The world of professional wrestling is no stranger to retirement matches. Legends like Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin have all had their fair share of emotional farewells.
What Jimmy Wang Yang has in common with those legends is that he is also a wrestler. Let’s not kid ourselves, he was a lower-card WWE superstar in the late 2000s – he’s not looking like a shoo-in for the hall of fame.
However, he was a beloved high-flyer with a fun gimmick. Jimmy Wang Yang was a thoroughly entertaining wrestler who should have won the WWE Tag Team Championships, during his time tagging with Shannon Moore on Smackdown and ECW.
Yang, known for his high-flying moves and flashy cowboy hats, had been a fan favourite for years. He had a natural charisma that endeared him to the audience, and his matches were always filled with energy and excitement. But despite his popularity, Yang had never quite made it to the top of the WWE ladder.
In this article, we’ll look at Jimmy Wang Yang’s last match in WWE before he was released from the company in 2021.
Jimmy Wang Yang’s Last Match
Jimmy Wang Yang’s last match in the WWE actually took place at WrestleMania 26 – albeit in a non-televised dark match.
He was part of a 26-man battle royal, set before the biggest show of the year. The 26 entrants paid tribute to the 26 years of WrestleMania, and Jimmy Wang Yang was brought in to be a part of this before his firing.
The match was a typical WWE battle royal. Most competitors had nothing to except pretend to fight in the corners of the ring – and Jimmy Wang Yang was no exception.
He spent the bulk of the ten-minute match in the top-right corner of the ring, playfully grappling with David-Hart Smith as the pair waited for their spots.
However, those spots never came. Jimmy Wang Yang did exactly nothing until he was eliminated. He did manage to last until the final eight, before he was thrown over the rope and hit by a big boot from Vance Archer (who would later become Lance Archer in AEW and NJPW).
The match was won by Yoshi Tatsu, with Wang Yang having very little to do. The winner of the match did not get anything, and it was simply for bragging rights that these 26 men put their body on the line.
It was said that having a Japanese wrestler, such at Yoshi Tatsu, win the Battle Royal was in honour of Antonio Inoki going into the Hall of Fame, although that has never been confirmed.
Jimmy Wang Yang never wrestled for the WWE again, making WrestleMania 26 the stage where his last match took place. He was released by the WWE on April 22, 2010, just weeks after wrestling at WrestleMania 26.