15 Best Wrestling Comebacks

It is always pretty sad for fans when a wrestler is leaving a company. Whether it be to seek their fortunes elsewhere, getting released, retirement or they need a break, it is always hard to let them go after providing us with such entertainment and great moments.

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As much as it is disappointing when these things happen, one of the best moments in wrestling for fans is seeing these Superstars return from their dismissal or even better, from retirement.

The returning segments and matches are always a highlight for the year and generally go down as one of the better moments in recent WWE memory or even of all time.

For this list, I have decided to take a look at the top 10 greatest professional wrestling comebacks.

For this, I will be focusing on superstars who either left WWE or another promotion, retired, or parted ways in some other way and spent a considerable amount of time away from whichever organizations.

I will not be including superstars who were out with serious injuries, or those who jumped ship to another, only those who returned to the ring after a long period of time away.

#15 Fit Finlay - 2006

The Belfast Bruiser Fit Finlay had a successful run in WCW, which included becoming the WCW World Television Champion, and having memorable matches with the like of William Regal and Chris Benoit.

When WCW went out of business in 2001, Finlay was picked up as a trainer for WWE's developmental territories.

He helped train future WWE Champions like John Cena and Randy Orton, and in 2002 became the WWE agent on Diva's matches. Finlay began training for a comeback in 2004 and even wrestled on some live events.

Amazingly, in December 2005, WWE began airing vignettes for Finlay's return to television. At the age of 47, Finlay debuted on WWE SmackDown in January 2006.

I think Finlay had one of the best wrestling comebacks because, for his age, he wrestled some damn fine matches. I would even go as far as to call him one of the very best wrestlers in the world between 2006 and 2007.

Finlay would win the WWE United States Championship in 2006 and challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship on occasions.

Finlay would have some great matches with Chris Benoit, Booker T, William Regal and more, and would participate in some memorable angles, such as Hornswoggle being revealed as Vince McMahon's son.

Finlay would wrestle for WWE for just about four years, before returning to his agent role in 2010.

#14 Goldust - 2002 & 2013

Dustin Runnels was given the bizarre character of Goldust in 1995.

When he debuted, he immediately turned a lot of heads with his drag queen like appearance and love for movies and everything gold, as well as his suggestive breathing inhalation while he caressed his body in an almost sexual manner.

Despite some superstars being uncomfortable with the gimmick, Runnels played the character very well and he was given pushes here and there including challenging for the WWE Championship and becoming a three-time WWE Intercontinental Champion. After the character had several different evolutions, Goldust left WWE for WCW in 1999.

Goldust returned to WWE on a one-shot appearance at the 2002 Royal Rumble and impressed management so much with his conditioning and crowd response, that he signed a two-year contract.

Goldust had a very memorable two-year return, which most notably included a very popular and hilarious tag team with Booker T.

After Goldust was released in 2004, he had various returns over the years until one finally stuck, in 2013.

Goldust returned to the company and immediately had one of the best matches of his career on RAW with then WWE Champion Randy Orton. He then formed a tag team with brother Cody Rhodes and had possibly the two best matches of his career against The Shield

Goldust and Cody would become two-time WWE Tag Team Champion and although currently injured as of this writing, Goldust remains with WWE and as a character on WWE TV to this day, 24 years after the Goldust character first debuted.

#13 Scott Steiner - 2006

'Big Poppa Pump' Scott Steiner is one of the best performers in WCW history and best tag team wrestlers of all time, with brother Rick.

The former WCW Champion returned to WWE in 2002 to much fanfare and a monster push. However, nagging injuries and age exposed Steiner and his return goes down as one of the worst big-time returns in wrestling history.

Following his World Championship feud with Triple H, Steiner would wrestle in the mid-card before being released in 2004. Fast forward two years later, and Scott Steiner arrives in TNA Wrestling.

Steiner joined TNA to the main event scene and frequently wrestled TNA's biggest stars such as Kurt Angle, Sting, Christian Cage, Samoa Joe and more.

Steiner was always apart of the main event scene in TNA, often challenging for the World Championship and participating in big angles with the aforementioned talent and even main programs like the Main Event Mafia angle.

Despite being older in TNA, Scott Steiner has also wrestled some pretty damn entertaining matches in TNA, much better than his WWE matches.

Steiner has also provided us with some hilarious moments through his promos in TNA. Even today, Steiner still pops up in Impact Wrestling every now and again.

#12 Bobby Lashley - 2014

At one point it seemed like Bobby Lashley was to be WWE's next big star, even having a major angle with Vince McMahon himself. However, the former WWE ECW Champion would part ways with WWE in 2008 as he wanted to focus on his MMA career.

Lashley would surprisingly join TNA Wrestling in 2009, but would only last about six months before again leaving the profession to focus on MMA.

After wrestling very few matches on the independent scene in 2013, Lashley made a surprising return to TNA at the Lockdown pay-per-view event in 2014 as a mystery opponent for EC3.

The now very accomplished MMA fighter, Lashley would go onto have a very successful four year run with Impact Wrestling, where he would become a four-time World Champion and also hold the X Division and King of The Mountain titles at the same time.

Lashley also had many great matches with Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode, Drew McIntyre, EC3 and many more.

Lashley really was the MVP of Impact Wrestling during his return and it is a big shame that WWE is not booking him even 1/10 as great as Impact did.

#11 Rob Van Dam - 2010

After over five years of the rigorous schedule, former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam would part ways with WWE in 2007.

RVD was burned out and wanted time away to heal. He intended on making a full-time return to wrestling at some point in 2008, but those plans would change when his then-wife was revealed to have cancer. RVD wrestled some independent shows throughout 2008 and 2009 before signing with TNA Wrestling in 2010.

RVD had inquired about returning to WWE before he signed if the schedule was right but was offered a full-time schedule and chose to sign with TNA thereafter.

He had an unusually perplexing debut, where he defeated Sting in nine seconds before being beaten up by him for 3 minutes. He bounced back rather quickly though and just six weeks to the day he debuted, would defeat AJ Styles to become TNA World Heavyweight Champion.

RVD had a successful reign, with big and successful title defenses over AJ Styles, Sting, Abyss, Mr. Anderson and Jeff Hardy, before vacating the title in August, after a four-month reign due to running out of dates per year on his contract.

After he returned to TV, RVD would remain in the main event scene for the next two years, often challenging for the World title and participating in big angles.

RVD would also become the TNA X Division Champion in 2012 before departing the company and returning to WWE in 2013 for one of the worst big-time returns.

#10 Goldberg - 2016

Goldberg was one of the greatest superstars in the history of WCW. Excitement levels upon his arrival in WWE were extremely high in 2003, but they were dashed upon his uneven booking.

Everyone from WWE to the fans to Goldberg himself were overwhelmingly disappointed over his run and he left the company on bad terms in 2004, which included exiting after an interminable match with Brock Lesnar.

No one ever thought they would ever work together ever again, that is until 2K negotiated for Goldberg to be a part of the WWE 2K17 console game, which led to WWE working out a return for him.

Goldberg returned to WWE for the first time in over 12 and a half years in October 2016. He returned for the sole reason for his son to see him wrestle in person, and for WWE, to promote WWE 2K17.

Goldberg's return was an instant hit as he amazingly defeated Brock Lesnar in the main event of Survivor Series in one minute and twenty-six seconds.

What was supposed to be a one return match turned into four matches, including annihilating Lesnar once more in the Royal Rumble match, defeating Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship and falling to Lesnar at WrestleMania 33.

Goldberg headlined the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018, ending his WWE career on a high note.

#9 Big Show - 2008

After being one of the most dominating performers in the history of WWE and WCW, the Big Show departed WWE in early 2007, having last wrestled in December 2006. Show left WWE due to being physically wrecked and having several nagging injuries.

After slimming down more than 40 pounds, Big Show returned to WWE in February 2008, during a crazy segment with Rey Mysterio and boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., which resulted in a match between Show and Mayweather at WrestleMania 24. And now 11 years later, the Big Show remains with WWE to this day.

The Big Show's comeback should be deemed highly successful as it has lasted more than 11 years now and during that time, he has won several more Championships, including being World Heavyweight Champion once again in 2011 - 2012.

Big Show has arguably had the best wrestling run of his career this time around. Even to this day, he still shows up for sporadic angles.

#8 Hulk Hogan - 2002

With Hulk Hogan riding so high in WCW in the 90's, I don't think anyone ever really thought he may ever return to WWE, that is until his controversial exit from WCW in 2000. Hogan briefly negotiated with WWE about a return in time for WrestleMania X-7 in 2001, but they reached an impasse.

When Kevin Nash pitched to his old buddy Triple H about a nWo reunion in early 2002, Hogan immediately jumped on board.

Despite returning as a heel, fans loved seeing the Hulkster back and WWE was forced to turn him face.

Hogan would have one of the most memorable matches of all-time with The Rock at WrestleMania X8 and even more incredibly, would defeat Triple H at Backlash to win the WWE Championship for the 6th time.

Hogan would also become a Tag Team Champion for the first time in his illustrious career when he and Edge defeated Billy & Chuck on the 4th of July.

Hogan would then take six months off WWE TV before returning in early 2003 for a rematch with The Rock and an excellent showdown with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX.

And while the less said about the Mr. America character, the better, regardless of that, Hulk Hogan had an incredible comeback before his exit in June 2003.

#7 Brock Lesnar - 2012

Former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar had a rather controversial exit from WWE in 2004, has pretty much been the face of the company at the time of his departure.

As big as a loss as he was for WWE at the time, he would go onto accomplish other amazing things in Japan and the UFC, becoming one of the toughest men on the planet.

Amazingly, Lesnar would finish up with the UFC in 2011 and return to WWE on the post-WrestleMania episode of RAW in 2012.

Although his wrestling style had changed, Lesnar had become an even bigger box office draw and immediately brought some unmissable moments to WWE.

To say that Brock Lesnar's return to WWE has been astonishing in an understatement. The Beast has managed to defeat pretty much every top star in WWE, won the WWE Championship for a third time, is the current reigning WWE Universal Champion on his second reign and ended The Undertaker's legendary streak at WrestleMania.

Not everyone is going to love Brock Lesnar, but you have to respect his incredible comeback.

#6 Ric Flair - 2001

'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair is one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time, if not the greatest.

After wrestling for WCW until the very end, Flair would sign with WWE to return as an on-camera character in October 2001, and returning to TV in November.

Ric Flair initially returned to be the new storyline co-owner of WWE along with Vince McMahon, an angle that helped bring in the brand extension.

Flair would last just over two months as the General manager of RAW, before losing an ownership match to Vince McMahon. The following week, Flair announced his intention to return to the ring, full-time.

Over the next near six years, Flair would become the WWE Intercontinental Champion, a three-time Tag Team Champion, would form a memorable partnership with Triple H and later Evolution.

Flair would also have some very thrilling matches with Triple H, The Rock, The Undertaker, Edge, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels, among more, including his incredible final WWE match with HBK at WrestleMania 24.

Not bad for someone who was already a 16 time World Heavyweight Champion before his comeback.

#5 The Rock - 2011

The Rock is one of the greatest performers of all-time. When his acting career began to come priority, WWE allowed his contract to expire in late 2004, assuming he wouldn't be interested in signing another.

The Rock later revealed he was actually offended by this and wanted to reach some kind of a deal.

Despite that, after appearing on RAW in August 2004, it would be another six and a half years before we saw him on the Red Brand again. The Great One made his long-awaited return to WWE in February 2011, being revealed as the guest host of WrestleMania 27.

He immediately planted seeds for his future WrestleMania encounter with John Cena, and would make occasional appearances throughout the year, including returning to in-ring competition at Survivor Series 2011.

The Rock wrestled six matches between 2011 and 2016, and has often teased returning again. His comeback will mostly be remembered for his incredible shoot segments with John Cena and their first encounter at WrestleMania 28, as well as winning the WWE Championship for the eight time in 2013.

#4 Daniel Bryan - 2018

Daniel Bryan is one of the best wrestlers of the 21st century, and perhaps even of all-time. After an incredible career of being a multi-time WWE Champion, United States Champion, Intercontinental Champion, Tag Team Champion and ROH Champion, among more, Bryan sad retired from in-ring competition on February 8, 2016.

Following his retirement, Bryan would become WWE SmackDown General Manager in July 2016, until March 2018 when Bryan amazingly revealed that he was officially medically cleared and would be returning to active WWE competition full-time.

Thus far, Bryan's return has been so far so good. He has wrestled some pretty damn good matches with AJ Styles, The Miz, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, among more, and would defeat AJ Styles to become WWE Champion for the 4th time, last November.

Daniel Bryan is still the reigning WWE Champion as of this writing and his heel turn has brought out another thrilling side of him. Bryan is showing no signs of slowing down.

#3 Sting - 2006

'The Icon' Sting is one of the greatest performers of all-time and was to WCW what The Undertaker is to the WWE, their gatekeeper.

When WCW went out of business in 2001, the Stinger was in no hurry to have any discussions with WWE.

Although he had brief talks with them in early 2002, a deal was a long way off. Sting would wrestle some matches in 2002 and 2003 for the World Wrestling All-Stars promotion and TNA Wrestling, before remaining inactive throughout 2004 and 2005.

Amazingly, to the shock of everyone, TNA Wrestling announced in late 2005 that they had reached a deal with Sting for 'The Icon' to wrestle part-time for them in 2006.

What Sting thought would be one year of helping the young promotion, turned into a relationship of almost eight years. Over this incredible run, Sting would become a four-time TNA World Champion, an NWA World Champion once again and a TNA Tag Team Champion.

Sting would also have many thrilling matches with Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and more. H even stepped into the ring with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair once more. For someone who many thought would never wrestle in a big league again, Sting had an amazing comeback. Such a shame the same can't be said for his short run with WWE.

#2 Chris Jericho - 2007, 2012 & 2014

By the time Chris Jericho left WWE in 2005, he had just re-entered the main event scene and really helped John Cena look great upon his arrival on RAW.

It had been a while since Jericho was last in the main event, but he looked damn good back in it before losing a 'You're Fired' match to Cena on the post-SummerSlam episode of RAW.

Y2J had decided to leave WWE for a while to pursue other interests outside of wrestling, most notably touring with his band Fozzy.

Jericho would also do some light acting and appear on some reality series throughout 2005 and 2006 before releasing his first book in 2007. It was also in 2007 that Chris Jericho made his first return to WWE.

Jericho returned in November 2007 after a series of vignettes hyping up the 'Second Coming'. Jericho emerged to much fanfare and immediately challenged for the WWE Championship.

Although unsuccessful, he soon won the Intercontinental Championship once again, and later turned heel in the summer of 2008 for an excellent reopening of his feud with Shawn Michaels. During this time Jericho would become the World Heavyweight Champion.

Over the next two years, Jericho would remain in the main event scene having memorable feuds with John Cena, Batista, Edge, Rey Mysterio and more.

After just over a year away from WWE once again to tour with Fozzy, Jericho returned in early 2012 and had a great feud with CM Punk, unsuccessfully challenging him for the WWE Championship in some great matches.

Jericho would return again in 2014 after more time away and had memorable matches with The Shield, Wyatt Family, AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and more.

#1 Shawn Michaels - 2002

The 'Heart Break Kid' Shawn Michaels was one of the greatest wrestlers of the 90's. Sadly, due to a serious back injury, HBK's career seemingly came to an end in 1998, wrestling his 'last match' at WrestleMania 14 with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

After some sporadic appearance over the next two years, Shawn Michaels returned to WWE TV as a permanent character in 2002, joining the nWo.

It was then that he toyed around with the idea of wrestling one or two more matches. With his back pretty much healed, he would return for a match at SummerSlam with Triple H, and they blew the roof off the building with a five-star classic.

He was convinced to have a few more matches that would see him become World Heavyweight Champion at Survivor Series, and wrestle Rob Van Dam on RAW before dropping the title back to Triple H at Armageddon.

From here, HBK was offered a huge contract to return full-time and suddenly toying around the idea of one more match turned into almost seven years of full-time wrestling and having even better matches than he did in the 90's.

Shawn Michaels returning to WWE in 2002 was the ultimate comeback story and I don't know if it will ever be topped.

Edited by Alan John