10 Wrestlers Who Came Crawling Back To WWE
1. Cody Rhodes
For the fat end of a year, Cody Rhodes' AEW arc seemed destined to end in a formal, in-character heel turn.
He'd been getting the dreaded mixed reactions ahead of eventually just soaking up most of the boos in any building, had been a pretty convincing piece of sh*t on television behind the insincerity of the odd forced smile, and - most tellingly - made it clear that he. Would. Not. Turn.
It got too clunky for its own good and a few too many viewers were reaching a little too hard for something bigger than it ever was, but his return to the dark side was imminent.
And now it's complete.
On February 15th 2022, Rhodes broke any remaining hearts left in tact by Valentine's Day and parted ways with the company he's embedded in the DNA of. Immediately news broke of a potential WWE return, and a potential signing was at long last reported as a done deal on March 18th.
It's one of the biggest stories of the year, and will only get bigger pending his actions on screen as well as off. That it's happened at all is a stark reminder of what really drives the industry. Jim Ross reckons it's cash and creative, but the former always trumps the latter.