'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Professional wrestlers are larger than life Superstars who captivate fans with their awe-inspiring moves and storytelling that keeps us clamoring for more. However, all good things must come to an end, and there comes a time where fans have to bid farewell to their favorite wrestlers.
2020 has been that time for some, as many stars hung up their boots, possibly for good. While the pandemic has played a role in some wrestlers' decision to retire, age has been a bigger factor for others.
Even though their time in the ring is over, their contribution to the business will always be remembered. Some of these wrestlers are future WWE Hall of Famers, if they aren't in it already.
Here are ten professional wrestlers who retired in 2020.
#10 Gillberg
Duane Gill is popularly known for playing Gillberg in WWE, a parody of former WCW Champion Goldberg. Unlike Goldberg, who was a major Superstar in World Championship Wrestling, Gillberg was an enhancement talent in WWE, who lost most of his matches to other stars.
He did acquire some success though, as he captured the WWE Light Heavyweight title and held it for over a year. Gillberg made a surprise return on RAW in 2016 where he mocked Goldberg's entrance before being laid out by Kevin Owens.
At the age of 58, Gillberg retired in February after wrestling his last match against James Ellsworth.
#9 Manabu Nakanishi
Manabu Nakanishi is one of New Japan Pro Wrestling's most accomplished professional wrestlers. Besides winning the prestigious G1 Climax tournament in 1991, he also held the IWGP Tag Team Championship, NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship and the coveted IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Nakanishi also competed in WCW in the 90s. He announced his retirement earlier this year and cited his injuries as the reason he couldn't perform the way he wanted to. During his retirement show, Manabu Nakanishi stated that even though he's retiring, he'll always be a wrestler and he'll die a wrestler.
#8 Sweet Saraya
Sweet Saraya (AKA Saraya Knight ) has been involved in the wrestling business since the 90s, serving as a promoter and one of the top female wrestlers in the UK.
She is part of a family of wrestlers, with the most popular of them being her daughter Paige, who is a WWE Superstar and a former Divas Champion. The two wrestlers have competed with and against each other in the ring.
Saraya also runs a wrestling promotion with her husband and a women's promotion called WAWW. She went into retirement this year but still continues serving as a promoter.
#7 Kylie Rae
Kylie Rae wrestled for several years before hanging up her boots in late 2020. During her short career, she competed in Booker T's Reality of Wrestling promotion, All Elite Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling. Kylie Rae made her AEW debut at Double or Nothing in 2019 in a losing effort against current wrestlers Nyla Rose, Awesome Kong and Britt Baker.
Although she was scheduled to compete at that year's Fyter Fest, Rae was pulled from the show due to her release from AEW. After leaving the promotion, she joined IMPACT Wrestling and was scheduled to challenge Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts Championship at Bound for Glory but she was pulled from that event as well, and replaced with Su Yung. Two weeks later, Kylie Rae revealed that she retired from professional wrestling.
#6 Naoki Sano
Naoki Sano is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and is notable for his incredible rivalry with one of New Japan Pro Wrestling's biggest wrestlers, Jushin Thunder Liger, whom the former defeated to capture the title. Liger credited Sano for his success, and it isn't hard to fathom why. Naoki Sano consistently put on good matches and he helped elevate the NJPW Junior Heavyweight division.
His bouts with wrestlers such as Rick Martel and Liger are bangers that every wrestling fan should see, because they are simply that good. Sano's match with Liger on January 31, 1990, was one of the best matches of that year. He was also the first NJPW wrestler to compete inside the Tokyo Dome, the home of one of the biggest events in professional wrestling, Wrestle Kingdom.
Besides wrestling, Naoki Sano was also a mixed martial artist. His last match was at Wrestle Kindom 14 in January 2020 where he teamed up with his former rival Jushin Liger in a losing effort against Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee.
#5 Jushin Thunder Liger
Naoki Sano wasn't the only one who wrestled his last match at Wrestle Kingdom 14, as his partner Jushin Thunder Liger also retired shortly after the show. Liger is one of NJPW's top wrestlers and the longest-tenured competitor. He competed in the promotion from 1984 before finally hanging up his boots in early 2020.
He also competed in the world's biggest wrestling companies such as WCW, Ring of Honor, IMPACT Wrestling and WWE, where he battled many renowned wrestlers. Jushin Thunder Liger was inducted into the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame.
#4 D-Von Dudley
D-Von Dudley is known as a member of the Dudley Boyz with his partner Bubba Ray Dudley, and the two wrestlers have held tag team gold in WWE and IMPACT Wrestling. They competed in IMPACT as Team 3D, with Bubba performing under the ring name Bully Ray.
They left ECW for WWE during the 90s, and after the two wrestlers were separated by the brand extension, D-Von began playing a heel on SmackDown. After leaving WWE for TNA in 2005, the Dudleys made a surprise return to the company a decade later in 2015 and confronted the New Day.
The Dudley Boyz were inducted into the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame. Although D-Von retired from professional wrestling in May 2020, he still works for WWE as a producer.
#3 Bobby Fulton
Bobby Fulton is a long time veteran and wrestling legend. He was a member of a tag team known as The Fantastics along with Tommy Rogers. The two wrestlers battled other popular teams during their time, such as The Midnight Express.
The Fantastics held titles in many different organizations. Although Bobby Fulton was nearing the age of 60, he continued wrestling until 2018. He eventually hung up his boots in July 2020.
#2 Kevin Nash
'Big Daddy Cool' Diesel was one of the top wrestlers of the 90s, thanks to his WWE Championship reign and affiliation with the New World Order in WCW. Kevin Nash is also known for ending Goldberg's 173-0 winning streak. At the heights of his fame he was arguably the most recognizable name in the business.
Besides WWE and WCW, Nash also competed in TNA/IMPACT Wrestling. In 2015, the former WWE Champion was singularly inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and in 2019 he was inducted with his other nWo wrestlers X-Pac, Scott Hall and 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan. Kevin Nash revealed in early 2020 that he retired from in-ring competition.
#1 The Undertaker
After three decades of digging holes and burying souls, The Undertaker officially announced his retirement at WWE Survivor Series 2020. Speculations of his retirement began after he revealed in one of his Last Ride specials that he was 'done.'
The Phenom has had an incredible career in WWE, and many fans, critics, and wrestlers have referred to him as one of the greatest wrestlers in history. Undertaker has captured several championships in WWE and main evented many PPVs including the Showcase of the Immortals.
He has also feuded with many top wrestlers during his lengthy career. The Deadman is also known for his WrestleMania streak, which was broken by Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX. He is definitely a shoo-in for the WWE Hall of Fame.
Bayley gives us a HUGE update on a top Superstar's upcoming return RIGHT HERE.
