These 5 WWE Stars Are Set To Retire After ‘WrestleMania 33’
It would seem that The Undertaker, Big Show, Goldberg, Chris Jericho, and even Nikki Bella are all set to retire after WrestleMania 33.
WWE fans are just counting hours before WrestleMania 33 kicks off this Sunday, April 2. Matches are all set. Bets have been made. However, the excitement that ‘Mania brings is quite dampened with news circulating about some of the biggest WWE superstars who will be retiring after the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) event. This is not the first time that fans would see their most favorite wrestlers retire from WWE, but five – and not just one – seems to be too much a number to let go from the roster. Here’s everything we know so far about the retirement plans of The Undertaker, Big Show, Chris Jericho, Goldberg, and Nikki Bella after WrestleMania 33.
The Undertaker
Two weeks ago, the Inquistr reported about the possibility of The Undertaker leaving WWE after WrestleMania 33. All evidence point out towards a retirement with the 51-year-old WWE legend sporting a hip injury that required him to undergo surgery. With an injury like this, going back into the ring may be an option for The Undertaker – but it’s not a smart one. There’s also this one statement from Roman Reigns as he told Shawn Michaels during Monday Night RAW two weeks ago that he will retire The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33.
“With all due respect, The Undertaker retired you (Shawn Michaels). And I’m the guy that’s going to retire The Undertaker.”
Big Show
Way back in 2016, Big Show already shared his plans of possibly retiring from WWE after WrestleMania 33. Big Show has been training hard in preparation for his match with Shaquille O’ Neal. Over the course of his career with WWE, Big Show is the only wrestler to hold titles from WWE, WCW, ECW, and World Heavyweight championships. As sad as it would be to see Big Show go, WWE’s big guy admitted that his career is winding down after being there for 22 years. According to Bleacher Report, his injuries are also a cause for Big Show’s retirement after WrestleMania 33 saying that his “time is done.”
“I’ve been in this business 22 years. If there wasn’t something wrong with my knees or hips, it really would be insane. My career is winding down. I didn’t mind being 480, 500 pounds when I was full-time as the Big Show. I liked being the monster that was bigger than everybody around me. As your career evolves, there are other monsters that are coming in—and my time is done.”
Nikki Bella
Last February, The Sun UK reported that Nikki Bella is set to announce her retirement after WrestleMania 33. This would likely happen after her mixed tag match with boyfriend John Cena against another WWE couple, Maryse and The Miz. The record holder of the Divas Championship is not retiring due to the possibility of an engagement to Cena.
For the last few years of her career in WWE, Nikki Bella has suffered various injuries – with some even serious – that forced her to take a hiatus from wrestling on SmackDown. The most recent of it all was a serious neck injury that put her off 10 months from any match on SmackDown until August of last year. If Nikki’s engagement to John Cena will happen, it will not be too bad at all for her to retire especially with her TV show Total Divas going on where she works together with her twin sister Brie.
Bill Goldberg
Just like with other WWE superstars, Goldberg has long been rumored to retire from WWE after WrestleMania 33. Goldberg’s return after more than a decade made him more of a success after becoming WWE Universal Champion. He will face Brock Lesnar once more at WrestleMania 33, which might be Goldberg’s last hurrah at wrestling.
On the other hand, Forbes noted that both Goldberg and Brock Lesnar are part-timers. With that said, part-time wrestlers are not going to be around forever on WWE despite their capacity to spike ratings and bring heavy merchandise to the fold.
Chris Jericho
Since late last year, in November, talks of Chris Jericho’s retirement from WWE has been going on. With a fight against Kevin Owens, a retirement angle would bring suspense and more edge to the match. Will Kevin Owens retire his best friend, Chris Jericho? WrestleMania 33 will see to that. Of all the WWE superstars gearing up for retirement, Chris Jericho seems to be the most unsure. In an interview shared by Cageside Seats, Jericho says that his plans to stay at WWE seem to become a monthly thing.
“I will tell you this, my original plan when I came back last January was to stay until WrestleMania, four months. Then, it started going so good, I re-signed I think until July and then I re-signed until October and then I re-signed until November. Now it’s basically a month by month thing.”
Apparently, Jericho is not in a hurry to retire anytime soon unless Owens does the job of retiring him.
What do you think of these WWE superstars retiring after WrestleMania 33? Don’t be too shy to sound your thoughts in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by WWE]
