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This week’s Monday Night Raw left many fans in tears when Kurt Angle announced that he will be retiring from in-ring competition in 3 weeks at WrestleMania 35. A few weeks ago, it was revealed that Angle is in a bad shape and can't even do the simplest things.
According to a new rumor, he was even going to retire immediately without having any farewell match. However, this week the Olympic Gold Medalist revealed that he will retire at ‘Mania. Angle fought his final match in his hometown at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania against Apollo where he got the victory. However, he's not the only wrestler whose career could end at the Shows of Shows this year.
There are many other wrestlers who could retire at this pay-per-view whereas some could take a break from wrestling after working at ‘Mania. In this column, we will look at 5 such wrestlers.
#4 Retire at WrestleMania: Batista
3 weeks ago, Batista returned to the WWE to spoil Ric Flair’s birthday celebration. And he did that by attacking the former World Champion backstage. Last week, Triple H called out Batista to come to Raw and this week, it happened.
The Animal came to Raw to address the things he did to Flair. Batista wanted a match against his mentor Triple H, which he eventually got, and it is why he attacked Flair. The former champion also wants to end his and HHH’s career with this match but it seems like only he will retire.
Even though WWE hasn’t announced this as a retirement match for Batista, it is more than likely that he will quit wrestling after facing Triple H. In many interviews, the former World Champion has expressed that he will only return against HHH and after that, he will retire.
There’s still some time left in ‘Mania and the WWE could put a stipulation in this match that Batista will retire if he loses to The Game.
#3 Could leave WWE: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, the former Raw Tag Team Champions Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows were offered a multi-million dollars deal but they rejected to renew their contract.
Both Superstars made their name in NJPW where, too, they won the tag team titles. They signed a contract with WWE in 2016 and soon began to get some television time. However, since dropping the Raw Tag Team Championships to The Hardy Boyz at WrestleMania 34, Anderson and Gallows are getting a minimal amount of TV time.
Their contract is expected to expire in this year and as of now, they reportedly don't want to resign. However, things could definitely change between now and then. Anderson and Gallows may end up signing with the WWE if the company provide them something significant.
#2 Retire at WrestleMania: The Undertaker
The Undertaker fought his first match at ‘Mania in 1991 where he defeated Jimmy Snuka. Since then, there hasn't been a WrestleMania without Undertaker. He held a winning streak at this pay-per-view which, however, was broken by Brock Lesnar in 2014.
This result of this match shocked the entire WWE fanbase but The Undertaker still continued wrestling. He then got 3 more victories against different Superstars until he faced Roman Reigns who became the second man to defeat ‘Taker after Lesnar.
After a year of absence, The Deadman returned to the ring at last year’s WrestleMania to answer John Cena’s challenge for a match and again walked out victorious. Although this time it isn't confirmed whether or not The Phenom will compete at this show.
But according to a rumor, ‘Taker will be at the show but it isn't confirmed if he will have an actual match or not. Even if The Undertaker doesn't compete at the show, he could at least give a retirement speech. He is getting older day-by-day and I think he should retire sooner than later.
#1 Could leave WWE for some time: Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar is another Superstar who is currently absent from WWE television. However, as per Paul Heyman, The Beast will return to Raw next week. Last year, Lesnar re-entered USADA drug testing pool which confirmed that The Beast wants to return to UFC to fight against the Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier.
A recent rumor confirms that he is still interested in returning to the MMA world but things could change if Vince offers him a better deal. The Beast is scheduled to face Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania and it is highly likely that he will leave the WWE afterwards.
However, there’s still a chance that Lesnar could retain his title as he did last year at ‘Mania. Even though it is something that the fans don't want to see but if Vince decides to do it then there’s nothing we can do.
