3 WWE Superstars who never came back after retirement and 3 who returned to wrestle again

The shelf life of a WWE Superstars is considerably lower than various other jobs that don't require one's body to take punishment on a weekly basis. WWE has been around for decades and has given the fans a string of in-ring legends, matches, and segments. There are some who get to retire on their own terms, while others aren't so lucky in that regard.

WWE's history is filled with instances where a Superstar retired from in-ring competition and never came back to have a short rivalry or to even wrestle a full-fledged match.

Some of these wrestlers were content with what they had accomplished in the ring, while others couldn't come back due to nagging injuries that they had suffered during their careers.

On the other hand, there have been a few who didn't stay true to their retirement and came back to have one last hurrah in the ring. Let's check out three wrestlers from both categories in the list below:

#6 AJ Lee (bid goodbye to her wrestling career)

After honing her craft for two years in Florida Championship Wrestling, AJ Lee made her way to WWE's main roster in May 2011. She soon became a prominently featured member of the Women's division and had feuds with the likes of Kaitlyn and Paige. In 2012, Lee was involved in a months-long storyline with top Superstars Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.

During her stint on the main roster, Lee won the Divas title on three occasions and is regarded by many as the flagbearer of the Women's Revolution that kicked off in 2015.

Lee and Paige defeated The Bella Twins at WWE WrestleMania 31. She was part of a 6-Woman Tag Team match on the RAW following the event and retired from wrestling soon after. It has been around five years since her retirement and it seems like Lee is done with wrestling for good. She even made it clear last year that she is "very retired".

#5 Shawn Michaels (returned to in-ring action)

Shawn Michaels got one of the best in-ring retirements in WWE history back in 2010. It was a storybook ending to possibly the greatest career in all of professional wrestling. Michaels had been around for more than two decades and had etched his name in the history books courtesy his innumerable classic performances in the ring.

Michaels wrestled The Undertaker in the main event of WrestleMania 26. Upon losing, he retired from wrestling as per the storyline stipulation. He thanked the fans with tears in his eyes, as more than 70,000 of them stood up and applauded The Heartbreak Kid to close WrestleMania.

Michaels stayed true to his retirement for eight long years, but finally gave in to WWE's request and returned for a Tag Team match at WWE Crown Jewel 2018. The dream encounter saw Shawn Michaels teaming up with Triple H in a DX reunion, to take on The Brothers of Destruction, consisting of The Undertaker and Kane. The match was heavily criticized but Michaels held his own despite being away from the ring for almost a decade.

#4 Sable (bid goodbye to her wrestling career)

Sable is well-known for her two WWE stints during the Attitude Era and the Ruthless Aggression Era. Back in the 90s, she was one of the most popular acts in WWE and was garnering huge fan support during her feud with Marc Mero, who had become jealous of Sable getting all the attention from the fans.

Sable left WWE soon after and returned to the company immediately after WrestleMania 19 in 2003.

She joined forces with Vince McMahon and the duo remained together in storyline for the next several months. Sable's stint with WWE ended in mid-2004. She went on to get hitched to then-former WWE Superstar Brock Lesnar in 2006.

It has been 16 long years since Sable's WWE exit and she hasn't returned to the company in any form. She has two sons with Lesnar and seems to be enjoying her time away from the limelight. It seems highly unlikely that we will ever see Sable in a WWE ring again.

#3 Daniel Bryan (returned to in-ring action)

Daniel Bryan conquered the world back in 2014 when his Yes Movement culminated in the biggest victory of his career at WrestleMania 30. Bryan defeated Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista on the same night to become the WWE World Champion. He was soon injured and was stripped of the title. Bryan came back later in the year and kicked off his journey to a second WrestleMania main event in a row.

Bryan failed to win the Royal Rumble though and went on to win the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 31. Months later, Bryan decided to retire after a lesion was discovered in his brain.

Bryan was given a grand retirement ceremony on RAW which saw the WWE roster coming out on the ramp and thanking him for his contributions. He spent the next two years as an authoritative figure on WWE TV. In early 2018, further reviews were done in regards to Bryan's health.

In one of the biggest surprises at the time, Bryan was cleared to wrestle. Fans who had lost all hope of seeing him wrestle again couldn't believe their eyes. Bryan not only came back to wrestle at WrestleMania 34, but he also went back to being a full-time wrestler and is still actively competing in WWE.

#2 CM Punk (bid goodbye to his wrestling career)

CM Punk's WWE exit is early 2014 was one of the biggest news stories of the year. Punk had gotten fed up with how he was being treated by WWE's doctors, plus he wasn't satisfied with how he was being handled on WWE TV.

His appearance in the 2014 Royal Rumble match was the final time anyone would see him wrestle. Punk bashed Vince McMahon, Triple H, and WWE months later on Colt Cabana's podcast and revealed that WWE sent his termination papers on his wedding day.

Back in 2018, this is what Punk said about a potential return to the ring:

[Wednesday], I said a bunch of stuff about wrestling, about how I'd never gotten a true offer [to return to wrestling]. This does not mean I want to wrestle. I'm done, I'm done, I'm done with professional wrestling.

Punk has since stated on many occasions that he could make a return if the pay is good, but nothing has come out of it so far. Punk is 41-years-old and the clock is ticking fast for him. Thankfully for Punk, he has handled his finances well unlike many others, which is evident from the fact that he isn't ready to settle for a measly amount if a promotion wants to sign him for a return.

#1 Edge (returned to in-ring action)

WWE Hall of Famer Edge is regarded by many as the biggest on-screen villain of the 2000s. His rivalries against the likes of John Cena, Batista, and The Undertaker cemented him as a top heel on the main roster, and his accomplishments speak for themselves.

Edge's injuries caught up with him in 2011 and he retired from the ring after retaining the World title at WrestleMania 27. This was one instance where many were sure that the retirement would last forever, as Edge's neck was in bad condition and a return could lead to disaster.

It took around a decade for Edge to fully heal. He made his surprising return at the 2020 WWE Royal Rumble PPV and made it clear that he meant business. Edge went on to engage in a feud with former friend Randy Orton and defeated him in a Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania 36.

Orton evened the odds at WWE Backlash when he defeated Edge in "The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever". Edge suffered an injury during the match and will reportedly be out of action for around eight months.

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Edited by Zaid Khan