Fun/unexpected wrestling returns

[Kfogg1991]

I really enjoyed the blue meanie/BWO comeback brief run back in 2005. Yeah it came off the back of jbl shooting on meanie at one night stand but it was great fun and one I really enjoyed. 

I am in love each year with the Royal rumble and the who's going to show up as a suprise each year not that great last year but the year before expecially in the women's got me so giddy like a child again 

[BomberPat]

Piper's return at Wrestlemania XIX was a massive one for me. I think Vince vs. Hogan is about as perfect an example you can find of that genre of big daft WWE "sports entertainment" brawl, and Piper interfering and overacting his arse off was a superb addition to that. Piper back in WWE felt like something from another time entirely, even more than having Hogan back did.

[wandshogun09]

15 hours ago, FUM said:

Came in, got my hopes up, fell on his arse

“Fell on his arse” basically sums up Ultimo Dragon’s entire WWE run, doesn’t it? Not just that WrestleMania entrance.

The best thing to come out of it was his inclusion in Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain. I pushed him to the moon on that bastard. 

[RedTwoster]

This thread should probably be dedicated to Bob Backlund, given the number of unexpected returns he's made. 

I wasn't watching wrestling back in 1992 (I wasn't even in school then), but I'm under the impression his return at that point felt a bit out of nowhere. So there's that, as return number one. 

He then returned again during the attitude era, in the 2000 Royal Rumble and managed Kurt Angle for a bit - again, I wasn't a fan then so I can't speak for the reaction: 

He would then disappear for a bit before resurfacing in TNA in 2007, as part of the Paparazzi Production storyline - he would even wrestle a match, facing Alex Shelley:

After leaving TNA, he returned to WWE in the Raw 15th anniversary battle royal - perhaps not an unexpected appearance, so I won't include this. Same goes for his 2012 appearance, where he wrestled Heath Slater - and subsequent appearances over that next year. They were cameos...until 2016, where this happened...

He became Darren Young's life coach, with a gimmick based around 'Make America Great Again' (vowing to 'Make Darren Young Great Again' - bringing Young back to his peak really was targeting a low bar...) 

The storyline - which I imagine most of you have forgotten - kind of disappeared when Young got injured, and was subsequently released. As far as I'm aware, Backlund hasn't appeared for a major wrestling company since then and you'd have to think another return is unlikely - but as ever with Backlund, as soon as you least expect it...

Edited July 25, 2024 by RedTwoster

[BomberPat]

He wrestled a couple of matches in Japan after the Darren Young angle! 

[RedTwoster]

17 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

He wrestled a couple of matches in Japan after the Darren Young angle! 

I was aware that he'd appeared in Japan after this (which is why I said major company) - but I actually didn't know he wrestled. And your post did more than that - it brought the face Backlund wrestled Tajiri (albeit as part of a tag match) into my life - mental!

 

[LaGoosh]

18 hours ago, RedTwoster said:

He became Darren Young's life coach, with a gimmick based around 'Make America Great Again' (vowing to 'Make Darren Young Great Again' - bringing Young back to his peak really was targeting a low bar...) 

The mental thing is that this storyline was actually Darren Young's idea. He came up with it all by himself and pushed for it for months before the office finally gave in. Why would you actively try to sabotage your own career with something so shit?!