10 Best Retirement Matches In WWE History
7. Jeff Hardy Vs. CM Punk (SmackDown - 28th August, 2009)
Unless Matt and Jeff Hardy make their long-awaited return to WWE following WrestleMania 33, this match will stand as a rare WWE retirement match where the outcome was actually followed through with. Jeff Hardy obviously didn’t leave the business entirely, but he hasn’t wrestled for the company since, making this match with CM Punk a fitting end to his last major run.
Having lost his World Heavyweight Title match to Punk just two nights prior at SummerSlam, Hardy was out to gain a measure of revenge on SmackDown. Their feud was one of SmackDown’s biggest highlights that summer, and after taking Jeff’s belt, Punk set his sights on his career. The duo competed inside a steel cage, and while not quite as visceral as their TLC bout on the pay-per-view, it was still a PPV-calibre match on weekly television.
The finish saw Punk foil Hardy’s attempt to escape the cage with a huge Superplex before both men fought their way back to the top. There, Punk knocked Jeff down, escaping the cage with his career intact, and sending Jeff into the free agency pool. The match was originally designed to give Jeff some time off to heal a multitude of neck and back injuries, but he wound up leaving the company outright, and re-appeared in TNA the following January.