10 Wrestlers Who Came Crawling Back To WWE

7. Hulk Hogan (Again)

And again and again.

This was the story of Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon once the genuine (and box office) magic of his 2002 return had well and truly worn off.

Back when discerning booking choices still had to be made based on things like buy rates and gate receipts in WWE, Hogan's value was fairly easy to gauge. His WrestleMania X8 return was an undeniable show-stealer, and his Championship victory the following month felt like the way to capitalise. As numbers plummeted though, McMahon quickly realised the thirst was for nostalgia rather than little-and-often doses of 'The Hulkster'.

Hogan didn't completely agree, and stepped away when requests to defeat Brock Lesnar at November's Survivor Series were rebuffed. All was made well for a WrestleMania bout with McMahon himself the following Spring, a Shawn Michaels story in 2005 and a SummerSlam time-filler against Randy Orton.

Each run felt more of a mutually beneficial offering than for any kind of creative impetus, and it's been the template for the two sides ever since.