Top Ten Wrestlers Who Blew A Great Retirement

Top Ten Wrestlers Who Blew A Great Retirement
September 13. 2023
By Ryan Porzl

Professional Wrestling has it's share of tropes and things to mock and one of the big ones are retirements. While there have been a fair share of wrestlers and legends who have honored a retirement, the majority of wrestlers don't know the word "retirement" and many have broken them to return to the ring. However, out of all the wrestlers who have broke retirements, there are those who were given hero's sendoffs including a big match at a big event and usually with a big crowd or hometown crowd. Many legends have been given a perfect sendoff only to break it and return to the ring with some of those returns being big mistakes. In this article, we'll look at the wrestlers who had perfect retirements and ride off to the sunset only to blow it and come back with the return usually being a mistake.

Note: I don't own any pictures as I found them on Google.

10. Gail Kim- Gail is the first of two straight women to make this list. Though she originally gained fame in WWE and held the Women's Championship, she made her legend in TNA/Impact Wrestling where she was the inaugural TNA Knockouts World Champion and served as the face of the division for most of the 2010s. Her success in TNA/Impact along with wars with Awesome Kong to Taryn Terrell were a big part in taking women's wrestling to the next level in the 21st Century and she was a pioneer in a women's revolution. After dominating TNA/Impact for nearly a decade and being a bright light during tough times for the promotion, Gail finally decided to hang up her boots in 2017. Her retirement match would be at Impact's biggest show of the year Bound For Glory on November 5, 2017. To make things sweeter, the event was held not far from Gail's home of Toronto as it would be held in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada where he took part in a triple threat match against Knockouts Champion Sienna and challenger Allie for the Knockouts Championship. In the end, Gail would secure the win in 9:40 to win her seventh KO Title. The match proved to be Gail's last as the following day during a TV taping, she officially relinquished the belt and retired from wrestling as she would take an office position for Impact which she still holds as of writing. Gail's retirement would last a year and a half before eventually breaking it to face Tessa Blanchard at Impact's Rebellion Pay-Per-View in April 2019. She returned to retirement but broke it again as she participated in a ten knockout tag match at Impact's 1,000 episode of Impact Wrestling on September 8, 2023. Gail's retirement is one of those that had a lot as she won a title, in her home country, and on the biggest show of the promotion's year all the while retiring champion. However, despite this, I put her low on this list as she's only wrestled twice since then and her match with Tessa was awesome so it's not like she made a fool of herself.

9. Trish Stratus- We go from one women's pioneer to another. Trish Stratus is not only a legend but one of, if not, the biggest female wrestler in the 2000 decade and most certainly was during the first part of the decade. Originally brought in as an eye candy valet, Trish eventually evolved into a good wrestler and was the nucleus of WWE's women's division serving as both a top face and heel at various points. Her feud with Lita is legendary and she also had other big rivalries with Molly Holly, Jazz, Victoria, and Mickie James all the while having Wrestlemania moments and enjoying seven reigns as Women's Champion. In 2006, after seven years with the WWF/WWE, Trish decided to call it a day. Like Gail, Trish would get the red carpet for her retirement which took place on September 17, 2006 at WWE's Unforgiven 2006 Pay-Per-View. The event would take place in Trish's hometown of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and saw the hometown heroine defeat her eternal rival Lita to win her seventh and final Women's Championship. Like Gail, Trish would vacate the title the following day and retired riding off into the sunset. Trish's retirement lasted two years as she eventually broke it on the December 22, 2008 RAW when she teamed with John Cena to defeat Beth Phoenix and Santino Marella. She then returned for two matches in 2009 and then for a few matches in 2011 including a mixed six person tag match at Wrestlemania XXVII where she teamed with John Morrison and Jersey Shore's Snooki to defeat Dolph Ziggler, Michelle McCool, and Layla. She then returned for shots in 2018-2019 including participating in the first Women's Royal Rumble in 2018, the all woman's Evolution PPV, and feuding with Charlotte Flair which culminated in a loss at Summerslam 2019. She then returned in 2023 for a feud with Becky Lynch which included a loss in a cage match at Payback 2023 on September 2, 2023. Trish is like Gail in that she's low on this list as she hasn't made a fool of herself or wrestle well past her expiration date, and her last match hasn't been some freakshow goof match. Like everything on this list, she is guilty of breaking a big sendoff.

8. Riki Choshu- Choshu is easily best known as one of Japan's greatest wrestling legends. Turning pro in 1974, Choshu became one of wrestling's biggest names during the 1980s and 1990s mostly enjoying huge success with New Japan Pro Wrestling while also competing for All Japan Pro Wrestling in the mid 1980s leading his Ishingun invading army against All Japan natives. Choshu also became known for inventing the move that is known to English speaking fans as "the Sharpshooter" or "the Scorpion Deathlock" From 1990-2002, Choshu's legend was further enhanced when he became New Japan's head booker and was a key reason for their 1990s Golden Age. As the 1990s wore on, Choshu's stock began to wane in the ring and he began moving down the cards or focusing more on booking. In 1997, Choshu would announce his retirement and spent most of the second half of the year embarking on a farewell tour. Choshu's last match would held during New Japan's yearly January 4th Tokyo Dome show and as a testament to his legend, the event did not use the yearly "Wrestling World" name but rather "Final Power Hall in Tokyo Dome" as "Power Hall" was a nickname of Choshu's. In a unique retirement match, Choshu would take part in a "Riki Road Final Message 5" where he wrestled in five short matches ultimately going 4-1 as he defeated Kazuyuki Fujita in 3:57, then he defeated Yutaka Yoshie in 1:42, then he defeated Tatsuhito Takaiwa in 1:21, then he lost to Takashi Iizuka in 2:02, and then defeated Jushin Thunder Liger in 5:09. Unique match aside, it was a big sendoff for Choshu who retired on the biggest show in the Japanese wrestling calendar before a reported crowd of 65,000 fans during New Japan's golden era. Not only that, Choshu was also retiring at 46 years old so he was past his prime and had a long hall of fame career. In the end, Choshu's retirement would last two and a half years as he eventually returned in the summer of 2000 and continued wrestling for another nineteen years until retiring for good on June 26, 2019 at a show he produced in front of 1,797 fans at Korakuen Hall. Choshu is the first on here to be a sad case as he not only had blew a great retirement but he didn't really do many memorable things in the ring despite competing for another nineteen years as he didn't have many more big matches, he didn't win another major championship, or have some incredible career revival. Even his true retirement was a downgrade as he went from retiring in front of a reported 65,000 fans in the Tokyo Dome to retiring in front of less than 2,000 in Korakuen Hall and while Korakuen Hall is a legendary venue, it's still not as big as the Tokyo Dome.

7. Jacques Rougeau- Rougeau is a name many Canadian wrestling fans and longtime WWF fans are aware of. A member of the legendary Rougeau wrestling family, Rougeau entered the ring in the 1977 and along with working the NWA territories, would mostly spend his time in the Lutte Internationale where he formed The Rougeau Brothers with brother Raymond. Rougeau became mostly well known for his 1986-1994 run in the WWF first teaming with Raymond as The Rougeau Brothers (later The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers) before embarking on a singles run as The Mountie where he held the Intercontinental Championship and then finally, as part of the tag team The Quebecers with Pierre Ouellet (the future PCO) where they held the Tag Team Championships three times. By the summer of 1994, Rougeau decided to retire despite only being 34 years old. After doing a breakup angle with Pierre, the stage was set for Rougeau's retirement match which occurred on October 21, 1994 at the Montreal Forum (a building the Rougeau family were familiar with) in front of 16,000 fans where Rougeau settled the score against Pierre and retired a hero in his hometown and in a building he competed in many times. Rougeau's retirement would last two years as he returned to the ring in 1996 to reunite with Pierre in WCW as "The Amazing French Canadians" but wasn't able to recapture the magic be it there or a WWF return in 1998. Rougeau's only highlight post retirement was famously defeating Hulk Hogan in April 1997 at a show he promoted with WCW talent in Montreal. After a short return to WCW in 2000, Rougeau spent the remainder of his career as on the Canadian independent circuit while promoting and training wrestlers including Kevin Owens. Rougeau retired a few more times before retiring for good at a show he promoted on August 18, 2018 teaming with his sons in a tag match which was similar to how his father retired decades before. Rougeau didn't retire on the grandest stage but he did get a big hero's sendoff in his hometown and an area his family were legendary in and outside the Hogan win, his career didn't really pan out after his first comeback making you wonder if it was worth it.

6. Mick Foley- Few wrestlers are more beloved and inspiring than Mick Foley. Despite not having the best "look" for wrestling or being the best technical wrestler, Foley would inspire fans with his dedication to the business and his fearless attitude of putting his body through hell. After mostly enjoying time as a cult hero during the late 1980s and early 1990s, Foley eventually became a pioneer in the hardcore/death match style of wrestling and would not only become the King of the Deathmatch in Japan in 1995, he eventually enjoyed success in the big three promotions of the 1990s winning tag gold in both WCW and ECW while reaching a boyhood dream in the WWF by becoming a three time WWF Champion. However, everyone knew by the end of the 90s, Foley was on borrowed time due to his punishing style in the ring and by the end of 1999, reports began circulating that Foley would retire at the dawn of the new millennium. Sure enough, Foley's career appeared to be over when he lost a title vs. career Hell in a Cell match against WWF Champion Triple H in February 2000 at the No Way Out 2000 event. However, it would actually lead to his true retirement which would see Foley achieve another dream of main eventing a Wrestlemania when he took part in a fatal four way match for the WWF Championship along with Triple H, The Rock, and The Big Show at Wrestlemania 2000 on April 2, 2000. Ultimately, Foley wouldn't have the happy ending as he again fell to Triple H and was the second eliminated from the match after Big Show with HHH eventually winning. Despite this, Foley had a great Hall of Fame career and got to retire on the biggest stage of the year during wrestling's most recent boom period. Despite many thinking Foley would be one of the few to stick, his retirement would not last as he returned to the ring four years later at Wrestlemania XX on March 14, 2004 where he teamed with The Rock to take on Randy Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair in a handicap match which was part of Foley's well received feud with Orton at the time. After returning to the ring, Foley had some memorable moments as he continued his feud with Orton which many believe helped establish the future Viper. He also got to face Japanese legend Toshiaki Kawada for All Japan's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship in 2004. Finally, he had a solid run in TNA from 2009-2011 where he enjoyed short runs with TNA World Heavyweight Championship and TNA Legends Championships while reigniting his WCW feud with Sting and beginning a new one with Abyss. After his TNA run, Foley would work a Juggalo Championship Wrestling show before having his last match participating in the 2012 Royal Rumble before retiring for good. While it is true Foley showed he had some more to offer post retirement, he still makes the list after returning following a Wrestlemania sendoff during a boom period in the business.

5. Shawn Michaels- Fewer wrestlers have enjoyed as much success and critical acclaim than "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. Michaels would first hit it big in the 1980s as one of the game's top tag team in The (Midnight) Rockers in promotions such as the AWA, CWA, and WWF. After the team split in 1992, Michaels became one of the premiere wrestlers of the 1990s and a strong candidate for the best wrestler of the decade before a back injury seemingly ended his career in 1998. Four years later, Michaels returned to full time competition in 2002 and to the surprise of many, Michaels wouldn't miss a beat and would again serve as one of wrestling's best talents during the 2000s. However, going into the 2010s, Michaels would make the decision to retire after a 25+ year career. After coming up short against The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXV in a critically acclaimed match, the two would rematch at the main event of Wrestlemania XXVI on March 28, 2010. However, for Undertaker to agree to the match, Michaels had to agree to put his career on the line making it a Career vs. Streak (Undertaker's then Wrestlemania undefeated streak) match. Though not as memorable, the match would garner praise but Michaels was unable to continue his career or be the first to defeat Undertaker at Wrestlemania as he succumbed to the tombstone piledriver at 23:59. With the loss, Michaels officially retired. All in all, Michaels retired after a praised match in the main event of a Wrestlemania. He was also going on 46 which meant he wasn't getting younger and he had a Hall of Fame worthy career. Michaels retirement would actually be one of the longest as he remained out of the ring for eight years. Sadly, Michaels would break his retirement by wrestling one final match at WWE's Crown Jewel event on November 2, 2018 where he reformed D-Generation X with Triple H to take on The Undertaker and Kane (The Brothers of Destruction) in the main event. While Michaels and HHH got the win, the match was mostly a disaster and panned with everyone looking past their prime and Triple H would be limited due to a pec tear. The match proved bad enough that it eventually was awarded the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Worst Match of the Year year end award. Following the match, Michaels retired again and as of 2023, hasn't wrestled since and seems adamant that he will never return to the ring again. Michaels is one of the more sadder ones on this list as he retired with a praised match in the main event of Wrestlemania and this retirement would be on his terms rather than injury only to break it for a Saudi payday and then stumbled back to retirement. Sadly, Michaels wouldn't be the only legend on this list to go from retiring in a well received match at Wrestlemania to ultimately retiring in a worst match of the year contender.

Onita (right) vs. Hayabusa (left)

4. Atsushi Onita- What retirement article would be complete without the man who's retired so much, the Japanese media have named him "Mr. Liar"? A trainee of the All Japan dojo, Onita turned pro in 1974 and competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling during his first decade in the business where he eventually rose to become the ace of their junior heavyweight division during the early 1980s before knee injuries saw him abruptly retire in 1985. By the end of the decade, Onita would rehab his knees and eventually returned to the ring where he went on to form Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in 1989. The promotion would eventually become a hit with Onita serving as the promotion's ace or top star during it's first six years. The promotion mostly became known for it's innovations in death match wrestling with Onita becoming a pioneer in that genre. By 1994, FMW was selling out arenas and stadiums while Onita was a superstar in and out of the ring. However, that same year, he decided it was time to get out. At FMW's yearly May 5th Kawasaki Stadium show (FMW's biggest show of the year at the time), Onita took on fellow legend Genichiro Tenryu in a retirement match. To the surprise of many, Onita would lose the match and seemingly had to retire. However, after the match, Onita would reveal a catch and claim he didn't have to retire until the following year. As a result, Onita and FMW spent the remainder of 1994 and early 1995 embarking on an Onita farewell tour which culminated at FMW's 6th Anniversary Show on May 5, 1995 in front of 58,250 fans with Onita defending the FMW Brass Knuckles Championship (FMW's then top title) against Hayabusa in an exploding barbed wire steel cage match. In the end, Onita won in 18:11 and proceeded to vacate the Brass Knuckles Title and rode off to the sunset. Onita's retirement lasted only a year and a half before resuming his career in the end of 1996 after a movie career failed. Onita choosing to break his retirement wouldn't make many fans and the media happy and within the next few years, he earned the nickname "Mr. Liar" due to constantly breaking retirements. Since the 1995 retirement, Onita has retired at least five more times over the next 28 years and as of writing, is STILL wrestling at nearly 66 years old. All in all, like many on this list, Onita broke a great sendoff but perhaps he's so high up here that he later became a parody and someone who's so dishonest about retiring, he earned a nickname immortalizing him as a liar.

3. Terry Funk- With Funk's recent passing, it feels a little bad to put him on here but fair is fair and like Onita, he fits the bill. Funk could perhaps be the best example of a timeless wrestler. In his 52 years in the business, he competed in just about every major American and Japanese promotion, he was a big success as a singles wrestler, tag wrestler, and a trainer, he was one of the best wrestlers and held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for over a year, he challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship, his 1989 feud with Ric Flair is legendary, he reinvented himself in the 90s and became a pioneer of hardcore wrestling, and put ECW on the map. He's been to Wrestlemania to Starrcade to the Tokyo Dome to the Nippon Budokan to Kawasaki Stadium to main eventing ECW's first Pay-Per-View Barely Legal. Few were more respected, loved, and selfless as Funk. However, among the many things he's known for, Funk has also earned a reputation for being a bit of a parody as, like Onita, Funk earned a reputation of constantly retiring and breaking said retirements. Funk is a unique person on this list as he blew not one, but two, big retirements. Funk's first retirement would occur on August 31, 1983 at an All Japan show where he teamed with brother Dory Funk Jr. to take on Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy. In the end, Funk would score the win in his retirement match by pinning Gordy in 12:35. The retirement match would also be immortalized in Funk's post match speech which saw him famous scream "Forever!" over and over. The emotional retirement only lasted fourteen months as Funk returned to the ring by October 1984. Funk would go on to wrestle another thirteen years before his next and to be fair, showed he had so much more to offer the business. However, our story doesn't end there. Fast forward to 1997, Funk decided to ride off into the sunset once again and it felt like the right time given he turned 53, was broken down, and had accomplished so much. After one last world title run in ECW, Funk would hold an independent show called "Wrestlefest: 50 Years of Funk" on September 11, 1997 with the event not only being his retirement but also celebrating his family's legacy in wrestling. As a testament to Funk's popularity and how respected he was in the business, many promotions gladly offered talent with ECW sending most of them though promotions from Japan like FMW did as well. Even the WWF, who pretty much are an island to themselves, sent then WWF Champion Bret Hart and Mankind to the show. Speaking of Bret, he would be in the main event as Funk's final opponent in a non title match. The match eventually saw Funk lose in 25:12. Once again, Funk got to go out on a good stage in a very well received match against a fellow legend. However, despite this one looking like it would be it, Funk's second retirement would be the shortest on this list as it lasted only eleven days as he was back in the ring for FMW in Japan by September 22nd. After his second retirement, Funk would go on to achieve some success in a short WWF return in 1997-1998 and with WCW from 2000-2001 before spending the remainder of his career as a journeyman. After wrestling another twenty years and having a few more retirements, Funk would finally have his last match on September 23, 2017 at an indie show promoted by the South Carolina based Big Time Wrestling. Terry Funk will always be a respected and loved personality in wrestling and while some of his retirements were premature, he still makes this list for having two big sendoffs and breaking both. Also, like Onita, Funk would have many more retirements and when he finally did have his last match, it was at a small indie show that few saw.

2. Antonio Inoki- If you know Japanese wrestling, it's a guarantee you know Antonio Inoki and even if you're just a regular wrestling fan, you still may of heard of him. Trained by the father of Japanese wrestling (Puroresu) Rikidozan, Inoki was almost immediately groomed for future stardom and was one of Rikidozen's two major proteges with the other being Giant Baba. Turning pro in 1960, Inoki spent the majority of the first eleven years of his career in Rikidozan's JWA (Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance) where he become one of their major stars, especially when tagging with Baba in the B-I Cannon tag team. After being expelled from JWA after an attempted takeover in 1971, Inoki would then become famous for launching New Japan Pro Wrestling in March 1972, a promotion that has been one of the most beloved, successful, and long lasting promotions for more than half a century as of writing. Inoki would then spent the first sixteen years as the promotion's ace or top star achieving many accolades as a one of wrestling's greatest talents and promoters. By the 1990s, Inoki's legacy was sealed and has been considered the second biggest name in the history of Japanese wrestling (behind only Rikidozan) all the while dabbling in other fields such as becoming a pioneer in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts as well as politics. After nearly 35 years in the ring and his appearances becoming fewer and farther, Inoki would announce a "Final Countdown" series in 1994 which would see him compete a handful of times over the next four years mostly against top wrestlers, former rivals, and former martial artists he previously fought. Eventually, it all culminated with Inoki's retirement which happened on April 4, 1998 in front a reported record breaking crowd of 70,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome. In his last match, Inoki would face MMA legend Don Frye, who previously won a tournament for the right to face Inoki. The match proved short but Inoki got the win in 4:09. After 38 years, one of wrestling's most celebrated careers seemed to be over and Inoki got a hero's sendoff befitting him. In the end, Inoki's retirement lasted three and a half years. After doing some exhibitions in 2000, Inoki returned to the ring for a final match at his New Year's Eve combat sports special Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001 on December 31, 2001. Despite drawing over 35,000 fans, it was obviously not as big as Inoki's sendoff. Even worse, his last true match was a freakshow match as he teamed with fellow legend The Great Sasuke to take on Giant Silva (of WWF's The Oddities fame) and a masked man named Red and White Mask. In the end, Inoki and Sasuke won in 4:02 which officially closed the book on Inoki's in ring career. In the end, Inoki's retirement was a grand moment: defeating a multi time UFC tournament winner in front of a record breaking crowd in one of Japan's most prestigious stadiums. However, he threw it away to compete in a crowd half as big and in a freakshow match that most don't even remember.

1. Ric Flair- I think this one was pretty obvious. Flair is one of those guys I can ask "what is there to say that hasn't already been said?". Flair is the stuff of legend. He was an inspiration from returning to the ring from a near career ending plane crash in 1975. He was the second to use the Nature Boy moniker but is one of those cases where the sequel surpassed the original in Buddy Rogers. In the 1980s, there were strong arguments he was the best wrestler in the world while his title reigns and matches as well as rivalries with Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race, Sting, Lex Luger, among others were the biggest of the decade. He was the leader and consistent member of one of wrestling's greatest factions in the Four Horsemen. Outside of possibly Hulk Hogan, perhaps nobody was on par with Flair as far as star in the 1980s American wrestling. Even in the 90s and early 00s, Flair would still enjoy success and fan adoration. While more and more began to question him wrestling as long as he was, he still had his supporters. By the end of 2007, Flair was 58 years old and was seemingly going to finally end his legendary career when he began an angle where Vince McMahon declared Flair would retire if he lost one more match. This eventually led to Wrestlemania XXIV on March 30, 2008 where Flair would face Shawn Michaels. In the same weekend where he went into the WWE Hall of Fame, Flair would be game but would come up short with Michaels finishing him off with sweet chin music at 20:23. As if having his last match at Wrestlemania in a well received match against Shawn Michaels wasn't big enough, Flair went into the Hall of Fame that weekend and on Monday Night RAW, he got another sendoff when many legends from his past came out to greet and embrace him. Flair literally couldn't have asked for more and at 59, it was long time to call it a career. Of course, it wouldn't end there as Flair's retirement lasted a year and a half. In November 2009, he returned to the ring to face Hogan during a tour of Australia Hogan was promoting. From 2010-2011, Flair then surfaced in TNA (now Impact Wrestling) where he competed in a handful of matches but these appearances made it clear Flair had nothing left to offer besides damage his legacy. After leaving TNA in 2011, Flair would remain inactive until having his last match at JCP's Ric Flair Last Match show on July 31, 2022 where he teamed with Andrade el Idolo to take on Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett in a winning effort. The match was easily one of the most depressing things many wrestling fans ever seen as the 73 year old Flair looked awful in the contest, supposedly passed out several times, and just looked sad to watch with the match becoming a strong contender for worst match of the year. Flair is number one on this list for so many reasons. He was a guy who perhaps should've retired well before 2008 but still got everything from a well received match against a great opponent in Shawn Michaels to a HOF induction to his peers happily celebrating him as he retired only to throw it away and continued wrestling where he made a fool of himself and by the time he finally did end things, it was one of the saddest, depressing, and pathetic ends to a legendary career. Appropriately enough, Flair would eventually go on record admitting he made a big mistake breaking his retirement and he never should've got back in the ring after Wrestlemania XXIV which is probably a fitting end to this article.