9 Superstars who surprisingly returned to the WWE

#6 Matt Hardy

While Matt Hardy was not the biggest star in the WWE during his initial time there, his partnership with his brother Jeff and relationship with fellow female wrestler Lita was well known by the audience at the time. The Hardy Boyz had combined to win several tag team championships and with the likes of the Dudley Boys and Edge and Christian, had several incredible matches that many fans count as being amongst their favourite.

After splitting with his brother Jeff, Matt would be involved in several other tag team factions and occasionally wrestle as a singles competitor but would never reach the same heights as his brother. In 2005, Matt Hardy would be released by the WWE following Hardy publicizing an affair between Lita and former friend Edge. However, on the back of overwhelming fan support, Matt was brought back and feuded with Edge in a storyline that blurred the lines of reality.

After the feud, Matt was moved on to Smackdown programming and would eventually reunite with his brother Jeff again to reform the Hardy Boys. The two would win a 10 team battle royal for the World Tag Team Championships, but would eventually lose the belts to Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. The two would split again and Matt would once again pursue singles competition. Five years after being brought back to the company, Matt Hardy was again released after he had been sent home from a European tour with the company and began posting videos asking for his release on Youtube.

This would lead to Hardy returning to the independent circuit and his greatest success as an individual wrestler, appearing at both Ring of Honor and TNA. It was at TNA where Hardy would begin his "Broken Matt" gimmick, which would become incredibly popular. Following several years at TNA, including World title reigns, Matt Hardy left the company.

Together with Jeff, Matt would reappear in the WWE at Wrestlemania 33 as surprise entrants in the ladder match for the Raw Tag Team title match. Matt and Jeff would win the belts before losing it to the team of Sheamus and Cesaro at Extreme Rules. Matt would later feud then team with Bray Wyatt before going on his latest hiatus from the company.