2 WWE legends who are open to returning and 3 who are staying retired
With WWE and WCW going to war every Monday night, the late 1990s/early 2000s are widely considered the best years of wrestling programming.
What fans did not know then, however, was that many of the high-profile names from that era would go on to remain associated with the wrestling business for the next two decades.
Sting, for example, is now a 60-year-old man who announced his retirement at the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016, yet there has been renewed speculation recently about a dream match against The Undertaker finally happening.
Another former WCW star, Goldberg, 52, competed in his first match in over two years when he faced The Undertaker at WWE Super ShowDown on June 7, and there has since been lots of talk about his possible retirement following the widely criticised encounter.
In addition to those legends, fellow Hall of Famers “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mick Foley are often asked whether they will return one day, despite the fact that both men have been retired for several years.
With so many ‘retired’ Superstars being linked with an in-ring comeback, let’s take a look at two WWE legends who are open to returning and three who have adamantly claimed that they will not compete again.
#5 Staying retired: Batista
Batista returned to in-ring competition for the first time in five years when he faced Triple H in one of the marquee matches at WrestleMania 35.
Although the pre-match stipulation stated that "The Game" would be forced to retire if he lost, it was his 50-year-old opponent who ended up announcing his retirement on social media shortly after losing the 24-minute No Holds Barred encounter.
Unlike most sports, where retirement really does mean retirement, there have been dozens of retirement U-turns in sports entertainment over the years.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Batista insisted that he will never fall into that category.
"If they ask me to go in the Hall of Fame, I will. But I will not have another wrestling match. I will go broke before I have another wrestling match and I will not go and wrestle for another promotion."