Ken Shamrock Says Not Wanting To Wrestle Chyna Was A Reason For WWE Departure

Ken Shamrock left WWE in 1999 after spending two years with the promotion, initially coming in as the special guest enforcer for Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. 

Shamrock won the WWE Intercontinental Championship and King of the Ring during his time with the company. 

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Shamrock was asked what led to his WWE departure. 

He said that the Montreal Screwjob made things a bit awkward because Bret Hart helped break him into the business. He also said that he felt like he had no identity or program, and that he was asked to do things that he wasn’t comfortable doing.

“My own personal thing was, I just didn’t want to get in the ring with Chyna. I taught my children at a young age, and they were at the time eight, seven, and five. Young kids, going to school. One of the things that I drilled into their head is that you respect women and that you don’t lay your hands on them. I was asked to do that. I get it, it’s entertainment, but my family comes first. If I’m doing something that is going to possibly, it might not, but possibly confuse them, I’m not doing it. It’s not like WWE had it in for me. It was things that I believed it. It felt like I was constantly going into a direction that had no end to it. 

“It was very respectful when I said I didn’t want to do it. I may have gotten beat a few times [laughs], but there was no anger or anything like that.”

Shamrock went on to compete regularly for TNA Wrestling when the promotion first started in 2002. 

Elsewhere during the interview, Shamrock commented on a possible WWE Hall of Fame induction. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

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