10 Most Unthinkable Comebacks In Wrestling History

10. Cody Rhodes Returns To WWE

Brand loyalty is fierce in this toxic, tribalistic landscape - but the fact that the 'E' in AEW stands for 'Elite' obscured, for a time, a core wrestling truth: that loyalty isn't always reciprocated by the workers.

Not that Cody Rhodes actually owed AEW anything. He owed it to himself to make the most money for his family and advance his career on his own terms. Still, that it is named 'AEW' created a certain expectation.

Cody was the most ambitious member of the Elite, and the most savvy marketer of what that particular brand was "meant" to stand for. Screaming revolutionary rhetoric or making small, winking digs at WWE's expense, his work - and it was a work - was so convincing that he, not Hangman Page or even Jon Moxley, was received by the AEW base as the ultimate babyface figure upon the launch of the promotion.

All of which rendered his 2022 return to WWE so unthinkable, even after his star faded and fans were prepared - even very willing - to jeer his conviction over never turning heel. When his quirks were brought into a different focus - the blood, the histrionics, the win/loss record, even if he needed it to remain a star - there was no turning back. He recognised this himself, and made the jump.

It was unthinkable, but Cody is a smart operator. He never received a single boo in WWE despite ripping the piss out of it for five years because he knew he was going to be received as the man who deserted the dreaded competition.