10 Awesome WWE Stars Who Returned Even Better Than Before

It’s become a bit of an old adage that time spent away from the ring is a wrestler’s worst enemy. That won’t be very reassuring to the likes of Finn Balor and Sasha Banks - who was bluntly reminded of this by Booker T on Raw this week - but then again, it’s a claim that hasn’t always proved entirely true.

Often we’ve seen guys and girls take some time off and return down the line to earn even more success than they had done before.

Whether they left to spend time recovering from injury, to hone their craft in temporary surroundings, or simply to pursue some interests outside of the business, a whole host of names have left the company and come back later to enjoy arguably the best runs of their entire career.

In the spirit of looking on the bright side of things and celebrating improvement, this article recounts some of the most notable examples as we list ten wrestlers who left WWE and later returned to the company even better than they were before.

By the way, I've only included examples from WWE so, unfortunately, Ric Flair's incredible recovery from that 1975 plane crash isn't up for consideration.

Having established himself as one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time, Christian’s subsequent singles run wasn’t quite as formidable. After a few brief Intercontinental title reigns, he would eventually leave WWE upon the expiration of his contract in late 2005.

Wasting little time, he then showed up at TNA’s Genesis pay-per-view just a fortnight later, kicking off a three-year run that saw him capture two NWA World Heavyweight Championships and establish himself as a main event star.

Clearly he'd done enough to pique WWE’s interest. Captain Charisma would soon find himself back with the company, but rather than being reserved to the tag team ranks and the mid-card scene, Christian was now getting that singles push that many felt he was deserving of.

Within five months of his re-debut, he’d captured a pair of ECW Championships, before going on to win two further World Heavyweight Championships and notch a final Intercontinental title reign that lasted longer than any of his previous three.

That was enough to make him both a Grand Slam and Triple Crown champion. something that had seemed like a bit of a pipe dream prior to his 2005 departure.