5 WWE Superstars who got to retire on their own terms and 5 who didn't
During WrestleMania 36, fans watching along on the WWE Network were treated to a preview for a new exclusive docuseries detailing the previous three years of the legendary career of The Undertaker.
Speculation ran rampant as to what would be covered and fans were eagerly awaiting to hear The Phenom discuss about a lot of things. The Undertaker opened up on a lot of things including his decreasing in-ring prowess, the infamous match with Goldberg in Saudi Arabia and provided an explanation as to why he returned following what many believed to be his retirement match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33.
At the culmination of this series, the man behind The Undertaker, Mark Callaway, revealed he has nothing left to prove and seemingly announced his retirement, thus ending his incredible career that had begun back in 1987.
It's often said that wrestling is a young person’s game. After all, there is only so much the human body can withstand and following years of hard bumping and constant touring, many WWE Superstars find themselves drained.
Some respond to this by modifying their ring style to avoid taking too much damage while others work a lighter schedule to increase their overall longevity. For some, however, their proverbial bump card maxes out, leaving them with no other option but to hang up their boots for good and call it a day.
Sadly, not every Superstar who walks away from the industry does so on their own terms. While some get huge fan fair and teary goodbyes, others are left with a quiet swansong or a tragic ending.
Some are cut down before their prime while others may hang around too long. The talent in WWE, no matter how big they become, are not exempt from this reality. With that in mind, here are 5 Superstars who got to retire on their own terms and 5 who did not.
#10 Did: Trish Stratus
At WWE Unforgiven 2006, fans witnessed the emotional retirement of Trish Stratus. It was somewhat surprising at the time as Stratus had only been wrestling for six years, suffered no serious injuries and seemingly could have held on for a lot longer. Nonetheless, Trish Stratus retired in an emotional affair defeating her longtime friend, Lita, to become WWE Women's Champion one last time.
The former six-time Women’s Champion opted to retire on her own terms to spend more time with her family and pursue other interests. The Ontario native would make sporadic appearances on and off, including taking up a spot as a trainer on the 2011 season of WWE Tough Enough.
Trish was rightfully inducted into the WWE Hall of fame in 2013 and came out of retirement. She would come out of retirement twice after this, once for a tag match at the historic 2018 Evolution PPV and to put Charlotte Flair over at SummerSlam 2019.