9 Superstars who surprisingly returned to the WWE

#3 Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino remains to this day the longest reigning champion in the WWE and one of it's best champions. Bruno first came to the company when it was called the WWWF under Vince McMahon's father Vince James McMahon, or Vince McMahon Senior. Sammartino would sign and immediately get a shot at inaugural champion Buddy Rogers title, Sammartino would defeat Rogers in 43 seconds to claim the title.

Sammartino would reign for over 2000 days with the belt, and hold it for almost 8 years before dropping the belt to Ivan Koloff at Madison Square Garden in January 1971. Sammartino would win his second reign with the belt at the end of 1973, unseating champion Stan Stasiak. The Working Class hero would go on to hold the belt for over 1000 days, taking his total combined reign time to over 4000 days holding the belt meaning that Sammartino remains the longest reigning champion, both cumulative and single reign.

Sammartino's second and final run with the belt would come to an end at the hands of Superstar Billy Graham. He would soon retire from full-time wrestling, but still, play bit parts in wrestling NWA Champion Harley Race and serving as the colour commentator for certain WWF Shows. Sammartino returned to the company between 1984 to 1988 for one last in-ring run, initially appearing as the cornerman for his son David, but would also return to the ring mainly for tag team action, but also wrestled against Randy Savage for a stretch of time after Savage bragged about injuring Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.

After 1988, Bruno Sammartino would heavily criticize both Vince McMahon and the direction he had taken the WWF, including the use of steroids by wrestlers and the vulgar nature of the storylines that were being played out on WWF television.

The WWE reached out on several occasions to invite Sammartino back to the company and induct him into the Hall of Fame. Sammartino would decline the invitation every time, he eventually accepted the invitation from Triple H, 25 years after he last appeared in the company. Sammartino was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013 and included in WWE's 2K14 video game. He would also return in 2015 to induct his protege Larry Zbyszko into the Hall of Fame. Sammartino passed away on April 18th, 2018, and a few days later the WWE would release a touching documentary on Sammartino and his career in wrestling