10 Big WWE Returns That Could Happen In 2017
Brother Nero, we've been expecting you...
Technically, WWE isn't the only game in town - but for the past 16 years, it's certainly been the only one of its stature. Ever since WCW went out of business, there hasn't been another wrestling outfit that could offer the same sort of financial compensation that WWE can. As a result, the company can pretty much get any star that the management wants.
Take Goldberg, for example. The former WCW World Heavyweight Champion had a largely maligned run with WWE that lasted from 2003 to 2004, and nobody was more down on it than Goldberg himself. In the years that followed, "Da Man" repeatedly badmouthed Vince McMahon and his time in the company whenever he got the opportunity.
Still, years passed, and Goldberg got the itch to return to action - especially so his young son, Gage, could finally see him compete. With no other organization on the planet able to match his price, Goldberg was more willing to let bygones be bygones and return to the grandest stage of all. At Survivor Series, he came to back to action, beating Brock Lesnar.
What can we expect in 2017? Are there any similar returns that could get the same amount of press?
Here are 10 big WWE returns that could happen in 2017.
10. Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam was arguably still in his prime when he left WWE in 2007, and many fans expected that he'd be back in the company before too long. Instead, it was six years before the WWE Universe would see the high-flying former champion again, as he returned at Money in the Bank 2013.
RVD's return, which was a temporary thing, didn't go so well - it was mostly centered around a pretty bad World Heavyweight Championship feud with Alberto Del Rio. RVD left and came back again in 2014, but that short tenure was even less productive.
Like Goldberg, RVD has been vocal about not liking his recent usage, but he's also gone on record as saying that he'd be open to a return to the company if certain circumstances were right. Given that the brand split has been reinstituted and that Smackdown, especially, has issues with talent depth, could we see Rob Van Dam come back for one more run? It's certainly not impossible.