4 Major WWE Legends Who Could Return In 2018

For the most part, when WWE brings back a name from the past for an event like WrestleMania, they do a pretty good job with their storyline despite the fact that some of the fans might resent them for being "part-timers" who only come back for the big shows.

Next year's WrestleMania will be held in the New York market, as it'll take place at MetLife Stadium, which was the site of WrestleMania 29. So, with WWE taking its biggest show of the year to what's always been their home market, you can expect them to include more big names than ever on the show.

As for who WWE will use on the show, well, that at times can be hard to predict. However, next year's WrestleMania will likely see the return of two beloved WWE legends, and it could involve the return of a few more if the aforementioned beloved legends aren't able to have an in-ring role on the show.

So who will WWE bring back for WrestleMania 35 in 2018? Well, here are the best candidates.

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#4 Batista

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Batista hasn't been seen on WWE television since June of 2014, where he quit the company following Evolution's loss to The Shield at the previous night's pay-per-view.

It would be quite an understatement to say that Batista's 2014 return didn't go according to plan, as the fans completely rejected it. To put it in perspective, they hated him so much that they chanted for Roman Reigns when they were the last two left in the Royal Rumble match. Granted, it was long before Reigns' big singles push, but it's still shocking, especially when you see how things have turned out, to think that the fans hated someone more than Roman Reigns.

Batista has always said that he wants to have one more match, which would be a retirement match with his mentor Triple H. Of course, a match of that magnitude can only happen at WrestleMania, and now that both Batista and Triple H are approaching 50 years old, the match probably needs to happen sooner rather than later.

#3 Goldberg

Goldberg hasn't appeared on WWE television ever since his speech at the Hall of Fame this past spring where he didn't rule out an in-ring return. Sure, there's really no need for him to return, as there probably isn't a match involving him that the fans are dying to see. But he is a big name, and if WWE can find the right opponent for him, they'll definitely want to bring him back.

Prior to losing the Universal Championship to Brock Lesnar back at WrestleMania 33, Goldberg teased matches with Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, and The Undertaker, all three of which would draw a lot of attention, however, the quality of the matches probably wouldn't be that great.

As previously mentioned, if WWE can find the right opponent for Goldberg, they'll probably bring him back. Maybe putting him in the ring with someone like AJ Styles would be a good idea, as Styles could probably make the ex-WCW World Heavyweight Champion look a lot better than he really is.

#2 The Rock

It came out recently that The Rock wants to wrestle again, and that he'll probably do so at WrestleMania 35 if he's free. If he does return for a match, it'll be the first time he's officially wrestled since WrestleMania 32, but unless WWE books him in another squash, it'll be his first competitive match since WrestleMania 29, which was also held at MetLife Stadium.

Personally, I expect The Rock to be a part of this show even if he's not wrestling on it simply because it's in the New York market, and on top of that, it's been three years since he last appeared at a WrestleMania event.

If he does return to the ring, I'd expect him to put over Roman Reigns in the show's main event, which probably wouldn't satisfy the fans in attendance or at home.

#1 Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan was recently reinstated in the WWE Hall of Fame, which obviously means that he's going to make his return to WWE television sooner or later. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see him replace Kurt Angle as the Raw general manager at some point early next year.

It's probably pretty safe to assume that, at 65 years old, WWE isn't going to allow Hulk Hogan to return to the ring. However, in the unlikely case that they do, I could see him being a surprise in the annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and I could even see him winning the thing.

But, a more realistic prediction is that he'll come back as the general manager of Raw, unless WWE decides to just give the position to Baron Corbin, which probably wouldn't be the best idea.