- 5 months ago
Relive some of the greatest pops in modern history with these earth-shaking returns.
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00:00Everyone loves a wrestling comeback, right?
00:03And there have been a ton of great ones over the last few years,
00:06enough to fill a list even.
00:08So with that in mind, the following are the building-shaking returns
00:12that have all written themselves into wrestling folklore in more recent times.
00:17I am Gareth, this is WhatCulture Wrestling,
00:20and here are the 7 Greatest Returns in Modern Wrestling History.
00:25Number 7. Jake Cargill Returns at Elimination Chamber 2025
00:29Who Injured Jay Cargill is one of the best whodunit mysteries to play out on WWE television.
00:36After dominating the women's tag team division with Bianca Belair
00:39and holding the titles for what seemed like an age,
00:42their reign together was cut short in shocking fashion.
00:46On the November 22nd, 2024 episode of SmackDown,
00:49Cargill was found decimated on a car bonnet in the parking lot.
00:54Dun dun dun!
00:56Having been thrown from a large platform,
00:58her limp body was next to a shattered windscreen,
01:02as Belair and fellow friend Naomi were left devastated.
01:06No witnesses saw what happened, and months of speculation began.
01:10Then, after four long months,
01:13and with all signs pointing to the Judgment Day's Liv Morgan as the chief culprit,
01:17Cargill's music hit as all six participants were locked inside the Women's Elimination Chamber
01:23at the eponymous March 2025 PLE.
01:26As Jade marched towards Morgan, dressed in all black and looking like an absolute badass,
01:31she turned her attention to Naomi and laid in the mother of all beatdowns.
01:36I was stunned, I tells you.
01:37It made Jade Cargill look like the damn Terminator,
01:41and started the most exciting run of Naomi's WWE career too.
01:45A good bit of business.
01:47Right, before we get any further, what has been your favourite,
01:50or least favourite, return in recent history?
01:53Let me know in the comments down below.
01:55Number six, Sting returns at WrestleDream 2025.
01:59Of all of AEW's landmark achievements,
02:01the job they have done in returning Sting to legendary status ranks among the best of them.
02:07After WWE did their best to dilute the legacy of the Stinger,
02:11AEW now have a plethora of Sting's all-time best moments in their canon,
02:17and the hits just keep on coming on this front,
02:19as WrestleDream 2025's greatest moment was stolen by Sting's triumphant return to save Darby Allin.
02:27At the culmination of an I Quit match with Jon Moxley that felt more like a war than a wrestling
02:32contest,
02:33and after Darby had suffered everything from being launched like a lawn dart from the ring by Claudio Castagnoli,
02:39to nearly being murdered by Moxley attempting to bloody drown him,
02:43the lights in the Shayfetz Arena, I think that's how you say it, in St. Louis, Missouri, went pitch black.
02:49Suspicions were instantly aroused that Darby's old partner was set to return,
02:53but the lights coming back on to reveal old man Sting was as joyous a return as it's possible to
02:59enjoy.
03:00With his beard and hair looking like Gandalf the Grey if he liked black metal,
03:05and that is a hell of a combination.
03:06Sting took his trademark back to each of the Death Riders before demolishing Moxley to lead Darby Allin to victory.
03:14Lovely stuff.
03:15Number 5, The Undertaker returns to WrestleMania.
03:18The end of WrestleMania 40 is one of the all-time great pro wrestling moments,
03:23as the whole world united in wanting Cody Rhodes to fulfill his family destiny,
03:28end the never-ending reign of Roman Reigns,
03:31and lift the world championship that his father so famously never got the chance to.
03:36The action came thick and fast.
03:38During a match that incorporated bloodline rules,
03:41John Cena, Solo Sokoa, Seth Rollins, and The Rock all played their part in setting up the spectacular climax.
03:49After all of the run-ins and beat-downs,
03:51it seemed as though the final boss was set to get his way again,
03:55with Rhodes down and out and the Great One standing tall.
03:58That was until that infamous gong hit,
04:01and The Undertaker wrote another chapter into his WrestleMania story.
04:06The roar from the Philadelphia crowd was sensational,
04:09largely because it made absolutely no sense for Taker to actually be there.
04:13That did not matter one bit, though, as The Deadman hoisted The Rock high into the night sky,
04:19delivering a thunderous chokeslam,
04:21and paving the way for Cody Rhodes to cement one of the best moments in WWE history.
04:27I had some adrenaline in my soul that night, baby.
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04:41Oh, what a time to be alive.
04:42Number four, Tony Storm returns to being timeless.
04:46A little bit of a creative license on this one, but bear with me,
04:50as it's not exactly coming back from an injury,
04:52or using any of the traditional tricks of the trade,
04:55but Tony Storm's masterful storytelling demands a place on this list,
05:00and that is why it's here.
05:01Perfect in its setup and execution,
05:04the AEW legend's re-transformation to being timeless once more
05:08is one of the most satisfying moments in company history.
05:11After losing the AEW Women's Championship to arch-nemesis Mariah May at All-In 2024 as part of their epic
05:19feud,
05:20Storm appeared to suffer from amnesia.
05:22Forgetting her entire run as timeless Tony Storm,
05:25she regressed to her old skater girl persona,
05:28and being in awe of her big-time status at AEW.
05:32This all came crashing to an almighty end, though,
05:35with Tony Storm unleashing as good a monologue as you will ever see in a wrestling ring.
05:40It was something else.
05:42As Mariah May dealt out her latest humiliation to the fallen hero with infuriating enjoyment,
05:48Storm lay broken on the floor before grabbing a microphone and uttering the unforgettable line,
05:54What makes you think I have forgotten?
05:56Stripping to her underwear, smearing her lipstick all over her face,
06:00and bellowing,
06:01For I am timeless,
06:03timeless Tony Storm,
06:05to the stars and anyone in earshot.
06:07It is nothing short of perfection from one of the greatest performers in the world today.
06:12Number 3.
06:13Rhea Ripley returns to confront Dom and Liv.
06:16After a full year of absolute dominance of WWE's women's division,
06:22and having recently disposed of future Hall of Famer Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40,
06:27Rhea Ripley had established herself as one of the biggest stars in any wrestling company on Earth.
06:32But in an awful stroke of luck,
06:35Ripley suffered a legitimate Grade 3 AC sprain during a backstage attack by Liv Morgan.
06:41She was subsequently forced to relinquish her title as the world mourned her upcoming absence.
06:46And during Rhea's time away from the ring,
06:48Liv dominated pretty much everything that stood in her way.
06:52Embarking on the Liv Morgan revenge tour,
06:55she won Ripley's WWE Women's World Championship,
06:58retired Becky Lynch for a short while,
07:00and stole Dominic Mysterio from the Eradicator.
07:03It did serve to elevate Morgan to superstar status.
07:07That was until Mammy came home.
07:10Uh-oh.
07:11After Morgan assisted Dirty Dom in cheating a victory over his father and Zelina Vega
07:15in a mixed tag team match on Monday Night Raw,
07:18Liv and Mysterio ride the round together on the ring canvas until Rhea Ripley's music hit.
07:24Her screw face looking like somebody had just spilled a pint,
07:27her shoulders puffed up,
07:28and her stride like Jason Voorhees.
07:31Ripley's epic comeback reassured the world that Mammy was most definitely still on top.
07:37Number two, Seth Rollins returns from injury at SummerSlam 2025.
07:41No stranger to a great heist,
07:43Seth Rollins took things to a whole new level in the summer of 2025.
07:47Having been taken off screen with what was presented as a legitimate injury
07:51during his match with LA Knight at Saturday night's main event,
07:55something just didn't quite smell right about the whole ordeal.
07:58The reporting on the injury was vague,
08:01and the timing of it, the same day as AEW had their biggest show of the year at All In,
08:06felt more than a little suspicious.
08:08After a spectacular bout between the two in the main event of SummerSlam,
08:12Gunter had been dethroned as the world heavyweight champion
08:15by Rollins' long-time nemesis CM Punk.
08:18But as Punk held WWE gold for the first time in 12 years,
08:24his elation turned to deflation as Seth Rollins' music boomed over the PA.
08:30Dammit!
08:30Arriving on crutches and with Paul Heyman carrying Seth's Money in the Bank briefcase,
08:35the tension reached a fever pitch.
08:37The sight of Rollins then throwing away his crutches before stealing Punk's moment,
08:42and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from under him was perfectly executed.
08:47That Seth suffered a long-term injury just two months later
08:51is a cruel twist of fate from the wrestling gods.
08:55Or karma for stealing the Punker's moment.
08:57Now seriously, jokes aside, get well soon, Sethi.
09:00Number 1. Darby Allin' and Bryan Danielson at All In Texas
09:04Say what you will about AEW,
09:06but when they nail a long-term storyline,
09:09they really know how to bring it home.
09:12After Jon Moxley had boiled the piss of just about everybody
09:16by holding the AEW World Heavyweight Championship hostage for almost a year,
09:20fans were desperate for somebody to set the title free.
09:23That was a sentiment echoed by members of the roster
09:26in the run-up to the company's biggest show of 2025 at All In Texas,
09:31as Will Ospreay threw his support behind hangman Adam Page
09:34after Page defeated the Brit at Double or Nothing
09:37to earn the right to face Moxley for the championship.
09:40Throwing everything they had at the matches finale,
09:42Moxley and his Death Riders were backed up by the Young Bucks
09:46in a crusade to keep the title.
09:48The final act was rightly given to Swerve Strickland
09:51as he and Hangman called a truce to their bitter feud for the good of AEW,
09:56and Page won the title once more.
09:58However, arguably the two biggest pops of the main event
10:01were reserved for the company's returning heroes.
10:04Feeling like AEW's Avengers Assemble moment,
10:07Bryan Danielson came out of retirement to hit a running knee,
10:11and Darby Allin arrived from the rafters and Mount Everest
10:15to aid Hangman in setting AEW's most coveted prize free.
10:19Oh, it was a hell of a set of moments
10:21to help immortalize one hell of a main event.
10:24And if you like this video, my friend,
10:26then wait till you get a load of this
10:2710 Greatest Promos in Modern Wrestling History video as well.
10:31Yep, go and give it a click.
10:32Have a good time and thank me later.