8 WWE legends and what happened in their final match

When Shawn Michaels was advertised to make an appearance on Monday Night Raw last week, the majority of WWE fans thought he would be there simply to promote the upcoming match between The Undertaker and Triple H at Super Show-Down.

However, following an intense war of words with the returning Undertaker, it feels more possible now than ever that HBK might come out of retirement before WrestleMania 35, with the Barn Burner Fired Up podcast reporting that he could have matches against ‘Taker, Kevin Owens, Johnny Gargano and AJ Styles.

If any of those dream encounters come to fruition, it will be the first time since WrestleMania XXVI, where Michaels lost to The Undertaker, that he has competed in a WWE ring.

So, are the reports true? Will HBK really go back on his retirement and lace up the boots again? Or will he stick to his word and are we all getting excited about something that might not even happen?

Either way, all the talk about Michaels’ potential retirement U-turn got us thinking about his fellow WWE legends and who they fought in their final match, so let’s take a look at how eight Hall of Famers ended their careers with the company.

#8 Hulk Hogan

Due to financial disagreements with Vince McMahon in the mid-00s, Hulk Hogan didn’t have an official retirement match with WWE. Instead, he defeated Randy Orton during the 13-time world champion’s “Legend Killer” phase at SummerSlam 2006 and fans never saw him compete in a WWE match ever again.

"The Hulkster” would go on to compete in matches against Ric Flair during his ‘Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin’ tour of Australia in 2009, while his last high-profile match came when he lost against Sting at Impact’s Bound For Glory event in 2011.

According to wrestling stats database profightdb.com, his last official match took place in January 2012 with Impact in Manchester, England when he teamed with James Storm and Sting to defeat Bobby Roode, Bully Ray and Kurt Angle in a six-man tag.

#7 Dusty Rhodes

Dusty Rhodes competed in what was thought to be the final match of his career when he was defeated by Randy Orton in a Texas Bullrope match at the 2007 Great American Bash.

Three years later, “The American Dream” stepped back into the ring one final time in July 2010 when he joined forces with his sons, Cody Rhodes and Goldust, to defeat Caylen Croft, Curt Hawkins and Trent Barretta in a six-man tag during a show for FCW, WWE’s former developmental brand.

#6 “Stone Cold” Steve Austin

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin competed in his last WWE match in March 2003 when he lost against The Rock at WrestleMania XIX. At the time, nobody except Austin knew that it would be his final match, but “The Texas Rattlesnake” had already decided to call time on his career.

Officially, the record books state that the WWE legend ended his career with a much lower-profile match – versus JBL in a Beer Drinking Contest in March 2006 – but drinking beer and lacing up the boots are two totally different forms of sports entertainment!

#5 Goldberg

Goldberg returned for one final match with WWE in November 2016 at Survivor Series, where he surprised everybody with an 86-second victory over Brock Lesnar, and the comeback went so well that WWE decided to give him a deal until April 2017.

The WCW legend defeated Kevin Owens to win the Universal Championship at Fastlane, setting up the final match of his career against Lesnar at WrestleMania 33, where he lost the Universal title in a hard-fought five-minute encounter.

Despite going into the Hall of Fame in 2018, Goldberg has not retired and maintains that he still has what it takes to perform in WWE, so there’s a chance we could see him again at some point over the next few years.

#4 Sting

After two decades of speculation, WCW legend and long-time Impact performer Sting finally made his way to WWE when he appeared at Survivor Series 2014 to set up a match at WrestleMania 31 against Triple H, which he surprisingly lost.

Four months later, “The Vigilante” returned and challenged for the WWE Championship against Seth Rollins at Night of Champions in September 2015. During the match, which he lost, he suffered injuries to his neck and spine and it was clear that his struggles towards the end of the main event were legitimate.

In 2016, Sting was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, where he officially announced his retirement from wrestling, meaning the final match of his career was against Rollins.

#3 Bret “The Hitman” Hart

It looked like Bret Hart’s wrestling career was over following his time in WCW, which came to an end with a match against Kevin Nash on Nitro in January 2000.

However, he returned to the ring a decade later when he defeated Vince McMahon in a lumberjack match, with the Hart family surrounding the ring, at WrestleMania XXVI.

“The Excellence of Execution” went on to compete in five more matches in 2010 and 2011 for WWE, with his final in-ring encounter coming in September 2011 when he teamed with John Cena to defeat Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez on Raw.

#2 "Macho Man" Randy Savage

Randy Savage was one of wrestling's biggest stars in the 1980s

Randy Savage last competed in WWE in March 1994, defeating Crush via count-out at WrestleMania X, while his final match in WCW came in a 41-man Battle Royal on a taping of Thunder in May 2000.

Four years later, “Macho Man” made his in-ring return when he teamed with AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall at Impact pay-per-view Turning Point in December 2004.

Savage was due to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jarrett in January 2005 but, due to health issues, he retired from wrestling and the six-man tag turned out to be the final match of his career.

#1 Ric Flair

One of the most popular wrestlers of all time, Ric Flair was given the perfect send-off by WWE when he was inducted into the 2008 Hall of Fame on the same weekend that he lost his retirement match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XXIV.

In November 2009, he came out of retirement to compete in matches against Hulk Hogan in Australia, while he went on to take part in several matches for Impact between March 2010 and April 2011.

Officially, although WWE history says his last match was against Michaels in March 2008, the final match of Flair's career actually came when he lost against Sting at an Impact taping in September 2011.