10 Wrestling Returns We Marked Out For

7. Triple H

Triple H was left out of a pivotal part of WWE’s history when he went out with an injury in May of 2001. Just a few weeks later, WCW and ECW invaded the company and Hunter missed all of it.

In his absence, WWE’s product fell apart, as the Invasion angle was a total flop. Fans were ready for things to get back to normal, and basically wanted to move on and forget the six month storyline ever happened. While Hunter went down with his injury while he was a heel, the fans gained a tremendous amount of respect for him in his absence, as they realized how truly passionate he was about the business.

After tearing his quad in his last match, he fought through an incredible amount of pain to go with the planned finish, when by all accounts he should have been carried out immediately. He also had a series of great videos that aired on Raw, which followed him through his rehabilitation process, and all the struggles he had to go through to once again step back in the ring.

On the 7 Jan. 2002 edition of Monday Night Raw, Hunter finally returned after eight months away. The Madison Square Garden crowd had been anxiously awaiting his appearance all night and when his music hit, he received the pop of his career.

While fans may not have liked everything he did to The Rock and Mick Foley during his time on top in storyline form, they grew to appreciate his body of work during his time away, and his tremendous dedication to the business. It was game on from that night forward.