Retiring from professional wrestling is viewed as a permanent thing by some and a temporary stint by others - such is the nature of this weird and wonderful business. Today, based on the guys and girls that we all know to be retired (based on what they've said), we want to run through whether or not we want to see them get back in there.
Full disclosure: this list takes place in a complete fantasy land. For now, we will put aside any major injuries that would prevent these wrestlers from wrestling again, but we won't try and alter their age in this imaginary scenario.
10 WRESTLE AGAIN – CM Punk
CM Punk left the pro wrestling business six years ago now, and ever since then, fans have been incredibly eager to see him step foot back in the squared circle. It hasn’t really happened yet aside from a few near misses, and while we can understand why, it doesn’t make it any less heartbreaking.
The guy was one of the biggest stars of his generation, and even if it’s only for one more match, we just want to embrace him for what he is: a legend that did a whole lot for this business.
9 STAY RETIRED – Terry Funk
Terry Funk is famous for his short lived retirements, almost as much as he is for what he did in the ring during his prime. The hardcore maestro is currently in his mid 70s, and while it doesn’t seem incredibly likely that he’s going to pull on his wrestling boots again, you just never know what to expect from this industry.
He has been around for longer than most of us have even been breathing, and he deserves the chance to sit back and just chill out for once. God knows he needs it after everything he did to his body.
8 WRESTLE AGAIN – Batista
Batista walked away from professional wrestling once and for all at WrestleMania 35 when he was defeated by Triple H. However, there was something that just didn’t sit right with us about The Game finally managing to get the pinfall win over The Animal. It just didn’t seem to fit the story at all.
Therefore, we’d like to see Drax the Destroyer go on another tear in either WWE or AEW before hanging it up for good. After all, you can never have too much Batista in your life – in our opinion, anyway.
7 STAY RETIRED – Ric Flair
Ric Flair already did a world of damage to his WWE legacy by wrestling for TNA, despite clearly indicating that he was going to stay retired after WrestleMania 24 when he lost to Shawn Michaels.
Ric is an old man now, he’s got a load of health problems, and he needs to focus his attention on getting better as opposed to getting back in the ring. We don’t think WWE would ever sanction it either way. It needs to be said out loud, just in case he’s listening in somehow.
6 WRESTLE AGAIN – AJ Lee
AJ retired at such a young age in the pro wrestling world, and we can kind of understand why. She achieved some truly great things, she managed to become a bigger star than 95% of the women from her generation, and she was ready to walk away with the man of her dreams.
Now, though, all these years later, we just feel like the time is right for WWE to try and make this happen. We don’t know how and we don’t even really think we’ve thought about what sort of a storyline it’d be nonetheless, but we’re excited about the prospect nonetheless.
5 STAY RETIRED – Sting
Sting is out of his prime and there’s just no way of getting around that. While the match at WrestleMania 31 against Triple H was certainly fun, it doesn’t make up for the fact that WWE brought him back too late and just didn’t show the guy the respect that he deserved.
Once upon a time, we all wanted him take on The Undertaker but if they squared off now, it just doesn’t seem like they’d be able to produce the type of match that any of us would really want to see.
4 WRESTLE AGAIN – Edge
Edge isn’t exactly over the hill when it comes to his age, and if we had the ability to remove his neck issues, we’d get him back in there in a heartbeat.
We’ve heard about the rumors linking him with a return to the ring, and while we don’t believe it’s at all plausible, we do enjoy thinking about the fantasy booking possibilities. The Rated R Superstar didn’t want to retire in the way that he did, and he deserves to go out with one more match – at the very least – on his own terms.
3 STAY RETIRED – Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time and we all know that to be true, but he’s incredibly out of shape, he’s old, and we can’t stomach the idea of WWE booking him to go over a young member of the roster – which you just know is what would happen.
Hogan had his time in the spotlight, and now we need to see the next generation make their move. He can pop up from time to time as a guest if WWE insists upon it, but that’s it.
2 WRESTLE AGAIN – Paige
Paige is super young and we wish she’d had a better luck of the draw, but that just didn’t turn out to be the case. If we take away the injuries, however, we believe she would perfectly slot into this generation of stars in the women’s division.
She’s always been an incredible talent and that goes for both her promo work and what she’s been able to do in the ring. In another (and better) world, she’s one of the women main eventing shows on a month by month basis, as she should.
1 STAY RETIRED – Diamond Dallas Page
As much as we love Diamond Dallas Page, we need to remember that he came into the pro wrestling game very late on. He should be focusing all of his attention on what he’s doing with DDP Yoga because let’s face it, that is what he was born to do.
We enjoy his appearances on AEW Dynamite from time to time, and we appreciate the legacy he has left behind, especially in World Championship Wrestling – but we aren’t that interested in seeing one more Diamond Cutter from the big man.