10 Wrestlers Who Regretted Coming Out Of Retirement

In retirement, you can relax, take up leisurely hobbies, and never have to hear critical management-speak ever again, but it's a pretty light assumption that it would be harder to give up a career in pro-wrestling than the cursed life of an office drone - even if wrist strain is preferable to the abundance of injuries endured by an outgoing wrestler.

At its best, a career in sports entertainment provides an energetic, well-paid job, that involves international travel and night after night of thousands of screaming fans. It is simultaneously a career that doesn’t favour longevity and a hard calling to walk away from. No matter how fulfilling, and seemingly final, the retirement, it is another area in sports entertainment were “never say never” applies.

Those who go out on top are huge draws for the company. WWE's door and bankbook are always open for the legends of yesterday. Fans are willing to put their emotional resonance with a performer’s retirement aside for one more chance to see their idol.

Just a fleeting run is highly profitable for talent and WWE, as well as enjoyable for fans old and new alike. But the benefits can quickly turn, taking a sizable chunk out of a legacy...

When Kurt Angle returned to WWE in a non-ring capacity as Raw General Manager, it seemed Kurt’s time in TNA would serve as the swan song for the Olympian’s in-ring career. While seemingly safer, Angle grew to regret the role. He recalled:

“Because of my inactivity of being GM, my body started to get arthritic. I got tighter, more sore, and less flexible […] the inactivity of not wrestling consistently led me to retirement a little faster. But, I can't complain. I loved doing what I did in WWE."

Once back in a physical capacity, Angle had some genuinely good matches. From being a temporary member of The Shield (which Angle described as “a dream come true”) to teaming with Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania 34.

On 11 March 2019 episode of Raw, Angle announced his retirement and revealed his final match would be against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. It left many asking “why the perennial mid-carder?” The two had a passible match that ended a legendary in-ring career on a meh.

Kurt Angle is loyal to WWE, and while he didn’t go as far as to slate his final match booking, he described it as “filler”. Angle lightly agreed with fans:

“They didn’t know who to put me with. I was doing a program with Baron even though we finished it because he beat me clean. They decided to do it again at WrestleMania. I think they killed two birds with one stone. They got my retirement match on WrestleMania and they got a good filler match in between two main event matches. I really believe that my match was honestly a filler match.”