Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 (edited) Coming off the back of Sting going out in one of the most well-received retirement matches I can remember, and with a lot of praise for how he was able to retire on his own terms, I thought it was worth reflecting on what some legendary wrestlers final matches actually were, also tying in somewhat with the thread about wrestlers ages. I thought I would look through the inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame and look at, according to Cagematch, what their last matches were. This means that if a wrestler has returned at any point after a formal "retirement match", that retirement is considered void, and only their most recent match is considered, rightly, their last match. Sorry Shawn Michaels. Andre The Giant Andre The Giant, Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura defeat Haruka Eigen, Masanobu Fuchi & Motoshi Okuma - AJPW, @ Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, 4/12/1992 Age: 45 Hulk Hogan Hulk Hogan, James Storm & Sting def. Bully Ray, Kurt Angle & Bobby Roode - TNA House Show @ MEN Arena, Manchester, 27/1/2012 Age: 58 Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin def. Kevin Owens - WWE Wrestlemania 38 @ @ AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, 2/4/2022 Age: 57 Ric Flair Ric Flair & Andrade El Idolo def. Jay Lethal & Jeff Jarrett - JCP Ric Flair's Last Match @ Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, 31/7/2022 Age: 73 Randy Savage Randy Savage, AJ Styles & Jeff Hardy def. Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall - TNA Turning Point 2004 @ Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, 5/12/2004Age: 52 Roddy Piper Roddy Piper & Bob Orton def. Mick Foley & Terry Funk - JCW Legends & Icons @ The Gathering Of The Juggalos, Cave-In-Rock Illinois, 12/8/2011 Age: 57 Jimmy Snuka Jimmy Snuka & The Patriot def. Mr TA & Brodie Williams - BTW @ Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in Gaithersburg, Maryland, 8/8/2014 Age: 71 Sgt. Slaughter Sgt. Slaughter & Jeff Starr def. Dalton Castle & "Man Scout" Jake Manning - NEW March Mayhem @ Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York, 29/3/2014 Age: 65 Dusty Rhodes Randy Orton def. Dusty Rhodes, Texas Bullrope Match - WWE The Great American Bash @ HP Pavillion Arena in San Jose, California, 22/7/2007 Age: 61 Terry Funk Terry Funk & The Rock N Roll Express def. Jerry Lawler, Brian Christopher & Doug Gilbert - BTW @ Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, South Carolina, 23/9/2017 Age: 73 Ricky Steamboat FTR & Ricky Steamboat def. Brock Anderson, Jay Lethal & Nick Aldis - BTW Return Of The Dragon @ Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, 27/11/2022 Age: 69 Antonio Inoki Antonio Inoki & The Great Sasuke def. Giant Silva & Red & White Mask - Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001 @ Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, 31/12/2001 Age: 58 Shawn Michaels D-Generation-X def. The Brothers Of Destruction, WWE Crown Jewel @ King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2/11/2018 Age: 53 Jim Duggan Gursinder Singh def. Jim Duggan, Destiny World Wrestling Sunday Night Power Slam @ Battle Arts Academy in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, 12/5/2019 Age: 65 Abdullah The Butcher Abdullah The Butcher vs. Bull Buchanan - No Contest, GCW Southern Legends Fanfest @ Pell City Civic Center in Pell City, Alabama, 9/10/2010 Age: 69 Mick Foley WWE Royal Rumble 2012 @ Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, 29/1/2012 Age: 47 Ultimate Warrior Ultimate Warrior def. Orlando Jordan for the NWE World Heavyweight Title - NWE Summer Tour 2008: Return Of The Warrior @ Pavello Olimpico in Barcelona, 25/6/2008 Age: 49 Jake Roberts Jake Roberts def. IamThePROVIDER - BBOW No Limits Pro Wrestling @ Eagle County Fairgrounds in Eagle, Colorado, 2/9/2018 Age: 63 Kurt Angle Baron Corbin def. Kurt Angle - WWE Wrestlemania 35 @ MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 7/4/2019 Age: 50 The Undertaker The Undertaker def. AJ Styles, Boneyard Match - WWE Wrestlemania 36 @ WWE Performance Center/Filmed On Location , 25/3/2020 Age: 55 Kane WWE 2021 Royal Rumble @ WWE ThunderDome (Tropicana Field) in St. Petersburg, Florida, 31/1/21 Age: 53 One thing that struck me, aside from the obvious takeaway that very few people get to choose their last match, or have it be a heavily promoted retirement match, is that contrary to popular wisdom, very of wrestling's biggest stars ever actually lost their final match. Edited March 5 by BomberPat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members chokeout Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 It's just blown my mind that I saw Hogan's last match at a house show in Manchester. Madness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 (edited) EDIT: Ignore me. I didn't read the dates. I remembering being at that TNA show where Hogan wrestled his last match. Bully Ray had his Liverpool shirt on and was ripping on United to try and get some cheap heat and it backfired spectacularly. Edited March 5 by Jazzy G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5 Just now, Jazzy G said: Is Taker's last match not that one against DX? Likewise Kane's? Nope - the DX tag was at Crown Jewel in 2018; Kane worked the Royal Rumble in 2021, and Undertaker had a run of profoundly weird matches after that - vs. Goldberg in Saudi Arabia, teaming with Roman Reigns against Drew McIntyre & Shane McMahon in a match that has absolutely disappeared down the memory hole, winning the "Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet" back in Saudi Arabia in 2020, and then the Boneyard Match the following month. Kane also fit in a reign as 24/7 Champion, though under the name Mayor Glenn Jacobs, after the DX tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukhy Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 DX Vs Kane and Undertaker in Saudi will never be topped. Absolutely incredible match. Taker and Triple H running into the barricade together, Kane's mask and wig coming off for some reason. No one catching Shawn's moonsault off the top to the outside. Outstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members I Bent My Wookie Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 Shawn's age is wrong surely? It is interesting that the "New Generation" stars final matches tended to be a big showcase whereas the guys at their peak in the 80s would work just about anywhere for a paycheck. I guess its an indication of the money that came through in the 90s compared to that which wasn't as readily available in the 70s and 80s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 10 minutes ago, Jazzy G said: I remembering being at that TNA show where Hogan wrestled his last match. Bully Ray had his Liverpool shirt on and was ripping on United to try and get some cheap heat and it backfired spectacularly. I don't remember it like that. I remember Sheik Bashir/whatever Daivari was called, on a previous year slagging off Man City and saying how stupid they were for thinking Kaka would sign for them, which did backfire as the United fans all cheered. But the majority were anti-Liverpool for Bully Ray. Judge for yourself ; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5 12 minutes ago, I Bent My Wookie said: Shawn's age is wrong surely? I've corrected Shawn's age now, must have been an unchanged copy and paste job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Your Fight Site Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 1 hour ago, chokeout said: It's just blown my mind that I saw Hogan's last match at a house show in Manchester. Madness. Same! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarlettChad Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I am astounded Undertaker has stayed away. I was sure he'd have rocked up again to retire in front of fans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted March 5 Author Paid Members Share Posted March 5 yeah, I never really believed the Boneyard Match would be his last, and figured he'd get at least a quick squash at the first 'Mania with fans back in the audience. I don't think the pandemic era produced anything more cringeworthy or uncanny than him pausing for piped in chants of "Thank You 'Taker" from an invisible audience, even if it was followed by a holographic Paul Bearer. The thing with Undertaker is that it always seemed that, left to his own devices, he was stuck in this cycle of "my body will tell me when to quit" followed by a bad match where his body very much told him to quit, but he responded to that by thinking "well, I can't go out like that, I need to go out on a better match", then he'd have a match he was somewhat happier with, so think he was good to keep going, then he'd have a bad match, and so on and so forth, repeat ad nauseam. What did him in, I think, was that Vince McMahon decided that he was retired, so it just wasn't up to him any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheScarlettChad Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 (edited) Yeah, That whole retirement ceremony was so strange. I just felt at the time, that nah, this isn't it, He's coming back, He hasn't even come back for run ins or chokeslamming some heel to pop the crowd, nothing. Apart from LA Knight last year, of course. Edited March 5 by TheScarlettChad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted March 5 Paid Members Share Posted March 5 10 minutes ago, BomberPat said: The thing with Undertaker is that it always seemed that, left to his own devices, he was stuck in this cycle of "my body will tell me when to quit" followed by a bad match where his body very much told him to quit, but he responded to that by thinking "well, I can't go out like that, I need to go out on a better match", The terrible part for me was when, regardless of if the match was any good or not (it wasn't), he lost clean to Roman Reigns in the middle of the ring on last at WrestleMania and visibly left his boots in the ring as if to say "that's it"... only it wasn't. If I was Roman, I'd have been so pissed off. THIS... should have paid off from the end of Taker and ushered in the greatest heel run of the last decade. But thou SHALT NOT deviate from the plan. Which for some reason required Reigns to stay "babyface" and spend the next year constantly losing to Brock Lesnar. Fucking awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Factotum Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 The Boneyard Match was a really good end for Taker I thought. Him riding off was pretty perfect. No need for any other shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCJ Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 7 hours ago, Jazzy G said: EDIT: Ignore me. I didn't read the dates. I remembering being at that TNA show where Hogan wrestled his last match. Bully Ray had his Liverpool shirt on and was ripping on United to try and get some cheap heat and it backfired spectacularly. I was also there. Not sure if that was intentionally Hogan’s last match but seeing as Manchester was perhaps TNA’s biggest show of the year in terms of gates (I would guess given the capacity), then maybe it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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