Madison Rayne announces retirement following Ring of Honor loss
After two decades in the ring, Madison Rayne announced her retirement on Thursday’s Ring of Honor weekly TV show.
Rayne and ROH Women’s Pure Champion Deonna Purrazzo fell in defeat to Billie Starkz and Diamante for the second straight time with Rayne getting pinned by Starkz.
In a backstage segment, Rayne was backstage with Purrazzo reflecting on the match and without directly saying the word “retirement,” Rayne said that, “Tonight was exceptionally emotional because this is the end of an era for Madison Rayne.”
“I knew it was coming. This time comes for everyone in their career,” she said, adding that she lost her father in 2025 and when that happened, “I lost a piece of myself” but is finding that purpose again by “coaching…helping with the next generation which is (Purrazzo).”
“That’s not me anymore. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner, a better moment, a better night,” she told Purrazzo, adding it was “the perfect way to end a 20-year ride” and that she loved Purrazzo.
It should be noted that it’s pro wrestling so anything is possible, but she made a mid-November appearance for an Ohio-based indie promotion and in doing media for it, said that she was looking at a final match as she felt she had “slowed” in the ring in recent years.
Rayne has been with AEW since 2022 when she signed as a wrestler/coach with husband Josh Mathews signing on as a producer in 2025. She wrestled 20 times in AEW and eight times in the Tony Khan era of ROH including challenging then-TBS Champion Jade Cargill. Rayne’s final AEW match came against Purrazzo in February 2024.
A fixture in TNA for years, Rayne is a former five-time TNA Knockouts Champion and former three-time Knockouts Tag Team Champion.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.