5 WWE legends who will never return to the ring

The WWE Superstar coming out of retirement seems like a tired trope. But working for a big promotion can be financially lucrative, and it's also difficult for a wrestler to forgo the adrenaline rush that comes from performing in front of a live audience.

For years, promoters have put their biggest stars in retirement matches to draw a house or further a narrative, only for the performer to return to the ring after a certain period of time.

WWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk, for instance, had the first of several retirement matches in 1983 but he continued to wrestle until 2017 when he was 73 years old. Even Ric Flair, who had the perfect match to end his in-ring career with Shawn Michaels, couldn't resist a return to the squared circle with Impact Wrestling.

Predicting that a performer will stay retired can be a dangerous game. After all, you never say never in professional wrestling. With that being said, here are five WWE legends who won't return to the ring.

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#5 Two-time WWE Champion Batista

Batista's full-time run as a WWE Superstar came to an end in 2010 after he put John Cena over in an "I Quit" match. He then went on to have a successful acting career, most notably portraying Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Animal returned in 2013 to headline WrestleMania 30 with Randy Orton, but he was forced to turn heel after the audience turned on him. Batista eventually submitted to Daniel Bryan in what turned out to be The American Dragon's crowning moment before reuniting with Evolution to work with The Shield.

However, Batista always wanted to retire with a match against Triple H, the man who played a pivotal role in his ascent to the main event scene. He finally got to have his dream match with the nine-time WWE Champion at WrestleMania 35 and announced his retirement soon after.

When there was speculation about Batista signing with AEW after comments made by Paul Wight in reference to a debut, he emphatically stated that he had permanently left professional wrestling.

#4 Three-time WWE Champion Mick Foley

Over the course of his career, WWE legend Mick Foley participated in many violent matches and subjected himself to all sorts of pain. The moniker "Hardcore Legend" came at a steep price. Foley initially retired from professional wrestling due to his injuries after he lost a career match to Triple H at No Way Out 2000.

However, the bug never left Foley's system and he returned in 2004 to feud with Randy Orton. The New York native's in-ring career continued for another eight years before he was forced to call it a day in 2012 when WWE refused to clear him to compete.

Foley admitted that while he should've retired sooner, the money was too good to pass up during an interview with Talk Sport.

“Yeah I was [chasing the perfect last match], and I had it. I had the perfect goodbye in 2000 at WWE WrestleMania. I had it again with Randy Orton at Backlash in 2004.

“I think people take the financials out of the equation. It’s one thing to say I had the perfect exit, but then you’re like ‘I’m 34, what do I do?’ In my case, I realised wow, I’ve written two best-selling novels. That’s hundreds of hours in solitude, months away from your family on the road promoting the book where you don’t get paid, and then it’s like I could make the same amount of money for a WWE match against Carlito," said Foley.

#3 Six-time WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin

Stone Cold Steve Austin quietly retired from professional wrestling after his third WWE WrestleMania match against The Rock. The injuries that he had accumulated throughout his career had taken their toll, and it was time to step away from the ring.

There has been speculation about Austin returning to the ring over the years. He was rumored to be interested in working with CM Punk and Brock Lesnar but ultimately decided against it. During an episode of Broken Skull Sessions, Austin revealed that Vince McMahon had unsuccessfully tried to talk him into an in-ring return.

"I think Vince [McMahon] tried talking me into coming back a couple of times. But you know, I love the business so much – I can’t say I love it more than anybody else, I can only speak for myself. But I just love the damn business, and it hurt me so much to leave it. And to me, going back for one WWE match, being like man, why? What am I proving? What are they going to remember? It ain’t about the money," said Steve Austin.

#2 Three-time WWE Champion Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels officially retired from WWE after he lost to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26. For the longest time, it looked as though he would be one of the few professional wrestlers to stick to his word. Michaels had even turned down dream matches with Bryan Danielson and AJ Styles.

However, he was enticed to tag with Triple H in a match against The Brothers of Destruction at WWE Crown Jewel 2018. The bout was panned by the audience and received the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's "Worst Match of the Year" award.

Michaels later revealed his regret at returning to the ring and has no desire to do so again during an interview with the New York Post.

"I think people have always been kind of confused with my peace and joy with the way I did things and that somehow there should be something nagging at me, something left unfinished.

I think it's hard for people to not always see me as Shawn Michaels and I see the entire picture and I know the guy who started as a 200-pound guy that wasn't supposed to make it in WWE. So for me, I compare that to what I did get the opportunity to do and it's hard not to be happy about that," said Shawn Michaels.

#1 Four-time WWE Champion The Undertaker

The Undertaker is another WWE legend who had a hard time calling it a day. It looked as though he had retired after facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33, but that match turned out to be a fiasco. The Deadman was determined only to retire after a satisfactory performance.

He tried several more times before striking gold with the Boneyard match against AJ Styles, which turned out to be the best of a few cinematic matches produced during the pandemic. The Undertaker finally called time on his career and announced his retirement at Survivor Series 2020.

During an interview with ET Online, he reaffirmed that he wouldn't return to the ring.

“My days in the WWE ring are done. It’s not because I don’t want to be in the ring and that is where I spent most of my adult life. My whole life really. More than half my life has been spent in the WWE ring. So in my mind, I can still see everything. In my heart, you know I want to be out there but it’s at a point where my body just can’t deliver and I don’t want to cheapen the legacy of that character. I’d hate for people to pay money to see me work and be disappointed,” said The Undertaker.