5 'Retired' WWE Superstars And What Happened When They Returned
At the beginning of 2018, nobody would have thought it was realistic for WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels to reverse his decision to retire.
"The Heartbreak Kid" lost the final match of his career against The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXVI in 2010 and he has since reiterated in several media interviews that he has never felt the need to return to the ring.
However, ahead of the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia on November 2, it has been confirmed that Michaels will compete in an official match for the first time in eight-and-a-half years when he teams with Triple H against The Undertaker & Kane.
So, will HBK show in this old-school tag match that he never lost a step? Will his return lead to more matches in the future? Will he ultimately regret his decision to come back?
In this article, let's take a look at what happened when five 'retired' WWE Superstars made their return to the ring.
#5 Daniel Bryan
Nine months on from his last WWE match, Daniel Bryan was forced to confirm his retirement in February 2016 due to medical issues.
The former World Heavyweight champion was intent on returning to the ring one day and visited doctors across America in an attempt to be medically cleared.
In March 2018, it was confirmed that Bryan had finally been cleared to return by WWE's doctors, and just one day later he was involved in a physical altercation with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn on SmackDown Live.
He made his in-ring return at WrestleMania 34 in April 2018, teaming with Shane McMahon to defeat Owens & Zayn in a tag match.
#4 Brie Bella
The WrestleMania 32 kickoff show featured a match between Team Total Divas (Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, Eva Marie, Natalya & Paige) and Team B.A.D. & Blonde (Emma, Lana, Naomi, Summer Rae & Tamina).
Team Total Divas won the match, with Brie making Naomi submit to the "Yes!" Lock, and the former Divas champion said after the event that she had just competed in her final match.
She later clarified that she didn't want to rule out a return one day but her priority was to start a family with her husband, Daniel Bryan.
In January 2018, 20 months on from her 'retirement' match, Brie returned to compete in the first-ever women's Royal Rumble.
She entered at #28 and formed a brief alliance with Nikki Bella before being eliminated by her sister.