Curt Hennig was a tremendous worker in his day but years of hard bumps had clearly taken their toll on the perfect one: it was evident in WCW in the late 90s that Hennig was not the worker he once was. After his WCW contract expired in summer 2000, Hennig was a star of the short-lived XWF, until WWE bought out his contract. Plans were set for Hennig to return to WWE screens at the 2002 Royal Rumble and the company aired his Mr. Perfect vignettes for weeks beforehand. He entered the Rumble to a great reaction and actually looked decent in the ring. Impressed, WWE officials decided to give him something of a mini push and feuds with Steve Austin and Rob Van Dam. It didn't last. Hennig's in-ring performances got less and less sharp and, by March, he was wrestling the likes of Perry Saturn and Shawn Stasiak on house shows. If he was on Raw at all, it was usually in an enhancement role. He formed a tag team with the hopeless Big Bossman in March but it was clear that team weren't going to be challenging for the Tag Titles any time soon. Hennig was eventually let go after the Plane Ride From Hell, during which he tried to take down fellow Minnesotan Brock Lesnar, causing the two men to fall dangerously close to one of the plane's doors.
