The Best of Wrestling With Retirement

He wasn't just part of the first WrestleMania: Wonderful" against Hulk Hogan and Mr. He had a WWF title shot after about a month with the company, and was one of the top heels from the jump. Sadly, that same high bar of success was what ultimately took Mr. Wonderful out of the game. The end was set into motion when Orndorff injured the nerves in his arm.

10 Greatest WWE retirement matches of all time

Most people would have immediately gone straight to the hospital to get treated, but Orndorff refused. Because at the time of the injury, he was in the middle of his second battle with former partner Hulk Hogan, which many fans look at as one of the greatest feuds of all time , from both a creative and a financial standpoint. Wonderful wasn't about to bail on that kind of cash and glory, so he pushed on. But it cost him, as he had to step away from the ring for two years. Orndorff worked tirelessly to rehab his arm, and managed to not only get it back to its full strength, but made it even stronger.

It didn't look that way on the surface, however, as his injured arm was obviously smaller. But he was able to keep his career going over in WCW until , when his arm literally began to wither away. At this point, he finally retired from competition to train the next generation. On the bright side, now that he's been able to stop worrying about his arm, he's found time to grow a sweet, sweet mustache.

In fact, he would have joined them there as well when he tried out in , but a failed physical kept him away. Instead, he signed with TNA, under the name Desmond Wolfe, where he spent two years largely under the radar, a great feud with Kurt Angle and a brief flirtation with Ric Flair's Fourtune faction yep, they spelled it that way alongside AJ Styles notwithstanding.

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Unfortunately, in , he tested positive for Hepatitis B, and the cause was apparently exposure to blood, which is pretty par for the course when you're a professional wrestler. He received the necessary medication and got cured within half a year of getting treatment, but TNA released him anyway.

Deciding he had nowhere left to go as a wrestler, he performed a two-month "Nigel McGuinness retirement tour," that culminated in his last match in December Post-retirement, Nigel has settled into his new day job as the storyline matchmaker for ROH, after a thankfully brief stint working a deli counter. But he has also used his position and story to call for increased hepatitis vaccinations and an end to purposeful bleeding i. Hogan is certainly the sport's biggest star of all time. He was not only a reckoning force on the mat, but also a genius self-marketer—one of wrestling's first athletes to really control the whole show, from storyline to action figures.

Ironically, his fall from greatness was not due to some in-ring accident though the Hulkster definitely has a ton of battle bruising. It wasn't a broken back or pinched neck that did him in, but rather his mouth. Hogan had flirted with the idea of retiring from wrestling dozens of times over his career, but it was his leaked sex tape — in which Hogan is heard using racial slurs while talking about the prospect of his daughter dating a black man — that truly ended his career.

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WWE immediately fired him, kicked him out of their Hall of Fame and, for the most part, acted like one of the biggest stars in their history never existed. Bret "Hitman" Hart was one of the best pure technical wrestlers ever. There's a reason he could call himself "the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be" without anyone giving him hell for hyperbole. But his active wrestling career ended both earlier than it should've and with far less fanfare than such a legend deserved.

Near the match's end, Goldberg threw Hart to the ropes and mule-kicked him in the head. Unfortunately, Goldberg apparently forgot that wrestling moves aren't supposed to actually hurt, and he wound up kicking Bret as hard as he could. The resulting severe concussion put Hart on the shelf for months, and in late , WCW fired him. Shortly thereafter, Hart officially called it quits on his wrestling career, saying on his website , "Due to the severity of numerous concussions I received in late December and early January … my doctors have advised me that any physical return to the ring would hold serious consequences for me.

Sting had been wrestling for 30 years but had never competed in a WWE ring until It's a good thing he checked that promotion off his bucket list because by the end of that year, a freak injury sent him into a somewhat-unexpected retirement. Late in the match, Sting was perched on the top rope and Rollins grabbed him for a "Buckle Bomb" — a powerbomb into the turnbuckle. Something bad happened, however, and Sting suffered a severe back injury as a result.

It was so bad that he was unable to run the ropes after, collapsing in a pained heap at Rollins' feet. As it turned out, it wasn't just a routine back injury — according to TMZ , the Stinger was suffering from cervical spinal stenosis, the same spinal injury that forced Edge to retire young just four years prior. With that diagnosis, Sting apparently realized there was no real hope of returning to the ring for one last hurrah, and he announced his retirement the following April, right after being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Now he's got plenty of time to chill with his bass-playing namesake after concerts, when he's not busy pumping up the Dallas Cowboys with the art of scary face paint. And yet, by , Lee was gone from wrestling, seemingly for good. She seemed perfectly healthy and at the top of her game, so what gives? As it turns out, it was a combination of factors. For one thing, Lee wasn't quite as healthy as she seemed.

According to her autobiography Crazy Is My Superpower , Lee suffered at least seven concussions in her short career, plus she — like Sting and Edge before her — had damaged her cervical spine beyond percent repair. That spinal issue was the biggest reason she walked away from wrestling at the spring chicken-esque age of When the choices are "wrestle or walk," walking typically wins.

The other reason isn't confirmed by Lee, but many believe it to be true. As a result, according to IB Times , Lee often felt stuck between two sides: Ultimately, she chose her husband by leaving, but whether or not that was why she retired from wrestling altogether, rather than work elsewhere, is up in the air. All we know for sure is that her spine said "nope" and she agreed.

But he looks just like a wrestler, what with the tattoos and decent build and all. However, despite the built-in high stakes, these matches can be hugely disappointing. Especially in the era of dirt sheets and internet news, the winner can be obvious weeks in advance. After watching through these matches, any wrestling fan is going to want to permanently retire the retirement match. The Rock and Mankind had some great matches, but this would not be one of them.

It was almost doomed from the start for being backwards - you retrieve the pink slip off the pole and then the other person needs to leave for good? Backing up again, there hasn't really ever been a good "thing on a pole" match in history either. The Rock would win this one despite some interference from Al Snow. But like most of Mick Foley's retirements, this wouldn't stick, and he would be reinstated after the roster threatened a walkout just two weeks later.

On paper, the Matt Hardy vs Edge feud over Lita was a no-brainer. Edge was one of the hottest rising stars in the WWE, the real-life drama was red hot, and the two had been famous foes at the height of WWE's popularity in TLC matches. However, this ladder match didn't live up to the others. Edge with the briefcase was red-hot, with no chance of losing it. The ending to the match was just pure torture for Matt - with Lita holding him in the ropes as Edge won and took in all the glory.

After only two months, it felt like a really abrupt blowout match. This was a great feud, lasting over a year, with several good matches along the way.

It was also a pretty solid match and blow-off to a big storyline. Even better, the right person won, with Sullivan putting over the young Benoit. Even better, Sullivan actually disappeared from TV after his loss. So why is it here? Much like the previous entry, the out of the ring ramifications dwarfed the actual match.

Sullivan had been a wrestler-booker in WCW, and this loss allowed him to focus more on being the latter. He didn't have much sway under Vince Russo, but still developed professional rivalries with some of the best talent in WCW. This was one of the first huge hits that led to WCW's demise in and it all led back to this retirement match. In late , Ric Flair started on a series of matches where Vince McMahon ordered that if Flair lost, he would be retired. It was a great story that culminated in Shawn Michaels' unforgettable Wrestle?

However, most of the matches leading up to this weren't as memorable. The Kennedy match wasn't particularly awful, but with WrestleMania looming and an obvious HBK match, there was zero drama. Kennedy was a rising star, but he wasn't going to retire Ric Flair, and he sure wasn't going to do it at No Way Out with WrestleMania just next month.

The great team of LayCool had been one of the best parts of the Divas division during its run. It is a time of reintroduction and renewed relationships. This can be a circumstance of financial troubles or simply missing the thrill of being out in front of the live crowd. Either way, retirement is tricky. These days, WWE talents are required to pass physical testing before they are allowed to take any bumps in the ring.

When it comes to the older gentlemen, this can force them out of the ring despite any desire they may have to compete.

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Jake Roberts was such a conniving character during his days in WWE. One of the true menacing heels of his generation. The man who carried around a snake in a bag was always able to entertain or strike fear into the hearts of the live audience. One last match for Jake Roberts could be fun to watch; if not for anything but to at least see somebody meet his snake Damien up close and personal. The segments are usually a success as Piper has always been one of the best when it comes to spontaneity and mic skills. However, for younger fans, these occasional glimpses into the psyche of Piper are merely a sample to a much larger character.

Roddy Piper could cut promos with the bet of them, which would be the best part of Piper having one more feud in WWE. The build-up would be incredible, especially if Piper were placed opposite on young heel and great talker. Someone like Bray Wyatt. This past year at WrestleMania, during the Triple H vs. Sting match, appearances were made by both D-Generation X and the nWo.

While everybody was taking bumps, seeing Scott Hall take a hard back drop to the floor was a solid spot. Scott Hall has a number of health issues and is certainly not in ring shape but the idea of an in-ring return for one more match definitely touches home for fans of the s. Scott Hall as Razor Ramon one last time would be awesome. Of course, there is also the possibility of Scott Hall performing along side his big buddy Kevin Nash in one last tag team match for The Outsiders. Throughout the Monday Night War, much of the army assembled by Eric Bischoff consisted of repackaged WWE talent — a formula that worked for a while but would eventually lead to the collapse of World Championship Wrestling.

Aside from Guys like Ric Flair and Sting, who had been part of the organization since long before the war, WCW was not really turning out their own talent. That was until the day the world was introduced to Bill Goldberg — an ex-football player turned wrestling powerhouse.

Top 15 Worst Retirement Matches in Wrestling History

Goldberg is far from being a great wrestler in any traditional sense of the word but that doesn't mean one last squash match wouldn't make for a good angle. Trish Stratus and Lita come in as a joint entry on our list for a two reasons. While these two ladies have done battle countless times, their most memorable match came when the girls were given the main event spot on Monday Night Raw in a match for the Women's Championship.

The match that could very well be the greatest female wrestling match ever. Therefore, we conclude that if Trish and Lita were to come back for one more match; the best option would be a simultaneous return to the ring in one final showdown.