10 Wrestlers Who Regretted Coming Out Of Retirement

Roddy Piper’s 2003 run in WWE is often skirted over during retrospectives of his legendary career.

It began on a high, interfering in the Hulk Hogan / Vince McMahon match at WrestleMania XIX to attack long-time foe Hogan. From here, he worked as Sean O’Haire’s manager. The two carved a high potential ‘Devil’s Advocate’ gimmick, but this was mostly abandoned in favour of a feud with Hogan (as Mr. America) and Zack Gowen (a one-legged performer whose gimmick was being a Hogan mark). The run was a whimper of a return for the icon. Yet it was away from the ring that this run was truly regrettable.

Piper gave an interview with HBO, in which it was pointed out that “the rate of death among wrestlers under the age of 45 was 400% higher than the rest of the population”. To this Piper added: “I'm not going to make 65. Let's just face the facts, guys”. The most damning and memorable quote was:

“Everybody’s dead. They’re all dying early, and nobody cares about it ... They take them and they screw them up so much. They being the rash of promoters I've gone through in 30 years.”

Shortly after the interview, Piper was let go by WWE. He later said his comments were taken out of context to further a narrative of disparaging professional wrestling.