10 HUGE Wrestling Moments That Must Happen By 2022

6. AEW Retires A Star Wrestler (And Upholds It)

Cody Rhodes Neck Tattoo
Twitter/@CodyRhodes

It's the ultimate stipulation, except, with wrestling being wrestling, it isn't.

The retirement match in theory reaches the maximum level of all-or-nothing drama. This is why wrestling returns to it time and time again. In a grand reckoning, when a WWE wrestler actually did leave WWE after a Loser Leaves Town match, a theoretically major and guaranteed great match didn't pop a rating. Daniel Bryan did leave WWE. He didn't go to RAW, he didn't go to NXT to inject it with much-needed star power. He left, is AEW-bound, and nobody entertained the possibility because no wrestler is credible.

AEW has restored much in the way of fan goodwill, despite the precedent WWE has established across the 21st century. Stories can have resolutions. Wins and losses can matter. The wrestlers you like can go over.

Can a wrestler retire?

Can AEW once again sell people on a potentially very lucrative special attraction match?

Dustin Rhodes has won a long-forgotten career-saving match booked to add juice to the QT Marshall gym tapings, but losing the match is what matters.

Cody and Kenny Omega have said on record that they're each closer to the end than the beginning. Chris Jericho is at a precarious point. The Labours of Jericho peaked very high, but his performances were uneven enough to convince some fans that he's washed. Sting can't go on forever despite the improbable magic of this current run.

Fans need to believe in wrestling for it to work. The trust generated with a stip of this magnitude would deepen the heft of everything else.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!