5 times WWE Superstars faked the return of other wrestlers

Over the course of its history, WWE has seen several top stars who are either out of action or have left the company, return to the ring. These return matches have created some of the best moments in pro wrestling history. These moments are usually surprising and see a massive pop from the WWE Universe.

However, this is something that other WWE stars have often utilized to get themselves over as a heel as well. These stars take advantage of the fact that a popular Superstar is currently absent from the ring or cannot turn up at the show, and have fun at their expense by setting up a scene for their fake return. This is done usually by playing their music or having someone else show up pretending to be them.

In this article we are going to take a look at five such occasions where WWE Superstars faked the return of other wrestlers.

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#5 Shawn Michael mocks Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart – WWE RAW, 2005

Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart

Following his return to the ring in 2002, Shawn Michaels mostly had a babyface run throughout the rest of his career in WWE. However, there was one point when HBK briefly turned heel. This was during his feud with Hulk Hogan leading up to their SummerSlam match.

WWE RAW was taking place in Montreal where the infamous Montreal Screwjob had occurred. Michaels came out in his heel persona during the match and decided to mock the fans present to build up heat heading into SummerSlam. In that promo, he made fun of Bret Hart, who is treated like a hero in Canada, and at the same time decided to play a joke on the fans. He said that Hart would never be in WWE again, following Hart's music started playing. Everyone began to cheer at this point, but they were soon disappointed as Hart was never going to show up.

HBK continued to mock the fans, as Hulk Hogan’s theme song, "Real American" started playing next. But the fans were disheartened once again as Hogan was not in Montreal either. At the end, Michaels rolled on the floor of the ring laughing at his own joke.

Shawn Michaels also dressed up as Hulk Hogan for an interview:

#4 CM Punk fakes the return of Jeff Hardy – WWE SmackDown, 2009

CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy

CM Punk faced Jeff Hardy in the latter’s last match in WWE for quite some time back in 2009. He defeated Jeff Hardy in the match and this was done to write Hardy off television for the time being as he was leaving the company.

In the following episode of WWE SmackDown, Jeff Hardy’s music started to play in the arena. The fans cheered as they saw someone come out in the same garb as Hardy, even with the same face paint as the Charismatic Enigma. Everyone thought Hardy had somehow stayed with WWE and was now back in the ring.

Unfortunately, it was not true. Getting a better look at the figure, it became clear that the wrestler was not Hardy, but the man who defeated him, CM Punk. Because both the wrestlers are of similar stature, a lot of fans did not realize it was actually CM Punk until he came into the ring and started mocking the audience.

#3 Shawn Michaels pretends to be The Undertaker – WWE Royal Rumble, 1998

Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

Shawn Michaels faced The Undertaker in the 1998 Royal Rumble in a WWE Casket Match. Whoever put the other man in the casket would leave the ring as the winner. Throughout the match, both men competed well, with The Undertaker even looking like he might clinch the win. However, interference from his kayfabe brother Kane saw the Phenom lose the match. He was then put inside the casket and it was set on fire by Kane.

This was one of the many times The Undertaker was written off the television by being apparently "killed." The next night on WWE RAW, the music of The Undertaker started to play, leading the fans to believe he was coming back. It seemed like The Undertaker was coming down from the rafters as he was lowered into the ring wearing his customary gear.

But things changed when the lights came on. D-Generation X’s music began to play and it was revealed that Shawn Michaels was the man in The Undertaker’s disguise. The plan was to mock the fans after getting a win over The Deadman, though not well earned, in the previous night.

Kane burnt his brother The Undertaker the previous night at Royal Rumble 1998:

#2 The Festival of Friendship – WWE RAW, 2017

Kevin Owens demolishing Gillberg at Festival of Friendship

The Festival of Friendship is considered to be one of the most well-written WWE storylines of the last 10 years. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens had formed an excellent partnership inside the ring that seemed to be based on real friendship instead of mutual gain. So, when Chris Jericho organized a Festival of Friendship in the lead-up to Kevin Owen’s match against Goldberg for the Universal Championship at Fastlane, it was nothing surprising.

At one point during the "Festival," Jericho implied that he had brought Goldberg and was calling him out to the ring for Owens to face. However, it turned out that it was just Gillberg that he was calling out. Gillberg was the Superstar hired by WWE during the Attitude Era to mock then-WCW’s Goldberg and he had made his entire career out of being a jobber Goldberg knockoff.

.@IAmJericho had one final #FestivalOfFriendship gift for @FightOwensFight that topped them all! #Gillberg @Goldberg #RAW pic.twitter.com/dlyNTBAdPt

— WWE (@WWE) February 14, 2017

Gillberg came down to the WWE ring only to be absolutely demolished by Owens. Later on, Jericho would unfortunately find out that his friend had stabbed him in the back. Owens presented Jericho with a new "List of Jericho" as a gift, but it had only one name on it – Jericho’s own. He was then attacked and brutally beaten down by Owens then and there.

Chris Jericho attacked by Kevin Owens at Festival of Friendship:

#1 WWE fakes the return of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash - WWE RAW, 1996

Glenn Jacobs and Rick Bognar as fake 'Diesel' and 'Razor Ramon'

Scott Hall and Kevin Nash leaving WWE to join WCW was one of the biggest losses that WWE had suffered talent-wise in the 1990s. Hall and Nash were both top level talents at that point and when they went to WCW, it signaled that the Monday Night Wars were going to get more intense. What WWE did to sustain the blow was probably not the most logical decision, but they did it anyway.

WWE advertised that Diesel and Razor Ramon would be returning to WWE. At this point, WCW panicked, as they realized that the two stars were not signed to binding contracts and even gave them bonuses. However, when RAW came along, it was revealed that WWE was telling a half-truth to the fans.

Jim Ross introduced "Diesel" and "Razor Ramon" in the ring, but they turned out to be Rick Bognar and Glenn Jacobs and not Nash and Hall. While they had some physical similarity and shared the same wrestling names, it was clear that WWE was trying to mock the two wrestlers who left the company. The much anticipated return turned out to be fake after all. Later on Glenn Jacobs would go on to become the prominent WWE Superstar, The Big Red Machine Kane.