12 Terrible Wrestling Returns That Should Have Been Great

These returning heroes couldn't save the day.

Dudley Boyz
WWE.com

Absence makes the heart grow fonder... or so it is said. However, it doesn't always play out that way. But in theory, that's why one of the most exciting things about professional wrestling is watching one of your favorites return after being away for years.

There's fresh feuds for them to take on, or new chapters added to old rivalries from the past. Usually these returns make the product more entertaining, but sometimes...they fall flat. Whether the particular talent is let down by creative, or they're out of shape or just don't have it anymore, an exciting return can go to a sad one in no time at all.

Not everyone can have a brilliant return like Shawn Michaels, who did some of his best work after missing out on years of in-ring service. Or come back like Brock Lesnar, more popular than ever and just as devastating as he once was. Not everyone can be like The Rock, who while a step slower in the ring, still had insane amounts of charisma to put the rest of the roster to shame. Some wrestlers come back, and you kind of wish they hadn't. You want to remember them as they were.

The criteria for this list is that the wrestler had to have been out of WWE entirely for an extended amount of time, and not just spending a few months on the sidelines with an injury.

Main-eventers, movie stars and more make up 12 returns that should have been great, but were basically terrible.

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As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at." Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week. Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com