2018 saw the huge WWE returns of Daniel Bryan, Rey Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley,
The Undertaker and about seven different comebacks from Brock Lesnar.
Seriously, Brock, can you just leave for more than a month and give us the Universal title
back? It also saw the debut of one of Raw’s newest
top wrestlers, former UFC megastar Ronda Rousey. So what can we expect in 2019? Well, likely
more MMA fighters turning up in WWE, and Brock Lesnar still appearing FROM OUTTA NOWHERE
every few months. But no fear, that’s not all… because here
are 10 Shocking WWE Returns and debuts for 2019 you need to know.
10. Daniel Cormier Surprise, surprise, we start things with an
MMA fighter. Cormier currently holds both the Light Heavyweight
and Heavyweight UFC championships, and has long been rumoured to fight Lesnar on the
Beast Incarnate’s indefinitely postponed return to MMA.
But it now appears far more likely that match will happen in a WWE wrestling ring rather
than the UFC octagon, as Cormier has given himself a hard retirement date of the 20th
March when he turns 40 - just several weeks before WrestleMania - and the self-declared
wrestling fan has admitted he’s interested in working with WWE and has even attended
a tryout. Even if Cormier doesn’t come into the promotion
as an in-ring wrestler, he might still feature on WWE TV, as FOX reportedly want him as a
commentator for SmackDown when the blue brand moves to their Network in October, to give
the show a more sports-based tone.
9. Jason Jordan Kurt Angle’s definitely real life and in
no way just stupid storyline illegitimate son Jason Jordan disappeared from WWE TV in
February 2018 shortly after losing his and Seth Rollins’ Raw tag team championships
to The Bar. He was written off TV by his definitely real dad Kurt sending him home.
This was to cover for Jordan’s real life neck injury, for which he underwent surgery.
But although the operation was considered a success, he hasn’t been able to return
to the ring. Very little is known about the specifics of
his injury, and during his absence, Jordan has been acting as a backstage producer for
WWE - presumably in case his in-ring career is over.
Jordan seemed optimistic in November, though, where he tweeted: “I’m ready to attack
this week and make huge improvements! I’ve been trying to keep my eye on the prize and
look at the big picture. I’m still on the road to recovery and I’m very optimistic
about getting back to where I belong!” 8. Paige VanZant
We managed to go a whole entry without a UFC fighter. Paige VanZant took most of 2018 off
after breaking her arm during a fight in January. She’s scheduled to return to the Octagon
on January 19th in the Flyweight division.
VanZant is a self-proclaimed WWE superfan, and even said last year of WWE: “I think
it’s an amazing organization, and I’d definitely love to work with them.” According
to Dave Meltzer, she was actually scheduled to appear at SummerSlam 2016 off the back
of her runner-up performance in Dancing With The Stars, but she pulled out to focus on
an upcoming fight.
7. WALTER WALTER is a 6 foot 4, 310 pound Austrian wrestler
who won practically every European indy promotion’s top title in 2018, and who Luke, Laurie and
I ranked at number two in our best wrestlers of the year list. You might not have heard
his name, but you’ve likely heard his chops, because they’re so loud they’ve ripped
holes in the space-time continuum. While he hasn’t been officially announced
by WWE yet, many sites have reported WALTER has signed with their NXT UK offshoot, as
he’s happy living in Europe and doesn’t want to travel to Orlando for WWE’s American
NXT shows. There’s speculation, however, that he might appear on the occasional US
TakeOver event, and perhaps he’ll be the one to finally dethrone Pete Dunne from his
long reign as WWE UK Champion.
6. Young Bucks After putting on their own record breaking
wrestling show with All In on September 1st, 2018, the Young Bucks’ 2019 could be even
more interesting - not just for them as performers, but also for the wrestling business as a whole.
The Bucks’ ROH and New Japan contracts expired on the 31st December 2018, and it’s been
widely reported that they’ll now be starting their own wrestling promotion called All Elite
Wrestling, along with Cody Rhodes and the rest of the Being the Elite crew like Kenny
Omega and Hangman Page, which is to be financed by millionaire Tony Khan.
However, if AEW doesn’t secure the all-important TV deal, there’s only one other promotion
in town offering the biggest bucks: WWE, which Matt and Nick have also teased a move to on
YouTube.
5. The Rock Dwayne Johnson In terms of WWE returns, it doesn’t get
much bigger than the highest paid movie actor of 2017 Rock ‘The Dwayne’ Johnson. While
The Dwayne’s last official WWE match was a six second squash of Erick Rowan at WrestleMania
32, it’s more appropriate to consider his WrestleMania 29 loss to John Cena as his WWE
swansong. Until now! According to the very reliable WrestleVotes,
Rock was in talks with WWE to win the 2019 Royal Rumble match and face Roman Reigns for
the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35. These plans were being discussed before
Roman was sadly diagnosed with leukemia, but that doesn’t mean Rock’s return to WWE
has been scrapped. Some sites still claim he’s scheduled to wrestle one last time
at WrestleMania 35 - depending on his hectic movie schedule - in a SummerSlam 2002 rematch
against Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. This is rumoured to be in conjunction with
a Hall of Fame induction in 2019, and with him likely becoming the US President in 2020,
this could be the last chance for Rocky to wrestle for the company that made him.
4. Cody Rhodes Cody hasn’t wrestled for WWE since 2016,
where he was granted his release from the company due to creative frustrations.
But it turns out asking for his release was the best thing that ever happened to him.
In just two years, Cody has become one of the biggest stars on the independent scene,
a featured performer at the top of New Japan, winning the ROH Heavyweight championship and
- his most celebrated achievement - winning the NWA title on his own record-breaking All
In show. Cody is apparently back on WWE’s radar with
his ROH contract now expired, revealing they contacted him to return to the promotion in
late 2018. Of course, just like the Young Bucks, Cody
returning to WWE relies on their new AEW promotion not working out, and he did say he turned
down their offer. But then again… that’s exactly what he would say if he was returning
to WWE!
3. Batista Batista is the most likely person to return
to WWE on this list, as he’s already set up a big time feud with Triple H, and Hunter
ain’t giving up his annual 30 minute match spot at WrestleMania, no matter how many torn
pectoral muscles he’s got to recover from. Big Dave appeared on WWE TV for the first
time in four years in a special return for SmackDown’s 1000 episode on October 16 to
celebrate famed Raw faction Evolution. No, it didn’t make much sense. But WWE doesn’t
have to when you get awesomely tense angles like the staredown between Batista and Triple
H. This was reportedly to set up a WrestleMania 35 match between the two, but Hunter tore
his pectoral muscle several weeks later, potentially ruling him out of the biggest show of the
year. While it’s possible WWE could find Batista
another opponent, he’s been very vocal about wanting to retire after a feud with Triple
H. And with him turning 50 next year, and his Hollywood career continuing to build,
it might be Hunter or nothing. 2. Kenny Omega
Another year, another list video saying Kenny Omega might leave New Japan and sign with
WWE. Just like every other year, Kenny’s New Japan contract reportedly expires near
the end of January. But now he’s finally captured the promotion’s top title, winning
the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Kazuchika Okada in June in a seven star match, he might
be looking at new frontiers to conquer. Like the Bucks and Cody, though, Omega seems
set to for the new AEW promotion. But, also like those wrestlers, it all depends on if
the company gets off the ground. If he loses his title to Hiroshi Tanahashi at WrestleKingdom
13, and AEW fails to secure a TV deal, Omega could very well turn towards WWE.
1. Conor McGregor UFC megastar Conor McGregor is one of the
biggest box office draws in the world. Mainly because he does wrestling angles in real-life,
like jumping into rival promotions’ cages and shoving the referee, or throwing a dolly
at a bus with his blood feud rival on.
Sure, he might have called WWE Superstars “messed up pussies” back in 2016, but
that’s actually a smokescreen for his lifelong passion for professional wrestling. Not only
does he follow many WWE stars on Twitter, he’s also developed an online tag team with
Becky Lynch, as Lynch once posted: “The Man channels no one. @TheNotoriousMMA
& me are bonded as Irish brother & sister. But if I ever got within 2 miles of him I’d
break that bond, and his arm, in three short seconds. I’d be too tempting; he’d completely
understand too. Proper12 after.” To which McGregor said: “Call me when you
need Proper back-up”, for Becky to seemingly invite him to WrestleMania 35: ““Cheers,
Conor. I’m carrying two divisions at the moment, but you know exactly how that is.
I hear New York is nice in the spring, though.” McGregor has been linked to WWE multiple times
in the past, and Barnburner’s sources reckon he’ll be booked for Lynch’s corner for
her match against Ronda Rousey at Mania.
What about all the biggest WWE rumors for 2019 you need to know! Click the video onscreen
now to find them out. And give us a subscribe to keep up to date with all the latest wrestling
news. I’ve been Oli Davis, and that was wrestling.