>>10429055And friendly reminder, this was not an exception. The guys who closed out the prior year's 'Mania died less than four years after this photo was taken, the guy who main-evented the one before that would go on to take an eight-year leave from WWE, and the top stars they were replacing were guys who both had runs of around a half-decade, with one retiring due to injuries and the other retiring to make a shitton of money as a moviestar.
If the talent's hot, you take advantage while you can. Only serious negative externalities could justify not doing so, like with Phil.