Best & Worst Retirements/Character Exits

[Hammy]

Just wondering what some people thought were the best and worst retirements and also "character exits" i.e. guys who were written out or repackaged but their old gimmick was finished off in some storyline.

Best

• Ric Flair - Shawn Michaels finishing him off like he did was perfect.  I liked the build and Shawn Michaels being unwilling to retire his friend, and the emotion in that match seemed so genuine, forgetting what he is doing now or the fact that he retired a decade too late, that send off was as good as you can get in the wrestling business
• Trish Stratus - One of the few who got to go out with a victory, after all she gave to the company it was a fitting send off for her to retire as Champion, it was done with class and respect
• Muhammed Hassan - The character needed to go and who better than the guy he was feuding with to get rid of him.  I thought they had a really good match at The Great American Bash, and Undertaker giving him the Last Ride to kill of the character at the top of the stage I thought was the perfect send off, especially on such short notice

Worst

• Arn Anderson - When he had to retire in "WCW" he gave his spot in the IV Horsemen to Curt Hennig in what was quite an emotional moment.  2 weeks later Hennig turned on the Horsemen and joined the nWo, not to mention a week prior the nWo had dressed up as the Horsemen and mocked them, now the angle was hilarious, but as far as retirements go, Anderson's send off, all in all amounted to being part of another nWo swerve.
  
• Lita - Say what you want about the "Affair" but Cryme Tyme selling off certain "Items" of her as she was jeered out of the building was a pitiful send off
• Paul Bearer - Killed off by the Undertaker because he was a "weakness" of Undertaker's that could always be exploited, bollocks!
• Ted Dibiase - His in-ring career came to a quiet end when he jobbed to Razor Ramon in the opening match of Survivor Series '93 (I think it was), his management career in the "WWF" came to an end when his protege "The Ringmaster" was defeated by Savio Vega.
  
• Pirate Paul Burchill - Squashed by Mark Henry during Henry's "Monster" streak of destruction on Smackdown mere months before the release of a NEW Pirates of the Caribbean film because Vince didn't know who Captain Jack Sparrow was and thought he should have been more like an evil, traditional pirate.

[nightrain]

I thought JBL's leaving was a bit poor.  Wrestlemania - 21 seconds and beaten by Rey Mysterio announcing "I Quit" after the match.  And then he was gone.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

Although I didn't know at the time it was to be his last match, Steve Austin's final match against The Rock at WM19 was the perfect way to end his in-ring career IMO.

Agree with Flair, that was a very well done storyline.



Kevin Nash's final WWE departure was fairly lacklustre. He was the first guy eliminated from the Elimination Chamber at Summerslam '03, then I think just disappeared after that.

Brock Lesnar and Goldberg - 'nuff said.


And I guess depending on your point of view, Bret Hart's WWE departure was one of the best or worst ways to end a career....

[Hammy]

And I guess depending on your point of view, Bret Hart's WWE departure was one of the best or worst ways to end a career....

And his actual retirement, received a concussion in WCW carried on for a few more matches, last one was a draw against Nash on Nitro, and that was it.

[Izzy]

Perhaps the end of classic Kane and his rebirth as fat Kane

''the scars were purely psychological''

...hmm after 6 years of saying the opposite....