8 WWE stars who made a surprising return to the company this decade
The hard truth about professional wrestling is that some stars - from both main-eventers to mid-carders - may one day leave a top promotion. The reasons can stem from anything to injury to wanting more opportunities to just getting burnt out with the everyday activity.
WWE has seen no shortage of stars that have come and gone through its doors. Being the biggest wrestling promotion in the world allows the company to land a lot of top talent, but that talent sometimes wants to leave.
Some stars often leave and never come back, but every now and then, a few do come back for one reason or another. Who thought the Ultimate Warrior would ever come back? How about Goldberg?
The fact remains that time can sometimes mend the fences that were broken between the two sides. Jeff Jarrett was someone we thought we'd never see in the WWE again but lo and behold, he was in 2019's Royal Rumble. He was gone as quick as he appeared, however.
This past decade saw a lot of memorable stars return to the company. Here are eight such performers who made surprising returns to the company over the last ten years:
#8 The Hardyz
Left in 2009; returned in 2017
Both Matt and Jeff were regular fixtures in the WWE for most of the 2000s. They started out as one of the best tag teams of the decade but would later branch out into singles success. While Matt wouldn't get the main-event chances like Jeff, he was still an entertaining part of the mid-card when facing almost anyone.
Jeff would leave the company in 2003 and go to TNA but return in 2006. Matt would leave in 2005 but would also come back in 2006. The brothers would then both leave the WWE in 2009 with Jeff returning to TNA. Matt would work the independent circuit, including a stint in Ring Of Honor, before joining Jeff in Impact/TNA in 2014.
It would be during this run in TNA that the elder Hardy would craft the 'Broken' universe which took the wrestling world by storm. After a run with the top prize in Impact, the brothers made a surprise return to the WWE in 2017 at WrestleMania 33. In their comeback match, they won the RAW Tag Team titles. Neither man burned bridges with the company but it was somewhat of a shock for them to return more than seven years after leaving.