- 4 days ago
This isn't a list about jumps: this is a list about who best made the impossible possible...
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00:00So many times over the years, we of fans have gone, well, that wrestler is never coming back.
00:05Be it the way they left a company or the fact they were forced out due to injury, everything is telling us that they're done.
00:11This is wrestling, though. Somehow, the unthinkable keeps happening.
00:14Regardless how they do return, the joy is always in the fact they did come back at all.
00:18But just for fun, I'm signed from WhatCulture. Please hit that subscribe button.
00:22And here's every impossible return ranked from worst to best.
00:26Number 11, Bret Hart.
00:28Let me make this very clear.
00:29Bret Hart is number one on my all-time list and, for me, is the best.
00:33Seeing him get his due over the last few years has been wonderful.
00:36When he did leave the then-WWF in 1997 after the Montreal Screwjob, though, come on now,
00:42not only did no fan think he was ever coming back, Hart would tell you this. Constantly.
00:46He got done over by Vincent Kennedy McMahon, so that was that.
00:50As already mentioned, you never say never, and in 2010, it was announced that the Hitman was going to be on Raw.
00:56I remember being stunned by this because I could not believe it.
01:00And I'm still a little mad that he didn't get a bigger reaction.
01:02People should have lost their minds.
01:04It, of course, tied into an angle with McMahon, and this is when things fell down a little bit.
01:08We had the story all ready to go in real life, but for some reason we added weird twists to it, such as a car accident.
01:14It didn't make any sense.
01:16Hearing Bret talk about his WrestleMania 26 match will put it into context, as he needed that after the Survivor Series and the awful stroke he suffered.
01:23But this was never going to be able to live up to expectations.
01:26Sadly, Hart was too hurt, and WWE didn't really get what they had, as ever.
01:31The pretend Shawn Michaels.
01:32I don't get all this.
01:34He ruined his legacy nonsense.
01:36Did he?
01:36Or can we just ignore the part we didn't like and pretend it never happened?
01:40Yes, yes, we can.
01:41This is the best way to treat Shawn Michaels' comeback in 2018, as a massive paycheck was enough to convince the heartbreak kid it was worth doing one more match, and he was right.
01:50Would any of us have turned down this much money?
01:52No, we wouldn't have.
01:53That's not to say it worked out, because it didn't.
01:56At all.
01:56It was like the wrestling powers in the sky decided this tag bout between him and Triple H versus the Brothers of Destruction had to be cursed.
02:03I mean, I started looking around for Dan Housen.
02:05Because the game tore his peck, Kane's mask fell off, The Undertaker was not at 100%, and Shawn at one point fell on his head.
02:12It was terrifying.
02:13Don't think these four didn't know this afterwards either.
02:16Just look at Michaels' face when all was said and done, or listen to his interviews.
02:20He knew, and I'm sure now he just laughs his ass off.
02:22That's the healthy way to do it.
02:24This still doesn't mean it was a successful comeback, though.
02:27It most definitely wasn't.
02:29I mean, I ain't Shane McMahon.
02:30I don't think anybody thought Shane McMahon was about to make his return to Raw in early 2016.
02:35Or at least I didn't.
02:36I remember hearing, here comes the money, hit, and genuinely being stunned.
02:40That was quite the moment.
02:42He got a mega pop as well, which made this feel like a massive deal, when we learned that he would be facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33, with the contents of a lockbox being the focus.
02:51It was also true as even though he lost to the dead man, Shane was still made the GM of Raw, making this whole thing pointless.
02:56But look, he took that crazy bump off the top of the cell, he then had a really good match with AJ Styles, and got involved with some other nonsense.
03:03The less said about the Braun Strowman stuff, the better.
03:05But it was decent all things considered, aside from the times McMahon was allowed to book himself as on par with some of the best wrestlers in the world.
03:13We all know the deal, though.
03:14Let's just accept it for what it is.
03:16Number 8.
03:17Goldberg
03:17So this one is just gonna divide the audience.
03:20I have enjoyed a lot of Goldberg's performances since he did surprisingly come back in 2016, and his series with Brock Lesnar was awesome.
03:27Proper big men hitting man meat stuff.
03:29Outside of that, however, the jury is out.
03:31We all remember the stuff with The Fiend, we did not need that match with The Undertaker, but there were bright spots with Bobby Lashley and Dolph Ziggler.
03:38Proper up and down stuff.
03:39The true shocker was that we got here to begin with.
03:41Bill had left WWE in 2004 with no interest in ever working with Vince McMahon again, and yet here we were.
03:48And do you want to know what clicked second time around?
03:50Because WWE used Goldberg as Goldberg.
03:53No silly wigs, no 10 minute plus matches, just the old steam train that underlines why he reached the heights he did.
03:59I would assume he's not done either, and as long as we keep him away from the world title and let younger talent beat him, cool.
04:04Go nuts.
04:05Although if you are worried, this may not be the plan, and instead Vince sees this as a in-case-of-emergency smash bill.
04:11Yeah, I get it.
04:12Number 7, Edge.
04:13This one was truly surreal.
04:15When Edge left in 2011, he was forced to because of his neck.
04:18He was so badly injured, doctors told him one bad bump could kill him.
04:22He had no choice to walk away, even as world heavyweight champion, and I can't even imagine it.
04:27Adam Copeland then went and did pretty damn well as an actor before his awesome comeback in 2020.
04:32He did it right by returning in the Royal Rumble, and seriously, I could watch that every day.
04:36It is emotion personified.
04:38Sadly, the pandemic then slowed down his feud with Randy Orton, which was totally finished off after he suffered a tricep injury.
04:43But when he rehabbed that, we had all that good stuff with Seth Rollins.
04:46It was fantastic.
04:47His Mania 37 main event is also far better than people give it credit for.
04:51And at the moment, he's gone full bad guy alongside Damien Priest and loves sitting in big chairs.
04:57This is a bit strange, but it's early days, and if anybody can make it work, it's Edge.
05:00I don't really care, to be honest with you, though.
05:03Even if he had just been in the Rumble and then left again, it would still be one of the best moments ever.
05:08Number 6, Christian Cage.
05:09And it is the same for his best friend and once-brother Christian.
05:12WWE, as ever, had no idea of his quality, as his Rumble return was treated as slight shock, as opposed to,
05:17Oh my gosh, this is likely why Mr. Cage decided to go to AEW, ever since he has been smashing it.
05:23Do not forget that Christian was forced into retirement due to concussion issues, and therefore never expected to compete again.
05:28And yet, here he was, winning the Impact World title from none other than Kenny Omega.
05:33Just awesome.
05:34From there, he's proved once again that he is one of the most underappreciated workers in history,
05:38and his relationship with the Jurassic Express has been great.
05:41Not only has it slotted Christian in and amongst the AEW roster,
05:44but his experience is second to none for Jungle Boy to learn from.
05:47As of me talking, it seems likely he will turn heel and maybe even feud with Junglely Jim,
05:51which will help all of this even more.
05:53Honestly, any promotion on the planet should want Christian.
05:56He brings so much to the table.
05:58And I know, I know, some people weren't happy with how Tony Khan introduced him.
06:02But please do remember, he's a promoter.
06:04His job is to promote.
06:05Number five, Stone Cold Steve Austin.
06:07I was there live, and I still don't believe it.
06:10I didn't believe it when the rumor started.
06:11I didn't believe it when Kevin Owens began calling him out.
06:13I didn't believe it sat in my seat at WrestleMania.
06:16Only when the glass broke on that Saturday night did I think it was possible,
06:20and then, my word, just excellent.
06:21Be it night one when he had an awesome brawl with KO,
06:24or night two where we repeated all the best moments from a classic Monday Night Raw,
06:27seeing the rattlesnake say goodbye properly in Texas was everything you'd want it to be,
06:31especially because it was never meant to happen.
06:33Austin was so banged up when he retired in 2003, even he knew that was likely it.
06:38While I'm sure money was a motivating factor, this was the absolute best, so who gives a flub?
06:43I'm not sure anybody else could have done this in the way that the bionic redneck did at 58 years old,
06:48and I will finish this off by saying it really was special.
06:514. Sting
06:52Sting was done.
06:54After Seth Rollins buckle-bombed him and essentially broke his neck,
06:57he stepped away from the ring, got inducted into the Hall of Fame, and seemingly retired.
07:01And sure, he teased a comeback during his speech, but nobody believed it.
07:05It was over.
07:05Because wrestling is mad, though, not only did he surprise us all by arriving at AEW,
07:10but at the age of 60-plus started taking bumps and falls that no elderly gentleman should be doing,
07:15let alone someone who'd been told he wasn't in the best shape.
07:18Sting keeps doing this too, and somehow, this is getting better and better.
07:21There used to be this stupid argument that he wasn't an old-timer,
07:24and now that has definitely been thrown out the window,
07:26and his relationship with Darby Allin has helped both guys move forward.
07:29He's also treated with a crazy amount of respect that he's earned, and it helps his aura,
07:33and I'll never understand how he's doing it.
07:35The icon is exactly that, and who knows how much longer he wants to go on.
07:39To get to 70 at this rate, and I shall support him every step of the way,
07:43this has been legendary.
07:45Number 3, Brock Lesnar.
07:47I mean, how?
07:47Brock Lesnar was at the top of the food chain in the early 2000s,
07:50when he went to Vince McMahon and told him he was done, and he went home.
07:54I think we forget how impactful this was because Brock was the man then,
07:57and within a space of the year had been given everything.
08:00I mean, this was our new star, and now he wasn't there anymore.
08:02It resulted in lawsuits and less-than-complementary words from both sides,
08:06and after Lesnar had become the king in UFC,
08:08it felt like he had found his new line of work, but we should have known.
08:11Because with his stock higher than ever and a businessman at his heart,
08:14Brock and McMahon did come to terms on an agreement
08:16that saw The Beast return to Raw the night after WrestleMania 28.
08:20Just go and watch the fans to see the surprise in their eyes,
08:23and ever since, he has been a monster.
08:25WWE felt the need to punish him at first because he dared to leave,
08:28so he had to lose to John Cena and Triple H,
08:31but after that, it has been a crazy run.
08:33Not only has he become Pro Wrestling's final boss,
08:36but he was also given the honour and the rub of defeating The Undertaker's WrestleMania streak.
08:40You can argue that till the cows come home, and maybe he didn't need it.
08:43Flub me, it gave him some serious momentum.
08:45Today Brock has done so much, he has to be in the best ever category,
08:49and I mean it, Lesnar is awesome.
08:51Number 2, Bryan Danielson
08:53Once again, how did this happen?
08:55Just go and watch the emotional speech the then-Daniel Bryan gave the WWE fans in 2015.
09:00You won't get through it without cutting some onions.
09:02It is the realest thing in the world.
09:04That man was devastated.
09:06This made sense too, as no one loved the art and core of wrestling more than Bryan,
09:09so when it was taken away from him due to concussion problems,
09:12everybody's heart broke.
09:13It didn't seem fair.
09:14And then, from nowhere, a rumour started in 2018
09:17that the leader of the Yes movement had found a way to get cleared,
09:21and then bang, it was announced for SmackDown, and all of this rocked.
09:24From there, he has proved he is one of the best ever too,
09:26from the planet's WWE champion to having five-star matches constantly,
09:30to everything he's done in AEW.
09:32Seriously, go and find something bad that he's done.
09:34It doesn't exist.
09:35There's a reason William Regal goes to town with him so much,
09:38because Danielson is ridiculously good,
09:40and all this after a massive absence in the middle,
09:42where he was used as a general manager.
09:45It also feels like he's on the runner of his life right now,
09:47which is saying something,
09:48and when he does hang up his boots for good,
09:50no one will ever come close,
09:52especially because he was never meant to be back in the ring anyway.
09:54Just the best story.
09:56Number one, CM Punk.
09:58I was such a person that felt like CM Punk would never come back to wrestling,
10:01because why would he?
10:02He had a more than successful post-career,
10:04and WWE was the only game in town.
10:06All you need to do is listen to Punk's story to understand
10:09why he wouldn't want that in his life.
10:10It broke him.
10:11When AEW became a thing, though,
10:13chatter started again, but even then.
10:15This was soon thrown out the window,
10:16as it sounded like Punk and the EVPs were not on the same page,
10:19and then 2021 rolled around.
10:22All of a sudden, there were serious reports
10:24that Tony Khan had struck a deal with the voice of the voiceless,
10:26and when they booked an arena in Chicago on a random day,
10:29it seemed like this was real,
10:30and incredibly, it was.
10:32It resulted in one of the best moments to ever grace pro wrestling,
10:35and to be honest with you,
10:35I still can't believe it.
10:37CM Punk is not only back in a ring,
10:39but having matches with the stars of tomorrow,
10:41and to top it all off,
10:42he seems really happy,
10:44which is the most important thing in the world.
10:46He also adds a tremendous amount of worth to All Elite Wrestling,
10:49and we're only just getting started.
10:51I cannot wait to see how this one pans out.
10:54Know of any other impossible wrestling returns?
10:56Make sure you let us know in the comments below,
10:58and don't forget to like the video, share the video, and subscribe.
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