10 Worst Ever Wrestling Retirements

6. Terry Funk (WrestleFest - 50 Years Of Funk 1997)

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Barry Blaustein's excellent 1999 'Beyond the Mat' documentary focused a sizeable portion on Terry Funk and the then-53-year old veteran's decision to retire in a match against highly respected WWE Champion Bret Hart at a show paying tribute to both Terry and brother Dory as well as father Dory Snr.

So revered was Funk within the industry that the September 1997 Amarillo show featured a host of performers from both WWE and ECW, often working against one another despite the heated 'Monday Night Wars' drawing lines in the sand between numerous talents at the time.

His main event match against 'The Hitman' was a poor effort from both, with much attention stolen by referee and documentary cult favourite Dennis Stamp after he threw a tantrum with his supposed best friend Terry about not being booked on the show.

It would be enough to consider it an understated ending to a storied career, but predictably it wasn't even that.

Funk was accepting independent dates just weeks later, and even made a return to WWE television that December, just a month on from Bret's acrimonious November exit from the organisation.

Terry has worked countless retirement matches since, most recently losing a match to Jerry 'The King' Lawler by disqualification for USA Championship Wrestling in Tennessee.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett