This is not true, retribution was incredibly weak in a raid environment after it’s initial nerfs at the start of the expansion and got changes throughout the expansion, most notably 3.2 to bring their PVE DPS up while nerfing/changing their PVP performance.
It as a spec, didn’t need nerfs at any point for PVE content after the launch nerf because it scaled terribly.
When they lost seal of blood/martyr in 3.2 their damage went up in PVE and burst went down in PvP.
h ttps://www.bluetracker.gg/wow/topic/eu-en/9942037355-class-qa-series-paladin/
(Fix the https for it to work)
3.2 paladin Q/A where they specifically and directly say that Retribution was too weak in terms of DPS in 3.1 (Ulduar) this spec needed band aid fixes for PVE after it’s launch nerf just to get it to the point it’s at now, they were always a weak spec, the tier bonus was just that, a bonus reward at the end of the expansion where they finally got a little more power, they didn’t need to get nerfed for it, they were already falling behind.
Here’s the quote
"Q. All classes vary in dps from one encounter to another; however, some paladins may feel their dps can be less competitive at times in comparison to other classes, more so in straight stationary single-target dps encounters. How do we feel paladins are doing in terms of dps across the board?
A. Retribution dps is too low in PvE in 3.1. We are buffing it in 3.2 through the new way Seal of Vengeance / Corruption will work. This Seal is designed to really deliver damage once the paladin gets five stacks up, which will make it the Seal of choice for boss fights. Seal of Command will be used in PvP or PvE for short fights. We expect overall for Corruption / Vengeance to be the “go-to” Seal much of the time, perhaps even in PvP, provided you can keep the buff up."
Let this sink in, if we didn’t have the balance patch we were on now, retribution would be even weaker than it is now. 3.3.0 nor any other ICC patch needed to nerf paladins, they were already scaling terribly.