Batista had a forgettable run in 2014In professional wrestling, returns are always a shortcut to pop the crowd.Whenever a superstar makes his or her return after a break from the limelight, it always evokes an emotion among the fans. The momentary pops have given the wrestling fans a handful of memorable moments and almost all the promotions out there has made good use of this fact.However, there are certain occasions when the returns fail to live up to the expectations. Although it goes directly against the theory mentioned in the first sentence of this slide, there are always exceptional cases, right?We have some memorable returns in our head but contrary to that there were some not so impressive ones too. We are going to look at some of the most underwhelming ones.
#7 Bella Twins (2013)
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Back in 2013, WWE had a storyline where the Bella Twins were fired. The twins then had a small run in the independent scene and the idea was to bring them back triumphantly.
However, WWE’s plans failed to the core. There were no reactions whatsoever for the ‘long-awaited’ return of the Bellas and WWE did nothing to change it as well.
Brie and Nikki went on to see their career graph go upwards after the return, but it happened only after the Daniel Bryan and John Cena love stories. We have all the freedom in this world to read between the lines.
#6 Rob Van Dam (2013)
Rob Van Dam had a pretty solid career in the wrestling business.
He still has a good fan following and if Van Dam returns now, he might get a good pop. This was not the case in 2013. Van Dam returned after a six month hiatus in 2013 and though there was a hype regarding the whole thing, the spell never lived up to the expectations.
He was put into a feud with Alberto Del Rio and Van Dam went on to suffer a string of losses. He eventually left WWE without anything much to remember and there were reports about Van Dam being unhappy about how WWE treated him during his return.
#5 Kevin Nash and Scott Hall (2002)
NWo was a storyline that helped WCW to stay afloat in the Monday Night Wars.
Ironically, it was also the storyline that dragged them down the drain. And when WCW went out of business, Vince McMahon had the idea of launching the faction in WWE. He brought in former stars Kevin Nash and Scott Hall along with Hulk Hogan to rebuild NWo.
Hall was having problems with his personal demons while Nash was having problems with his health. The story bombed and Hall was fired just months after his return while Nash stayed along with nothing much to do.
Hogan did survive to an extent and that’s why he is not in the list.
#4 Trish Stratus (2011)
Trish Stratus will always fall under the legendary category in history books. This is why there was a lot of hype about her comeback in 2011.
Trish looked in pretty good shape and her wrestling skills were there to be seen as well. But these aren’t the only things that matter in wrestling. The former Women’s champion was put into a mediocre storyline alongside Jersey Shore Celebrity Snooki.
Laycool was on the other side of the coin. The performers had great potential, but there wasn’t enough punch in the story. Trish wrapped up her run with a six-person tag team match at WrestleMania 27 and the match proved to be another forgettable outing for her.
#3 Bret Hart (2010)
Seeing Bret Hart in WWE after such a long time was indeed a great moment for the fans.
With all the Montreal Screwjob backstory, it was an emotional moment, to say the least, but WWE should have left it there. Instead, they stretched it and forced Bret into a match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania.
Now, a Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart match at WrestleMania would have worked if it happened a decade back, but in 2010, it turned out to be one of the worst matches of the year. Not only was it overbooked – it was also unnecessary. Bret got the win and apart from few moments, there was nothing more to remember about the 2010 return of Bret.
#2 Tensai (2012)
A-Train or Albert was one of the household names of the WWE roster during the early 2000s.
He was a good mid carder and was also involved in some good storylines. When Albert ended his first spell with WWE and went to Japan, not everyone expected him to be a huge star there.
But those expectations were washed down the drain when Albert showed some big improvements.
In 2012, WWE decided to bring him back to the company and they repackaged him as Tensai. Though the story had potential on paper, WWE made a big mistake of not mentioning his first run in the company. This worked against Albert and soon his return cooled off.
#1 Batista (2014)
Not much needs to be said about this one. Batista had a memorable first stint in the WWE and he went on to pursue a career in acting when he was a main eventer in professional wrestling.
When the Animal was ready to make a return in 2014, WWE thought that the fans would greet him with a warm welcome, but wrestling fans, as we know, are unpredictable.
They could not digest Batista as the Royal Rumble winner and the ring rust that the Animal did no good for him as well. WWE was forced to turn him heel soon and though Batista headlined WrestleMania, his return was nothing less than a disaster.
