9 Wrestlers Who Could Have Their Last Match In 2023

Between regime changes at WWE, shocking debuts at AEW, and *insert third thing here* at IMPACT, 2022 was the year of new beginnings.

While exciting new things are sure to be in store for 2023, there’s a chance that next year could see us close the book on the careers of some people who have been staples of the industry for decades.

According to various podcast appearances, interviews, and dirt sheet rumors, it seems that many of our favorites have all collectively decided the same thing at roughly the same time: “hey, maybe falling down for a living isn’t the only way to make a living; I should get my real estate license or something.”

As such, we could see some big names decide to call it a day some time in the next 12 months.

Hopefully these won’t all come to pass at the same time – I don’t think any of us are ready to grow up that fast – but some of these guys really deserve to put a final flourish in a lifetime entertaining you and me.

Here are nine wrestlers who could have their last match in 2023:

Dustin Rhodes

This is the closest thing on this list to a complete lock, as the former Goldust has already announced his intention to leave his boots in the ring before the end of 2023.

It’s unusual timing for Rhodes, who many presumably thought would prefer to call it a day alongside his brother Cody in the promotion they literally spilled blood to create.

But with the American Nightmare off galavanting with his new friends in his old workplace, and his contract with the company due to expire around November, it seems as though Black Reign could be seeing in the twilight of his career all by himself.

As for who could do the honors, one of the good things about retiring in AEW is that there’s no shortage of great opponents to send Rhodes off.

He could give the rub to a young up-and-comer like Darby Allin, go out on his back against an established superstar like Jon Moxley or Kenny Omega, or embrace the nostalgia pop against a fellow legend like Chris Jericho or Sting.

There’s also the possibility that, after his contract expires, he could make a quick trip to WWE for a one-off against his little brother (let’s just hope they don’t paint either of them gold if that’s the case).

CM Punk

Remember earlier this year when CM Punk won the AEW World Championship, and then won it again a few months later?

Most of us thought this could be the start of another great run for the Best in the World, after his long hiatus from wrestling post-WWE.

But here we are, just a little over a year since he made his return, wondering if he’ll ever step into the ring again.

If AEW and Punk are able to come to an agreement, it would be great to see him get the send off he deserves by taking on MJF at some point during the latter’s ongoing reign of terror.

If they can’t, maybe a quick foray back into the fed could give us all some much-needed closure, as Punk wrestles one final match in the place that wronged him a decade ago.

In either case, Punk would do well to put a pin in his career before he goes back to MMA commentary and making terrible horror films for the rest of his life.

Rey Mysterio

It feels wrong putting the second best Mysterio (I acknowledge you, Dominik) on this list, since he doesn’t seem to have missed a step since his WCW days.

Sometimes he’ll be having a match on SmackDown or WWE Raw and I’ll have to remind myself that he just celebrated his 20th anniversary with WWE, and has been in the industry longer than some of us have been alive.

The mysterious one may have a few good years left in him yet, but you can’t deny that from a kayfabe perspective there’s never been a better time to send him out on his shield.

With his son Dominik finally over with crowds as a douchebag heel, and Rey never having successfully resolved their issues, the ground is fertile for a father/son retirement angle.

Done right, this could easily be the next big story in wrestling, as Dom vows to commit the wrestling equivalent of patricide against a father who is reluctant to fight him in the first place.

An angle like this would have the added bonus of cementing Dominik as an all-time heel, garnering catastrophic boos for every segment he’s in from now until the end of his own career.

And what kind of father wouldn’t want that for his baby boy?

Undertaker

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I love the Boneyard match between Undertaker and AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36 more than anybody on this planet, but it wasn’t a wrestling match.

And it sure as hell wasn’t a retirement match.

Undertaker was in the business for the better part of 30 years, and I can’t imagine that it was his dream to go out in what was, if we’re being honest, a low-budget student film that featured no actual wrestling.

The Deadman deserves a proper send off, in a ring, in front of a crowd; and 2023 could be the year to give it to him.

While the obvious move would be to do the honors at WrestleMania, you’d probably need a little more time to build up a story (and to acclimatize people to the idea that, yes, he’s coming back, but we swear you guys this really is the last time).

You could really have it be against anybody, with fellow spookums Bray Wyatt and Karrion Kross (give him a chance!) being the obvious choices.

Whoever does the honors, it’ll be worth it to let the Undertaker finally, mercifully rest in peace.

Sheamus

Two things are true about Sheamus: number one, he’s on the run of a lifetime putting on banger after banger in front of crowds that are hotter for him than they ever have been.

Number two: he’s admitted himself that he’s been hurt for years, and his final in-ring days could be just around the corner.

I just wanted to get that straight because, by rights, you wouldn’t think this current iteration of Sheamus should be anywhere near this list after that clinic he put on with Gunther at Clash At The Castle, and I didn’t want people to think I just hate Irish people.

So while it isn’t likely, it’s entirely possible that 2023 could be the year the Celtic Warrior puts his fedora and ridiculous mohawk in the closet, and moves on to pastures new.

In a perfect world Sheamus’s final feud would probably be against Cesaro, but with him currently occupied holding the title of a nonexistent brand we have to look elsewhere.

Drew McIntyre is a long-time friend of Sheamus and would be a great person to put him away, as well as giving his send-off some prestige coming from one of the top guys in all of wrestling at the moment.

The Rock

Regardless of whether or not big Dwayne puts his face in at WrestleMania 39, chances are that the next matches he wrestles will be his last.

It makes sense; the Rock has been more movie star than wrestler for about three times longer than the time he actually spent in the ring.

He can’t really afford to injure himself again like he did when he faced John Cena at WrestleMania 29, during which he tore his abdominal muscle and set back the filming of his (admittedly terrible) Hercules movie by several months, costing the studio millions.

Next year would be the perfect time for the People’s Champion to have one last go-around; not just because we as fans have been expecting it since Roman Reigns began his Tribal Chief gimmick in 2020, but because Black Adam bombed and Johnson could probably do with the ego boost of a stadium full if people chanting his name.

What better way to cap off an exceptional career than by facing his successor, in the city whose name is synonymous with movie magic, on the grandest stage of them all?

And then finally, after all these years, go back home for good.

Kurt Angle

Now I know you wrestling purists out there may have trouble accepting this, but not everybody liked the fact that Kurt Angle was retired by Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35.

I know, right? It’s like saying you didn’t like Rock/Hogan.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of people who would be happy to see Angle put his broken freakin’ neck on the line one final time against a more… shall we say suitable opponent?

Angle himself has already alluded to the fact that he’d be up for one last match, preferably in a tag team to help prevent him from injury and generally make it so that he doesn’t have to move around too much.

After his birthday celebration a few weeks ago, the obvious setup here is for him to team up with Gable Steveson against Chad Gable and Otis.

Picture the scene: two Olympic gold medalists in a heated match up with two of the greatest professional wrestlers in the history of the business. A literal perfect match.

John Cena

Unlike the Rock, Big Match John can’t seem to stay away from the business no matter how famous he gets among normal people… sorry, I mean non-wrestling fans.

That being said, even the invisible one has his limits, and 2023 could be the last year we see him (hand gesture) in the ring.

With the success of Peacemaker and the newly rebooted DCEU, Cena could find that his acting commitments mean he has to finally hang up his jorts and ridiculous small towel once and for all.

We could see this happen sooner than you’d think, as Cena appears to be scheduled for a match at next year’s WrestleMania, against an as-yet unknown opponent.

Could we see Austin Theory, the man who seemed set to receive the Cena-style Vince McMahon rub earlier this year, finally put Johnny Largemeat to pasture?

Or maybe Bray Wyatt will finish the job the Firefly Funhouse Match started, by finally banishing Cena to a Hell of his own making (wrestling is weird)?

Sting

I’m not sure if Sting should even be on this list, because if his recent performance in AEW is anything to go by he basically doesn’t age, and will be wrestling long after everybody else on this list is getting nostalgia pops in backstage segments at WrestleMania 80.

That being said, at 63 years old he’s the oldest wrestler on this list by a country mile, and all jokes aside everybody has to leave their boots behind eventually (except maybe Ric Flair).

The story here is fairly obvious: a blood feud between him and Luther to crowd the undisputed ace of AEW.

Sorry, I disassociated there for a second: the obvious story right now is Sting vs his nephew Darby Allin.

While an Allin heel turn would be the obvious way to go here, it really would be a shame to see Sting’s final act in wrestling begin by being betrayed yet again by somebody he shouldn’t have trusted.

You could very easily have this be a mutually-agreed face-off, between two men who respect each other so that one can go out with his head held high.

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