10 Compensations Wrestlers Accepted As Payback

4. Sable - A Fresh Start

CM Punk Vince McMahon
WWE.com

Though far from the biggest "never say never" moment of the post-2001 years, Sable's WWE return on the SmackDown after WrestleMania XIX came as a fairly substantial shock following her hugely controversial exit from the company 4 years prior.

After rising to enormous popularity at the height of the Attitude Era, she'd grown tired of the WWE grind as well as having to perform her own one by mid-1999. The unexpected departure that year was made worse by a (dropped) lawsuit she filed against the organisation, seemingly cutting ties with Vince McMahon completely just three years after she'd dazzled everybody at Titan's top table.

Though her financial battle wasn't won in the courtroom, enough water had passed under the bridge by 2003 for her to make a return. Notably though, the role was relatively short-lived, and seemed to mock some of the complaints she'd made on her way out. She very briefly engaged in a lesbian pollen (TM OSW Review) angle with Torrie Wilson before linking arms with McMahon as he continued descending into his umpteenth on (and off) screen midlife crisis.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett