5 WWE Superstars who got to retire on their own terms and 5 who didn't

#9 Didn't: Christian

Sticking with legendary Ontario superstars, Christian was a staple of the WWE Attitude Era alongside Edge. Together the pair had incredible matches with the likes of The Hardy Boyz and took part in the iconic TLC trilogy alongside the aforementioned Matt & Jeff Hardy and the Dudley Boyz. Christian would leave WWE for TNA in 2005 citing creative differences but would return to much fanfare in 2009.

From there he would capture the ECW World Championship from Jack Swagger and would become a two-time World Heavyweight Champion on SmackDown during a well-received feud with Randy Orton in 2011.

Christian’s career in WWE always felt like he would be moments away from truly breaking out. However, his career came to an abrupt end following a concussion sustained on the March 24 episode of RAW following his victory in a No.1 contender's match for the US title. Captain Charisma had won the match as well.

This would prove to be his final match as after several months off TV it was reported that Christian had retired. Speaking on the E&C Podcast in September 2017 Christian clarified his retirement saying

“I had to retire, like, right around 40… cause of the concussion stuff.”

Christian has appeared semi-regularly for WWE since then, most recently getting attacked by Randy Orton as part of the latter’s feud with Edge.