10 Exact Moments Wrestlers Knew They Would Return To WWE

3. Brock Lesnar

The Moment: Brock Lesnar cut a figure oddly at peace with himself after losing by TKO to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 on 30 December 2011. As he stood mid-Octagon and spoke to the Las Vegas crowd, Lesnar calmly told the world that he'd be walking away from MMA.

"Tonight is the last time you'll see me in the Octagon", he said.

The Return: That wasn't true (Brock fought again at UFC 200 in 2016), but Lesnar's UFC departure did open the door for a WWE return just four months later in April 2012. He launched his comeback and pasted John Cena with a thumping F-5 on the post-WrestleMania XXVIII edition of Raw, and fans ate it up.

Brock went from wounded MMA star struggling with diverticulitis to rampaging 'Beast' reborn. Few, if any, knew it then, but Lesnar was about to embark on a dominating run as a UFC-influenced wrecking ball who's still going strong as a WWE part-timer today.