5 WWE Superstars Who Came Back From The Dead

There are several things that happen in professional wrestling that look absolutely bizarre and they make us feel strange or completely shocked. When people come back from the dead in movies, it's not something unusual, especially if it is a horror film. We might get scared at first, but at the back of our head, we know that it is not real. Those people are referred to as 'ghosts' and 'zombies'. But in WWE it is a very different matter. How many times was a wrestler presumed to be dead only for them to return a week or a month later? It doesn't happen often, but that doesn't mean that it didn't happen before in the past.

Professional wrestling also consists of scripts, storylines and rehearsals. Everything is carefully planned out and executed on live television, pay-per-views and in the past, taped shows. Although everything is planned, things might not always go according to plan and accidents are most likely to happen. Here are five WWE superstars who we thought were dead only for them to surprisingly return out of nowhere. These are storyline deaths only, and even though some of the superstars in this list are dead in real-life, only their fictional death is counted.

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#5 The Big Boss Man

The late Bossman

Died: 28 March 1999

Cause of death: Homicide; hanged from the roof of the cell

Suspect: The Undertaker

Venue: WrestleMania XV

The late Big Boss Man was known for his time in The Attitude Era, where he was part of Vince McMahon's villainous stable known as The Corporation and where he also served as McMahon's bodyguard, during the chairman's feud with former WWE Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin and Degeneration X. He also served as a bodyguard for other members of The Corporation including Vince McMahon's son Shane McMahon.

The Big Boss Man began a feud with The Undertaker, which led to a Hell in a Cell match at Wrestle Mania XV. After coming out victorious, Undertaker hanged Boss Man from the roof of the cage. As if that was not worse enough, the cell was raised with him suffocating and fighting for his life. When someone is hanged, it means they will die, otherwise they wouldn't have been hanged in the first place. Boss Man later returned on an episode of Raw, safe and unharmed. He died in 2004 due to a heart attack.

#4 Mr McMahon

The Chairman of WWE

Died: 11 June 2007

Cause of death: Limousine explosion

Suspect: Himself

Venue: Raw parking lot

WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon is responsible for most of the greatest things in sports entertainment. On 11 June 2007, there was a special episode of Raw for him, called Vince McMahon Appreciation Night. The special episode showed many WWE superstars giving their opinions on McMahon's career – almost all of them being negative. The whole show seemed to be focused on the bad things Vince had done over the years, with the superstars having the last laugh.

After being booed out of the ring with tears welling in his eyes, he seemed to walk for hours backstage past every superstar on the show. It was a proverbial walk of shame. He reached the fire exit and after one quick glance at the company that had turned its back on him, he made his way to the limo. After some bystanders stared at him in the background he opened the passenger door and sat down. As he slammed the door shut, it exploded. It was the end of Vince McMahon and a shocking end to that episode of Raw.

He wasn't really dead, of course, but WWE exploited him like he was. WWE.com quickly reported the incident as though it actually happened. This led to more than a few folks to treat the storyline as legitimate, with some news outlets even going on the air reporting McMahon's death as a fact. Business partners of the company quickly called to see what the deal was, stock prices briefly dropped, and fans across the world wondered if they had actually witnessed the death of Vince McMahon on live television.

Following freak ratings decrease to a 2.5 (later turned out to be a false reading), WWE decided to return Vince McMahon to TV, hopefully boosting ratings and on the August 6th episode it was hyped as “Mr McMahon Strikes Back.” The chairman returned and quickly dismissed the angle stating he faked his own death because he needed to know if the fans and his family still loved him. He said his family didn’t care and just wanted their inheritance, but he was willing to bring them back together.

#3 Kane

The Big Red Machine Kane

Died: During his childhood/06 October 2003

Suspect: The Undertaker/Shane McMahon

Cause of death: Inferno/limousine accident

Venue: Funeral home/Raw

The Kane character made its debut in the first ever hell in a cell match at Badd Blood in 1997, during a match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Kane's debut was a big shock because everyone, including The Undertaker, thought that he died in a fire caused by The Undertaker during their childhood. This came after Kane's kayfabe father Paul Bearer accused The Undertaker of killing his family. Later it was revealed that Kane managed to escape the fire but suffered burns on his face. 20 years after the incident, Kane made his debut and vowed to get revenge against his brother. Undertaker thought that Kane was dead, but Kane was in fact alive.

Kane came close to death again during his feud with Shane McMahon in 2003. Their feud was so intense that it included jumper cables, a dumpster on fire and a limousine. On an episode of Raw, after Kane successfully defeated The Hurricane, Shane McMahon attacked him from behind and lead him backstage. Kane was searching for Shane while holding a steel pipe in his hand. Shane jumped into a limousine and locked the door, with Kane behind him, who also tried to get inside.

After managing to get in through the roof of the vehicle, Shane escaped out the front of the limo, put the gas on and caused the limo to speed and crash underneath an 18 wheeler truck. The accident was so bad that it was almost impossible for Kane to survive since the limo was destroyed in half. Kane went to the hospital and woke up the next week, continuing his feud with Shane.

#2 Paul Bearer

The late Paul Bearer

Died: 27 June 2004/23 April 2012

Cause of death: Cemented in a glass crypt/frozen to death

Suspect: The Undertaker/Kane

Venue: The Great American Bash/Raw

The Undertaker is a suspect for the third time in a row on this list. He was responsible for the destruction of several people in WWE including the late Paul Bearer. Paul served as Taker's manager from 1991 until 1997 after Kane's debut. He was one of the best managers in WWE history and is also responsible for the success of the Undertaker and Kane storyline. Bearer's dark days came in 2004 at The Great American Bash PPV. In the main event, Undertaker faced The Dudley Boys in a match where Bearer's life was at stake. Undertaker had to lose the match or else Bearer would be buried in a pile of cement.

Undertaker won the match however and went to the stage where it looked like he would save Bearer but proceeded to bury him with cement in a glass crypt, causing Bearer to die, in storyline. That was the last time Bearer was seen in WWE until 2010, during a feud between The Undertaker and Kane. Bearer joined forces with Taker but betrayed him at Hell in a Cell and joined forces with his son Kane instead. Bearer was kidnapped by Edge several times, during Edge's feud with Kane himself.

In 2012, Kane started a feud with Randy Orton, which lead Kane to attack Orton's father with a pipe. Randy Orton tried to take revenge against Kane by kidnapping Paul Bearer and locking him inside a freezer. Kane went to save Bearer, but after getting him out the freezer, he pushed him back in after telling him that he was saving him from himself. This was the Paul's last appearance in WWE before his real-life death in 2013.

#1 The Undertaker

The Phenom

Died: Multiple times

Cause of death: Burnt inside a casket, buried alive etc.

Suspect: Kane, Mankind, Randy Orton, Vince McMahon etc.

Venue: Royal Rumble, IYH: Buried Alive, Smackdown, Survivor Series, etc.

We all lost count as to how many times The Undertaker was "killed" only for him to return later. He is one of, if not the greatest superstar in professional wrestling history. He is one of the most feared entity in the WWE and for 28 years, he still strikes fear into the eyes of superstars and fans. The Phenom fell victim to numerous superstars throughout his career, and just when we thought it was the end for him, he shocked us by returning to the ring and taking out his rival.

In 1996, The Undertaker was feuding with Mankind. His former manager Paul Bearer aligned himself with Mankind, and this led to the first-ever buried alive match which took place at In Your House: Buried Alive. The Undertaker buried Mankind to win the match but was attacked by The Executioner who helped Mankind bury Undertaker alive. Few other wrestlers joined in and together they tried to bury him to death. The entire hole was filled with sand, which made fans believe that The Undertaker was dead.

When a person is buried in a ton of sand, there is no way for that person to survive, as they won't have any way of breathing. Undertaker, however, survived the burial. A lightning bolt struck the grave and Undertaker raised his hands into the air out of the grave. This was a very shocking and scary moment. This was not the last time he was buried alive however, because Undertaker was buried alive in most of the buried alive matches that took place in WWE. Undertaker always managed to return, since what is already dead cannot die again.

Other superstars who tried to kill Undertaker were Kane, Randy Orton and Vince McMahon. Kane tried to kill his own brother several times, including locking him inside a casket and setting it on fire and burning him alive. Randy Orton tried to kill The Undertaker by driving him through the screen on an episode of Smackdown, Vince McMahon buried The Undertaker alive at Survivor Series in 2003, and many many more. For Taker to be a suspect and a victim in this list, it just shows you how great he is and why he is the greatest of all time.