9 Superstars who surprisingly returned to the WWE

#2 Bill Goldberg

Goldberg first made a name for himself as a player in the NFL before making the switch to pro-wrestling, following a career-ending injury. What many people aren't aware of is that when Goldberg was looking to transition to pro-wrestling, that he went to meet with Vince McMahon prior to signing with the WCW. While McMahon and the WWF would pass up the opportunity to sign the former footballer, he would go on to sign with their biggest rival WCW and become one of their top stars.

Goldberg would go on a record-setting undefeated streak during his time with the WCW, leading to Goldberg becoming a World Champion within a year of signing for the company. Goldberg would eventually lose a match, and the title, in December 1998 in controversial fashion. Meanwhile, the WWF was ridiculing Goldberg through a wrestler called Gillberg, a skinny wrestler who would constantly lose matches on WWF TV.

After the WWF purchased the WCW, Goldberg was one of the many superstars that had a guaranteed contract from Time Warner and therefore did not cross with the initial purchase, like Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, and Sting. Due to the payments, Goldberg, like other WCW stars chose to sit out of wrestling and receive payouts from Time Warner as opposed to working at the WWF.

Finally, three years after WCW was purchased by the WWE, Goldberg appeared for the first time interrupting the Rock on the Monday Night Raw after Wrestlemania 19. Goldberg had a short run with the company, lasting only a year before leaving the company to transition into acting. Goldberg's last match during this run was against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 20. The crowd, aware that the match would be the last for both Lesnar and Goldberg, reacted poorly to the match and were happy to see the match end.

Goldberg would return to the WWF 12 years later after it was announced that he would be a playable character in WWE 2K17. During the promotional material for the video game, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar would trade insults leading to a match between the two at Survivor Series. Goldberg defeated Lesnar in a minute and 25 seconds, much to the surprise of the crowd. Despite promising the match to be his last, Goldberg signed up for an additional period of time, allowing him to defeat Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at Fastlane. This would set up a third match against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 33.

Goldberg would be inducted into the Hall of Fame the following year but has not ruled out having another run in the WWE. Goldberg stated during his speech that his second run in the WWE had been a much more pleasant time, and he left this time with no anger or resentment towards the business.