of his podcast where he has made some very strange comments, which WWE isn't likely to care about.
3 Regrets Releasing: CJ Parker
CJ Parker, who is now known as Juice Robinson has become one of the hottest stars in wrestling in the last year with his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling having incredible matches on a regular basis.
Robinson looks set to become a major star for the Japanese company moving forward and has easily shown that WWE made a big mistake by releasing him when he was in NXT, never quite giving him the chance to develop.
Robinson was never really given much of a chance in NXT and even though he showed that he had personality and ability on the microphone, he didn't develop. WWE is reportedly interested in bringing him back though, which shows just how badly they regret the decision.
2 Doesn't Regret: Eva Marie
The release of Eva Marie came as quite a surprise to most people as she was someone that WWE had invested a lot of time and effort into and she had finally landed on a gimmick that was working on SmackDown Live.
However, the company then decided to cut ties with her after years of investment, and even though it was clear she was never going to be the next Charlotte Flair, she was certainly marketable.
But WWE's decision has proven to be the right one as Eva has had no connection with the wrestling business since leaving the company, proving that it was nothing more than a stepping stone for her to a bigger life in modeling.
1 Regrets Releasing: Cody Rhodes
Without a doubt, the biggest regret WWE has had in recent years has been the release of Cody Rhodes as it is through him leaving WWE that major competition has been formed through All Elite Wrestling.
While there are other major players involved in AEW, Cody has been the biggest component of that as he was the man who originally took Dave Meltzer's bet which made ALL IN happen.
Cody has proven that he is not just a mid-card guy as WWE had him pegged, having gone on to sell out arenas as the headline name, which WWE could have easily have had for life due to his family ties.