Why did Michelle McCool retire from WWE? All you need to know

Soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer Michelle McCool will always be remembered fondly by many WWE fans for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, she had to cut her full-time in-ring career short due to her relationship and other personal reasons.

Michelle McCool was one of the WWE stars many fans loved to hate. She was the inaugural Divas Champion and was in a memorable tag team with Layla as LayCool. In May 2011, she and Layla competed at Extreme Rules in a no-disqualification and no-countout match, with the loser leaving the Stamford-based promotion. As expected, Michelle lost and ended her full-time run as a superstar. As it turns out, her exit is connected to her relationship with The Undertaker.

In Lillian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast in 2019, Michelle McCool noted that she left WWE because she was tired of being treated differently due to being The Undertaker's partner. The former Divas Champion eventually approached Vince McMahon and said she didn't want to start hating wrestling, but staying made it harder for her to love the sport.

“It was tough just leaving in itself was tough because it got to a point where I was dealing with so much again mostly being Undertaker’s girlfriend and why I was on TV and even having a writer throw the papers up one day and say ‘Why don’t we just call it the Michelle McCool and Undertaker show?!'”

In a 2023 Busted Open Radio appearance, Michelle noted that the divas in her era had to "fight and claw" their way on television and that she didn't even get much time on her retirement match. She added that despite growing up loving the business, she started not to enjoy it.

Michelle and The Undertaker began dating in the late 2000s and got married in 2010. McCool sporadically appeared in WWE in the past few years, mainly as an entrant in the Women's Royal Rumble.

Can Michelle McCool still return to WWE?

Although Michelle McCool competed in a couple of the Women's Royal Rumble in the past few years, she still hasn't had a full run return since leaving in 2011. However, it seems like she still got what it takes.

In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on INSIGHT, McCool shared that her mind still tells her she can return, but it would only be for a short amount of time.

Michelle McCool is the latest inductee to the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame. After her contributions to women's wrestling, it's safe to say that the induction is more than deserving and long overdue.