[CaptainCrunch]

ok, time for the returns or as they say in french, pass the ketchup.



Anyways, we all know that wrestlers leave. They go off to do movies, or they go to a part time schedule, or they leave and go work for another company or territory. Sometimes they return, and usually when they do its a special moment with a huge crowd reaction, and most of the time its a surprise. Amazingly some of the wrestler's above who had amazing debuts have amazing returns. So here's a list of returning wrestlers.


1) Chris Jericho Raw Nov 19, 2007


Chris Jericho had been "Fired after his first run". but really he had wanted to focus on Fozzy and other side programs and slow down. In his absence WWE became a much more boring place with the likes of Randy Orton putting everyone to sleep. Suddenly we began to get cryptic messages popping up on Raw, until one night when Randy was in the ring doing his typical Orton interview and talking about the torch being passed to him, the camera flicked to an outside view of a runner carrying a torch, and then brilliance ensued in a sparkly vest.





2) Ric Flair returns - Nitro Sept 14, 1998


Its no secret that Flair hated Erich Bishoff, right to the point where Bish lost his mind when Flair skipped a Nitro to go and watch his son's high school wrestling tournament and fired Flair not fake but for real. However on this Nitro something special happened, and sadly though I can find part of this, I can't find all of this. But Arn Anderson a brilliant worker and promo cutter bought out the reformed Horsemen. then at the end when Flair didn't come out, Anderson exclaimed that he must be getting old because he forgot one man. At that point Flair came out and cut an absolutely emotional rip down of Eric Bischoff.



Part one






3) Stone Cold returns - Backlash 2000


After fighting injuries caused by his match with Owen Hart. Steve Austin went to get neck surgery and basically was on the shelf for nearly 9 months. However at Backlash Triple H with help from Vince and his cronies assaulted the Rock during the main event title match, and things looked bad for the Rock until . . . .





4) Brock Lesnar returns Raw 2012


To me whenever you hear the start of Brock's theme you know that business is going to pick up. Brock had left the company to fight in the UFC and because he had grown to hate life on the road with the WWE, that's why it was a surprise at the Raw after wrestlemania while Cena was in the ring that we got this.





5) Bret Hart comes home Raw Jan 04, 2010


We all know the circumstances of Bret's departure 12 years earlier and the long era of hatred between Bret Vince and Shawn. Lets be honest, Bret went through hell over that period of time with the death of his brother, the death of his parents, the dissolving of the Hart Clan and a devastating stroke and end of his career. Earlier in the year there had been a reconcilliation between Vince and Bret after the release of Bret's DVD which to this day is still excellent. Finally Bret could come home. This return was set up so well, with Shawn Michael's telling Vince to bring Bret home because only good things would happen, and Vince's evil smile as he thought that Shawn would finish Bret off once and for all. The video package at the start of Raw really heated things up. When we heard the starting guitar riff, the crowd exploded, and we got a great return.



Sadly however due to his stroke, Bret really couldn't do what he wanted to do and the blow off match was disappointing. But fans were happy to see him return and get some closure.





6) The Rock returns 2011


I loved this one because of the theatrics of it and the crowd reaction. The Rock had left for Hollywood and became the biggest crossover star from wrestling (Sorry Hulk). So his return was amazing, the fans knew there was a return, but there was a mini swerve at the start with the high heeled woman as they waited for the host of Wrestlemania to show up. then the lights went out and business picked up.





7) Vince McMahon returns 2000


Vince was a great heel evil owner, however he had vanished in 1999 after being blown up in his limo and killed off. In his place we had the Authority figures of HHH, Steph and Shane running roughshod over the company. That's why it was such a surprise to see Vince getting out of the limo that night. The reaction of Steph and HHH was brilliant as was Vince punching out his son in law without breaking stride. Vince was here to save WWE from his evil progeny.





8) Undertaker returns - Judgement Day 2000


Its rare that you see a return and a gimmick change rolled all into one, but that's what happened here. The Undertaker had missed nearly a year with injuries and he returned to a huge massive frightening pop, while debuting his American Bad Ass character.






9) Matt Hardy returns 2005


This was interesting because it was the occasion where real life leaked into wrestling. Poor Matt got injured. Had his girlfriend cheat on him for real with his real life best friend Edge. Hardy snapped and went all over social media and was fired for it. Hardy did sporadic appearances on the independents and lost nearly a year due to a knee injury. But wrestling is money, and this had the potential to be huge money for a mid card player like Hardy. So he was talked into returning. This wasn't a dramatic return with big music and fireworks. This was a gritty and real feeling thing as Hardy attacked Edge backstage, What made this really cool was that Hardy had been appearing for ROH, so fans were confused over if this was a shoot or a work.





10) Chris Jericho returns - Raw 2012.


That's right he gets two. Jericho has a masters degree in fan psychology and everytime he returns he cooks up something special. This was no different. After an extended leave for his music career and because he was getting older and tired of life on the road. Jericho once again vanished from the WWE. But in 2012 the weirdness began again with cryptic videos. These video's though were strange and cryptic and felt more like something that the undertaker or Sting would do, and those were the rumors floating around. So fans were genuinely shocked at the Jericho return and gave him a hero's welcome.



This is where his psychology came into play. He returned in a amazing light bright jacket. Returned to the ring, proceeded to say nothing, and then went back up the ramp and then turned around and smirked at the crowd turning the audience that night against him. It was an amazing piece of theatre.





HM Hogan returns to punch out evil foreigners, Mick Foley returns Rumble 2004, Trish returns Royal Rumble