10 Wrestling Legends Whose WWE Returns Hurt Their Legacy

Some returns are bad, some returns are terrible, and some are on a completely different level.

The Ultimate Warrior was always an incredibly basic wrestler, even at the peak of his powers, but nobody can argue that he didn’t stand out. His outrageous energy, great look, and nonsensical rambling promos made him one of WWE’s biggest stars, and he was eventually pegged as the guy who’d replace Hulk Hogan as the company’s top star.

WrestleMania 6’s “Ultimate Challenge” was seen as a passing of the torch between the two, but while Hogan would eventually return to reclaim his top spot, Warrior was massive at the time. He left WWE in 1991 following a pay dispute, but returned at the following year’s WrestleMania for quick feuds with Randy Savage and Papa Shango, and he was fired again just a few months later.

That was supposed to be the end of Warrior, but no. With Scott Hall and Kevin Nash on their way out, a huge gap was left at the top of WWE’s card, and who did Vince McMahon look to fill the gap?

You guessed it. Warrior returned after three and a half years to hilariously squash Triple H at WrestleMania 12, but whatever magic he once had was long gone. He’d slowed down in the ring, rendering his matches even duller than before, and his star power and energy were all but gone. Everything that made him popular had been lost to age, and his return was a complete debacle.

Warrior partook in a couple of daft feuds with Jerry Lawler and Goldust, and he became a pointless presence on the roster. Every one of his WWE stints ended with termination, and this was no different. Warrior skipped a handful of advertised appearances, including In Your House 9, and he never appeared in WWE again. Thus began one of the most infamous off-screen feuds in wrestling history, eventually leading to WWE’s “The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior” DVD.