At WrestleMania 42, Brock Lesnar got squashed by Oba Femi in under five minutes, removed his boots and gloves in the center of the ring, and cried while the fans soaked in his apparent retirement. It was the perfect sendoff for The Beast—no word of it before, no reason why, the most unstoppable combat athlete ever finally getting bullied himself and hanging it up.
What a moment! Except then, 29 days later… he returned.
Welcome to the world of wrestling retirements, which are treated like a Texas speed limit: recognized but rarely followed. Wrestler after wrestler has announced their retirement via emotional send-off, only to return a short while later like nothing happened.
Who are the biggest offenders? Here’s the list:
The single biggest offense: Mick Foley in 2000
Feb. 27, 2000, Hartford, Connecticut. Mick Foley loses a Hell in a Cell match to Triple H at No Way Out. Crawling out of the cage a bloodied, broken man, fans gave the Hardcore Legend a standing ovation, believing they just saw the end of the most unique career in the history of sports entertainment.
Thirty-five days later, Foley was wrestling again in the main event of WrestleMania 2000. He didn’t even miss a pay-per-view!
Allegedly, Foley truly wanted to take time off, but Vince pushed him to come back, sweetening the deal with the type of paycheck associated with main eventing Mania. Regardless, if you are looking for the biggest single offender in terms of ignoring what a career match means, look no further than Mrs. Foley’s baby boy.
The biggest multi-time offender: Terry Funk
With apologies to Ric Flair, this honor goes to another hardcore legend: Terry Funk.
It all began on Aug. 31, 1983, in All Japan Pro Wrestling. He and his brother defeated Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy in a “farewell” match, with Terry giving a bloody, heartfelt promo after where he yelled “forever” over and over.
A few months later, he was back.
The Funker fell in love with the trick. In 1994, while with ECW, he announced his retirement, only to immediately come back. He did that again in 1997, highlighted by a farewell show where he wrestled Bret Hart in the main event, only to wrestle again 11 days later.
The same happened in 1999, 2006, and 2016. All told, Funk wrestled until the ripe age of 73, having his actual last match in 2017.
The saddest offender: Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels had a near-perfect retirement. He lost in the main event of WrestleMania 26 to the Undertaker in a Career versus Streak match, and the Raw the night after served as a tribute show to the Heartbreak Kid.
To his credit, Shawn kept his word and didn’t wrestle again for over eight years… until Saudi Arabia and its massive payday came calling. On Nov. 2, 2018 at the first Crown Jewel, a bald Michaels made his in-ring return to team with Triple H to take on Kane and the Undertaker, in a WWE remake of The Golden Girls.
The wrestlers looked old and out-of-shape, the match was awful, and Triple H tore his pec. After that, Michaels decided to officially hang it up for good.
Smart move.
Bottom line, wrestlers wrestle, whether they lose a retirement match or not. Brock is the latest on the list, but he won’t be the last (we’re looking at you, John Cena).