5 WWE retirements that were real and 5 that were part of a storyline

#1 Real: Edge announces his shocking retirement from WWE

The Rated-R Superstar, Edge was one of the few who went out at the peak of their careers. After successfully defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 27, Edge appeared on RAW on April 11, 2011, to announce his retirement from in-ring competition in WWE.

The reason for this was the multiple neck injuries that he had suffered throughout his career. In an MRI test after WrestleMania 27, he was diagnosed with cervical vertebral fusion and the doctors advised him to retire. Edge revealed that even a single hard fall could lead to him having a neck-down paralysis or even death. His retirement speech on RAW came as a huge shock to the entire WWE Universe, with fans in the arena visibly in tears. He later went on to relinquish his World title on SmackDown, retiring as the World Heavyweight Champion.

He was then inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2012 and continued making special appearances for WWE in the next several years.

It was at Royal Rumble 2020 that Edge appeared as a surprise entrant, making his in-ring return after almost nine years. He went on to have a heated feud with Randy Orton that resulted in a brutal Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania 36, which Edge won.

Out of all the returns I’ve seen in WWE, Edge’s Royal Rumble return hit me the hardest of them all.Two months removed from it and it still gets me in my feelings. #RAW pic.twitter.com/GUjIJ5oQPf

— Captain Ferg (@CaptainFerg) March 17, 2020