2 WWE legends who are open to returning and 3 who are staying retired

With WWE and WCW going to war every Monday night, the late 1990s/early 2000s are widely considered the best years of wrestling programming.

What fans did not know then, however, was that many of the high-profile names from that era would go on to remain associated with the wrestling business for the next two decades.

Sting, for example, is now a 60-year-old man who announced his retirement at the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016, yet there has been renewed speculation recently about a dream match against The Undertaker finally happening.

Another former WCW star, Goldberg, 52, competed in his first match in over two years when he faced The Undertaker at WWE Super ShowDown on June 7, and there has since been lots of talk about his possible retirement following the widely criticised encounter.

In addition to those legends, fellow Hall of Famers “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mick Foley are often asked whether they will return one day, despite the fact that both men have been retired for several years.

With so many ‘retired’ Superstars being linked with an in-ring comeback, let’s take a look at two WWE legends who are open to returning and three who have adamantly claimed that they will not compete again.

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#5 Staying retired: Batista

Batista returned to in-ring competition for the first time in five years when he faced Triple H in one of the marquee matches at WrestleMania 35.

Although the pre-match stipulation stated that "The Game" would be forced to retire if he lost, it was his 50-year-old opponent who ended up announcing his retirement on social media shortly after losing the 24-minute No Holds Barred encounter.

Unlike most sports, where retirement really does mean retirement, there have been dozens of retirement U-turns in sports entertainment over the years.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Batista insisted that he will never fall into that category.

"If they ask me to go in the Hall of Fame, I will. But I will not have another wrestling match. I will go broke before I have another wrestling match and I will not go and wrestle for another promotion."

#4 Open to returning: The Rock

Having featured in various different roles at all six WrestleMania events between WrestleMania XXVII and WrestleMania 32, The Rock has not made appearances at WWE’s biggest show of the year in any of the last three years.

Excluding his six-second victory over Erick Rowan in 2016, the 47-year-old’s last match came in 2013 when he lost against John Cena in the main event of WrestleMania 29. Since then, he has had physical altercations with Superstars including Rusev and Triple H but he has not been involved in any meaningful storylines.

Speaking in a Comic Con Q&A in November 2017, “The Great One” listed three high-profile opponents who he would be willing to face if he ever agreed to compete again.

"One would be Triple H, The Game. The other would be The Beast Brock Lesnar. The other one would be a guy that actually just needs my foot in his a**, Roman Reigns."

#3 Staying retired: Steve Austin

The record books would have you believe that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s final two WWE matches came against Eric Bischoff in June 2003 and John Bradshaw Layfield in March 2006.

In reality, those ‘matches’ were simply entertaining segments on the show – a Redneck Triathlon and a Beer Drinking Contest – and his last meaningful match actually came against The Rock in March 2003 at WrestleMania XIX.

Despite the 54-year-old repeatedly stating that he has no plans to ever return to the ring, he recently felt the need to address the speculation again on his ‘Steve Austin Show’ podcast after being inundated with questions about his sudden surge of WWE pictures on Instagram.

“To answer the question and get to the bottom line just to shut up and not beat a dead horse, I ain’t making a comeback to wrestling! I continue to watch every promotion that’s out there, as much as I can, when I can. I’m an avid fan. It’s one of the things I love most in life, so that’s why I’m posting those pictures.”

#2 Open to returning: Mick Foley

Mick Foley, 54, has not wrestled on a regular basis since he was a 44-year-old member of the Impact Wrestling roster in 2009.

With that in mind, plus the fact that he did not receive medical clearance to feud with Dean Ambrose in WWE in 2012, it seems highly doubtful that the Hall of Famer will ever lace up his boots again in anything other than a non-competitive match on the independent circuit. Or so you would think.

Speaking to talkSPORT’s Pro Wrestling Show shortly before WWE Super ShowDown, Foley revealed that he would be tempted to face The Undertaker inside Hell In A Cell again if he was offered enough money to work at a Saudi Arabia event.

"I can be had for a certain price. If they wanted a rematch of the cell badly enough and were willing to pay for it, then my god they’d probably get it. Working slower than I did 21 years ago, but I’d be out there."

#1 Staying retired: Shawn Michaels

In a business where the majority of ‘retired’ performers often return to compete again, Shawn Michaels repeatedly claimed following his 2010 retirement that he was happy with the storyline arc of his career and he never wanted to wrestle again.

However, his mindset changed in 2018 when he agreed to team with fellow D-Generation X member Triple H against Kane & The Undertaker in the main event of the lucrative WWE Crown Jewel show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Although the 53-year-old hardly disgraced himself in his comeback match, he told the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast in 2019 that he does not plan on making another in-ring return.

"No. I will leave it to the younger generation, they're doing a fantastic job. I'm good with what has been done and I'm all set."

Michaels now works as a producer in NXT and as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center.