10 Longest Gaps Between WWE Superstars' WrestleMania Matches
Never say never in the WWE. There is always the chance for another WrestleMania moment.
Every wrestler dreams of their WrestleMania moment, the chance to steal the show on the biggest show of the year. For the lucky few, every year can provide an opportunity for that moment, with a match in the offing each time the big pay day rolls around. For others, years may pass between opportunities to shine for all the world to see.
But there is always the opportunity for one more chance in WWE.
This list is based on the time between matches on the year's biggest wrestling show, so decades-long gaps between on-screen appearances do not count. This is a run-down of the lengthiest periods of time wrestlers have spent between lacing up their boots to compete in the ring at WrestleMania. Some were highly-anticipated returns, some provided the opportunity for dream matches to finally be fulfilled, and some were just the first folks to answer the phone when Vince McMahon was calling around to fill the ring for the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven.
Regardless of why they returned, these superstars are the proof that you can never say never in the WWE, as they returned to the Granddaddy of Them All for one last WrestleMania moment years or even decades after their last. Or at least, to be quickly tossed in a battle royal...
10. Jeff Hardy, Matt Borne (8 Years)
After spending his teenage years being thrown around the ring by the stars of the New Generation era, Jeff Hardy made his WrestleMania debut in 2000 by jumping off ladders as part of the show-stealing Triangle Ladder Match. After a 2003 firing he would be back jumping off ladders at WrestleMania 23 (a mere five-year 'Mania absence at this point) but despite being arguably the most popular star in the company, his disappointing Extreme Rules defeat to Matt at WrestleMania 25 was his last appearance until 2017, when Jeff returned with his brother to once again jump off ladders at WrestleMania 33, an eight-year 'Mania absence.
Matt Borne went through quite the change in his eight-year exile. Borne wrestled on the first WrestleMania in 1985, where as regular old Matt Borne in plain wrestling trunks and rugged beard, the future Big Josh lost to Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat in a forgettable match. In 1993 he would be back in more memorable fashion for 'Mania IX, not as Matt Borne but as the original, evil, and best version of Doink the Clown, beating Crush with the aid of a second Doink and providing one of the few pleasing memories of that show.