Ranking All 29 WWE Returns And Debuts In 2022

9. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin

Admit it, you had to figure that the window had closed on “Stone Cold” Steve Austin wrestling again. After 19 years away from the ring despite numerous opportunities, why would he pick now to come back?

But that’s exactly what happened at WrestleMania 38, with Kevin Owens using a main event KO Show interview to challenge Austin to an impromptu match, which Stone Cold won. The match itself was the brawling style Austin popularized during the Attitude Era, but it worked just fine, as the Texas crowd was way into it.

There’s plenty to criticize here – having an impromptu match main-event a WrestleMania night rather than actually building anticipation – and it was only a one-off match, so it wasn’t kicking off a limited return to the ring for Austin. But as an experience itself seeing a Hall-of-Famer wrestle for the first time in nearly two decades, this was special and deserves high placement on this list.