11 MORE WWE Returns That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
3. Bret Hart (2010)
Some things just happen far too late to be effective. Case in point: Bret Hart feuding with Vince McMahon in 2010. This was almost a full 13 years after their infamous 'Montreal Screwjob' altercation at Survivor Series 1997 (you might have heard of it!), and that was too long. By 2010, Hart was a shadow of his former self.
He returned on the 4 January Raw as a guest host and publicly patched things up with Shawn Michaels. He tried to do the same with Vince McMahon, then Vince hoofed him in the balls to build towards an eventual match between the pair at WrestleMania XXVI. This was all newsworthy, of course, but Bret lacked the same fire he’d had during his first run in the company.
Physically, he was a spent force after struggling through numerous health problems from 2000 onwards, but his promos were also too passive and nondescript to really punch through the rekindled feud with McMahon. Further, the actual match itself at ‘Mania was atrocious. Bret couldn't bump, so Vince was almost turned babyface by default because he took such a kicking from the entire Hart clan on the night.
The stupidity didn't stop there. WWE decided that the best follow up plan for one of the worst 'Mania showings ever was to put the United States Title on Bret. Naturally, his reign didn't last too long (how could it?!), but that's besides the point - it didn't need to happen in the first place.
It was clear from his re-introductory promo on the 4 January flagship that the fires had gone out.