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WWE Superstars train on the same level as stars from combat sports, which means that their bodies are often prepared to battle with certain injuries.
Of course, this isn't always the case and in recent years alone there have been several WWE stars forced into retirement due to injury including the likes of Tyson Kidd, Jason Jordan, and Paige.
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Whilst these three stars are yet to wrestle for WWE since announcing their subsequent injuries, there are many wrestlers who have been able to rehab their long-term injuries and return to the ring after some time away.
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Retirement isn't something that has the same finality as it used to in WWE since many stars have returned a while after they decided to step away from the ring.
Over the course of the last few years, several former WWE stars have been able to make surprise returns following retirement and the following article looks at just five of those instances.
#5. WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart makes his return on RAW
It was believed that Bret Hart's wrestling career had come to an end when he suffered a concussion at the hands of Goldberg when the two men faced off at WCW Starrcade back in 1999.
The former WWE Champion went on to announce his retirement from professional wrestling in 2000 before being inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame a few years later. Hart then interestingly went on to make his return to WWE TV in 2010 where he was able to bury the hatchet with Shawn Michaels following the Montreal Screwjob.
Hart even went on to wrestle Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 26, before going on to defeat The Miz for the United States Championship at the age of 52. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer even went on to have a stint as General Manager of Monday Night RAW, even though this was a brief period of time and he was quickly fired by Vince McMahon.
Hart has been one of the most iconic wrestling names in the business for several decades and despite retiring from the business and walking away happy with his achievements, Hart still made his surprising WWE return more than a decade later.
Hart has also made sporadic WWE appearances in recent years as part of storylines with his niece Natalya, who continues her family's legacy in the business.
#4. Former WWE World Champion Christian returns at the 2021 Royal Rumble
This past weekend at WWE's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, former World Champion Christian made his surprise return to the ring. Whilst his return wasn't on the same level as his best friend, Edge, at last year's show, Christian was still a surprising participant in the match.
The former World Champion had been retired from the business since 2014 after a string of concussions prevented him from being cleared for in-ring action. Despite retiring, Christian was able to make several cameo appearances for WWE where he wouldn't be involved in physical activity. Last year, he even lost an impromptu match against Randy Orton following a low blow from Ric Flair.
This year's Royal Rumble was the first time since 2014 that Christian was able to be cleared to wrestle for a greater duration. Reports now suggest that Edge and Christian could be given the chance to reunite and wrestle one more match as a duo. The company could be looking to take advantage of Captain Charisma currently being cleared to wrestle as an in-ring competitor.
#3. WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels returns for one last match in 2018
Shawn Michaels is arguably the greatest WWE wrestler of all time, which is why The Heartbreak Kid made the decision to retire from the company following his WrestleMania 26 match against The Undertaker.
Michaels noted several times that he was aware of how little the term 'retirement' meant in WWE. Michaels was rumored to be returning for a match several times throughout the years. However, HBK stated that he had retired to spend time with his children and stuck to the fact that he wasn't stepping back in the ring.
This was until 2018 when Saudi Arabia came calling and The Brothers of Destruction united to take on D-Generation X. It is unclear why Michaels decided that this was the match he would come out of retirement for since it wasn't the spectacle that the WWE Universe believed it could be.
Following the match, Michaels stated that he was retired once again and that this match was definitely just a one-off scenario.
#2. Former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan is cleared to return ahead of WrestleMania 34
Daniel Bryan has had quite the WWE career, which initially ended in heartbreak after he was forced to relinquish the Intercontinental Championship and later retire from WWE due to a career-ending injury.
Bryan worked hard to become World Champion and stepped into some of the toughest matches when he was battling The Authority. When he started to feel weakness and numbness in his arms, he realized that it was something that needed to be checked.
When Bryan couldn't be cleared by WWE's doctors back in 2016, the former World Champion was forced into retirement.
Bryan struggled after wrestling was taken off the table, but WWE was able to give him the job as General Manager of SmackDown. This allowed him to still be part of the business in some capacity.
Just two years later, Bryan surprised the WWE Universe with the news that he had been cleared for action and could return to the ring at WrestleMania in 2018. Whilst it would have been much better if this was left as a surprise for WrestleMania, the WWE Universe quickly got behind Bryan ahead of his in-ring return.
#1. The Rated-R Superstar returns at WWE Royal Rumble 2020
Edge was without a doubt one of the greatest heels in WWE history. In 2011, it was revealed that he was struggling with Cervical Spinal Stenosis and was forced to relinquish his World Championship.
The Rated-R Superstar was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame the following year and whilst he was able to make several appearances to cut promos on WWE TV, the former Champion was unable to physically be a part of the show for almost a decade.
It wasn't until SummerSlam back in 2019 that Edge returned and delivered a spear to Elias on the Kick-Off show, which hinted that he could be ready to make his return.
A few months later at the 2020 Royal Rumble, Edge returned in what was one of the biggest surprises in the history of the pay-per-view. Whilst Edge didn't go on to win the match, he did later confirm that he had been cleared to wrestle and would return to a regular schedule with WWE.
