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

#2 Storyline: Batista's fake WWE retirement

Batista is no stranger to "waving goodbye" to the WWE Universe as we have seen him do that on more than one occasion in his career. During the spring of 2009, Batista was in a feud with the then WWE Champion, Randy Orton. The two squared off inside a steel cage with the title on the line at Extreme Rules 2009. While The Animal managed to walk out as the new WWE Champion, behind the screens Batista had torn his left bicep and had to forcefully be out for the next few months, after an on-screen attack by The Legacy to write him off TV.

Batista returned to WWE in September of that year, with his arm in a sling and announced his retirement. Randy Orton soon came out and started gloating over having ended his career. To this, Batista started laughing and told Randy, "I know something that you don't know." He went on to remove his sling, revealing that his arm was healed and went on to attack the Apex Predator.

Years later, Batista finally retired from WWE after his match with Triple H at WrestleMania 35. He was later announced as an inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2020.

Congratulations to @DaveBautista on being inducted to the @WWE Hall Of Fame In 2020.Thank you for being an inspiration and contributing in the company for 17 years on giving us the best moments that we will never forget in the WWE.You definitely deserve it.👏👏#ThankYouBatista pic.twitter.com/KqjcjCuYTq

— Christian Heard (@KingOcho3K) December 9, 2019