We've spent eight years and three expansions stomping bad guys across Azeroth and even beyond. The mighty foes we've had arrayed against us have fallen to our might, and in fact a large part of the plot of the current expansion is about how, in the absence of a greater, cosmological threat, our power has been turned on each other.
The thing is, while we've had some huge victories, our foes do not just disappear. Just as much of Europe figured the German threat had finally been dealt with after the First World War, just because you beat someone does not mean you'll never have to fight them again.
So what is the status of our former major foes, and how worried should we be about them?
Ragnaros: Dead. Elementals, interestingly, are a bit like demons. The ones we see in Azeroth are kind of avatars or projections. The real being exists in its home realm (the Twisting Nether for demons, the appropriate Elemental Plane for Elementals,) and so killing it just means they wake up at home, saying "ow! Dammit!" However, given certain circumstances (such as Illidan killing Tichondrius in Felwood) or if you actually go into their home realm and kill them there, they really do, truly die for good. Ragnaros (and Al'akir, for that matter) are dead dead. Does that mean we're never going to have to fight Fire Elementals again? Certainly not. But the old Firelord ain't coming back.
The Black Dragonflight: There is, in all of Azeroth, one black dragon still around (there's actually another in Outland, though his status is a little murky.) And that dragon is Wrathion, the super-shady but not inherently evil son of Deathwing. Wrathion has none of the Old-God corruption his family does, and one of the first things he does when he hatches is get a daring rogue to literally kill off every last member of the flight. Seriously - they're gone. Any new Black Dragons are going to be Wrathion's brood (again, barring some activity by Sablemane in Outland.) So while it's not unthinkable that we could fine ourselves at odds with the Black Prince, it's certainly not going to be anything like we've dealt with in the past.
The Old Gods: Like the Burning Legion, these guys are one of the core threats in the game, and it's unlikely we'll ever have them totally dealt with in a permanent way. Hell, the Titans have been trying that for eons!
C'thun: In a way, we've killed C'thun twice. The first time, it was in Ahn'qiraj, the second when he had possessed Cho'gall (who some called Cho'thun.) Now, here's the thing. Old Gods are Lovecraft-style. Death to them is like sleep for us. In fact, if we were actually to kill an Old God in a permanent way, the result would be arguably worse, as we've seen with Y'shaarj's remains in the form of the Sha. As for C'thun's Qiraji worshippers? I don't think we've wiped them off the face of the map, but it remains to be seen if they'll cause any more serious trouble for us.
Yogg-Saron: Like C'Thun, it's unlikely that Yogg-Saron is truly dead (though it would be interesting if his "death" helped bring forth the Cataclysm... doubt that's something we'll see addressed.) There's actually a lot of questions to be raised regarding his forces, the Iron Dwarves, but I think that with Loken dead they are also not much of a threat anymore.
The Illidari: Illidan's forces, to be perfectly honest, were never a huge threat to begin with, mainly because they were already fending off the Burning Legion. After Illidan's failed attempt to destroy the Lich King, he limped back to Outland and changed his game plan, setting himself up as Lord of Outland and pretending like that had been the goal all along. Of course, seeing as Kil'jaeden had explicitly told him he'd be dead meat if he didn't take out Ner'zhul and Arthas, it was no surprise to find that the Legion proper was blasting the hell out of Outland even as we stormed the Black Temple.
Now, they have said fairly explicitly that they want to bring Illidan back to life (I believe it was Chris Metzen who said it at Blizzcon 2011,) but his organization is all but dismantled, and I also believe they want to find a way for him to find redemption (seeing what he did in the War of the Ancients, plus the quest chain in Felwood that tells you about his motivations, really paints him in a more sympathetic light.) But his chief lieutenants are dead, other than Akama, who was undermining him anyway, so it's certainly not a threat for us to worry about.
The Burning Legion: Oh boy, though. The Legion's definitely still out there, and definitely still a threat. The whole victory at Sunwell Plateau was like having the slasher-movie villain banging on the door, getting it open a crack, and then our just barely managing to slam it shut again and put the bolt back. There's still a billion demons just screaming to get into Azeroth, and you can bet your ass we're going to have to deal with them again big-time, and likely multiple times. The Burning Legion could very well be a larger threat than the Old Gods, so don't expect them to go away any time soon.
The Naga: The storyline of Vashj'ir ends with most of the major Naga players dealt with, but Neptulon is stolen away by Ozumat nonetheless (I ran that dungeon a million times before I realized this was the case - I'd always assumed Neptulon just left the room after we fought off the Faceless Ones so we could enjoy our treasure.) In-Game, we've only seen Azshara (in Naga form) once, during a quest in Darkshore. A confrontation seems inevitable, but the Naga seem mostly content to do their work in secret, so it'll be a while before we see just what they have in mind.
The Blue Dragonflight: With crazy Malygos dead and Kalecgos having taken over the flight, the Blue Dragons are once again allies of the mortal races. While some bitterness might linger, for the most part, they seem to want to put the Nexus War behind them. This is for the best. It always felt wrong to be fighting against them.
The Scarlet Crusade: Well, before Mists I would have said they were goner than gone. After the remains of the organization after the Death Knight starting experience head to Northrend as the Scarlet Onslaught, only to be stopped once again by us, we find that the guy who manipulated them into doing so was actually Mal'ganis (Holy Crap! That guy just refuses to die. Also makes Arthas' fall that much more tragic, as he didn't even accomplish what he sold his soul for.) Yet it would seem that the Crusade has been reborn. Still, this was mainly an excuse to revamp Scarlet Monastery, so I doubt we're going to be seeing them as a major player any time soon. Still, it shows that just like Mal'ganis, the Crusade is a resilient motherfucker.
The Scourge: The Scourge are a real coin-flip here. Arthas is dead (like... super dead) and Bolvar Fordragon is the Jailor of the Damned - not the Lich King. Assuming he doesn't get corrupted (so far so good,) Bolvar's job is going to be to keep the Scourge quarantined up in Northrend. It's even conceivable that Bolvar could turn the Scourge toward something good, though this seems unlikely. We do know that small pockets of Scourge remain a problem, and indeed there are now many pretenders to the throne (some far less legitimate-looking than others.) While Bolvar is keeping most of the Scourge rounded up, the new splinter groups may be harder to keep track of. Not to mention that the Forsaken are starting to act a lot more like the Scourge...
So there you have it: Quite a few of these guys could still pose a big threat to us. Even if the leading personalities are gone, the forces remain, and, such as the case of the Scourge, might be even more of a threat now that the Big Bad is gone.
Expect it to be a while before we see any real sequels to entire expansions though. As much as I adored Wrath of the Lich King, I don't think it would be good for the game for us to have a whole other expansion of fighting the Undead across a snowy landscape. If we go to space to battle the Legion again, expect the battlefield to be somewhat different from Outland (though honestly, the concept of "alien world" is probably more open than "the Grim up North.") Also, we certainly won't be doing "Azeroth's China" again, as cool as Pandaria is.
I find it more likely (and would prefer it) if there was a way to do a real twist on these old villains, rather than just have us fight them again. The concept of a benevolent Illidan intrigues me (somehow I feel he and Wrathion would get along just fine.) We will, of course, also need new villains to fight. (The Sha are a pretty good one, especially in the way that they are obviously related to the Old Gods, yet separate.) But while new villains are a necessity to keep the game fresh, we will also need to avoid the Giant Space Flea from Nowhere effect, and considering the immense cosmic threats (and the powerful terrestrial threats) that have been established, you can expect we're going to have our hands full either way.
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