It has been a long-held belief that one should "never say never" when you are talking about former stars returning to WWE. Many talented wrestlers eventually returned to the company after holding out for many years – Ultimate Warrior, Kurt Angle, Sting, and Bret Hart to name a few. Vince McMahon was always willing to do what’s best for business, even if it means signing former WWE stars whose relationship with WWE had been acrimonious.

Now, Vince has slowly been ceding control to his daughter Stephanie McMahon, and son-in-law Triple H. More and more, the two of them have had to make tough business decisions – including signing talent to supplement the existing rosters. A lot of that has occurred through NXT, Triple H’s brainchild. Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Charlotte, and Sasha Banks are just some of the prominent wrestlers on WWE’s main roster that have come up through NXT. Besides signing wrestlers off the indies, Vince has made no hesitation in bringing back former employees. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon haven’t really brought back many former WWE stars since they first started taking the reigns, so it’s tough to judge where they stand on that.

We do know that there will be a number of former WWE stars who Triple H and Stephanie McMahon would absolutely never want to bring back. For one reason or another, the following wrestlers have burned all bridges and it would be a real shocker to see any of them ever step foot in a WWE ring. Continue reading to find out ten wrestlers who Triple H would never want back in WWE, and five who Stephanie McMahon wouldn’t want back.

15 15. Triple H: Alberto Del Rio

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Alberto Del Rio was given a few chances to be a star in the WWE, but he just never got over with the WWE Universe. While he had a pretty good heel persona going for him, his personality and repetitiveness became too much for fans. Del Rio’s poor behaviour outside of WWE has almost certainly left a very sour taste in Triple H’s mouth. With Triple H gaining more control over WWE signings, you can count Del Rio as one former WWE star who won’t be signing. Del Rio has often accused Triple H of being a racist. While we should take Del Rio’s words with a major grain of salt, it's understandable why Triple H will look elsewhere for a Mexican talent to add to the roster. It’s probably best for business too, as Del Rio has proven to be a major headcase.

14 14. Triple H: Mistico (Original Sin Cara)

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Luis Urive, or Mistico as he was better known, was one of Triple H’s very first major talent acquisitions, and it was anticipated that he would do great things in WWE when he was made to play the role of Sin Cara. The lucha libre star never really got to show off his abilities and represent Mexican wrestling the way Rey Mysterio did. Problems immediately started mounting, when Sin Cara failed a wellness test and allegedly refused to learn to speak English. Making matters worse, Sin Cara was frequently hurt, making it hard for WWE to count on him.

It should be safe to say that Triple H has made much better signings since the (original) Sin Cara failure. Triple H would probably prefer to not pursue a reunion with one of his first signings.

13 13. Stephanie: AJ Lee

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Much like AJ Lee’s husband, this one shouldn’t need much explaining. Much has been written about the dislike Stephanie McMahon and AJ Lee have for one another. Their feud, which certainly intensified after AJ Lee retired from the business, has more to do with women’s rights and equality. It all started with a somewhat innocuous tweet in which McMahon thanked Patricia Arquette for fighting for women’s rights.

AJ Lee found McMahon’s words to be ironic since female wrestlers only get paid a fraction of what their male co-workers do – all while McMahon claims to have done so much for women. Lee evidently became disillusioned with WWE and their pay inequality and ended up leaving the company a few months later.

12 12. Triple H: CM Punk

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Okay, we brought up his wife, AJ Lee, so CM Punk is an obvious choice. I think it’s clear to most wrestling fans why Triple H would never welcome CM Punk into a WWE ring ever again. CM Punk has often accused Triple H of just never liking him, even in the days when he was just starting out in the mid-2000s. You can call it a clash of styles, personalities clashing, or just two strongly opinionated grown men just not liking each other. In January 2014, Triple H was one of the three men in the office when CM Punk quit WWE. Afterwards, Triple H probably let out of a big sigh of relief to Vince McMahon – the one person he couldn’t stand had walked out. It was a good day for Triple H.

11 11. Triple H: Christy Hemme

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Christy Hemme found her way to the WWE after winning the 2004 WWE Diva Search contest. She found herself the recipient of a huge push, which saw her wrestle a horrible match at WrestleMania against Trish Stratus for the WWE Women’s Championship. Triple H will almost certainly never want Christy Hemme to return to WWE, because of rumours that spread around between the two of them. It was believed that Triple H had an affair with Hemme, which contributed to her initial push and victory. Hemme’s push then suddenly came to an abrupt halt, and her WWE career ended. If we are to assume the rumours are true, then we can only imagine Triple H wanted her gone from WWE so he could save his marriage. Even if the rumors aren't true, she never really did enough in WWE to warrant a return.

10 10. Stephanie: Batista

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Batista and Triple H have long held a close relationship, as it was Triple H who mentored Batista and put him over in Batista’s first main event feud in WWE. Batista is much less fond of Stephanie McMahon, which might lead to her not wanting to welcome the Animal back to WWE with open arms.

In 2016, Stephanie tweeted that her "signature move" was her slap. Batista responded critically, saying that her slap only serves to make the male performers look bad because there is no real payoff. Men can’t get any sort of physical retribution against her – even slapping her back would be prohibited. It was a clearly out of character remark for Batista, which is interesting since he has said he is interested in returning for a final run.

9 9. Triple H: Mr. Kennedy

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Mr. Kennedy was set to receive a huge push that would have made him a main event star in WWE. Then it all came crashing down because of his ill-timed injuries and inexplicable Wellness Violations. He was doing good on SmackDown, but his problems started when he moved to Raw and came across John Cena, Triple H, and Randy Orton. They despised Kennedy’s style in the ring, blamed him for injuring superstars, and just didn’t like Kennedy in general. He eventually got released from WWE and has done pretty well for himself over on Impact.

While Mr. Kennedy has made subtle shots at WWE during in-ring promos elsewhere, he has expressed not having any real problem with Triple H – mostly Cena and Orton. All of Kennedy’s other problems will be what causes Triple H to never want to bring him back to WWE.

8 8. Triple H: Paul London

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Paul London is a talented cruiserweight wrestler who would make for a great fit on 205 Live. The tag team of him and Brian Kendrick had strong runs as tag team champions on Smackdown in the mid-2000s, before they got separated. Now, London is all but certainly not on WWE’s list of wrestlers to bring back because he failed to remain in character on one crucial instance.

During Vince McMahon’s planned limousine blow-up demise in 2007, McMahon was seen walking backstage past several wrestlers. London was shown smiling on camera, when all wrestlers were supposed to look solemn. He was later released, and London hasn’t spoken too nicely of Triple H either. London called him a hypocrite for holding down the smaller wrestlers, such as himself, while pushing guys like Kevin Owens.

7 7. Stephanie: Gail Kim

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Gail Kim is an impressive female wrestler who would put on high-quality matches with much of the current women’s roster. Unfortunately, Kim was severely underused during her latest run with WWE between 2008 and 2011. She should have been one of the top wrestlers but was pushed to the side for “Divas,” as they were then called. Since leaving WWE and rejoining Impact Wrestling, Kim has since not held back on her feelings for WWE and its Women’s Revolution. She pointed out that TNA took women’s wrestling more seriously well before WWE ever did, so WWE should not take credit for changing women’s wrestling.

Calling WWE’s Women’s Revolution out would not sit well with Stephanie McMahon, who has often championed the female wrestlers. Gail Kim did not appear at the first Women’s Royal Rumble match to make history, so do not count on her appearing at any future WWE event either.

6 6. Triple H: Ryback

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Ryback was a star who appeared to be on the rise in recent years, only for him to bottom out. He had the look and wasn’t completely terrible in the ring, but the WWE Universe eventually just stopped reacting to him when Ryback came across as too much of a Goldberg clone. He also didn’t earn himself any favours with the front office when he publicly complained and grumbled about how Superstars' paychecks shouldn’t be determined by wins and losses. There was also the issue of Ryback not being the safest wrestler to work with in the ring.

After several acrimonious discussions regarding money and his status with the company, WWE released Ryback. It remains very unlikely that Triple H will let Ryback return to WWE, especially after Ryback has often criticized Triple H and the direction of WWE on his podcast.

5 5. Triple H: Rob Van Dam

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Rob Van Dam was an excellent wrestler during his prime years and had the fans on his side, until fans came to realize he hasn’t changed up his act at all since 1999. RVD has long resented Triple H because he believed that he should have become WWE Champion during their feud, but instead Triple H came out on top. In the years since, RVD has often gone on record slamming Triple H for his big ego and selfish nature. He has made it very clear that he feels Triple H loves to hog the spotlight and that he is much happier outside the WWE. For his par, Triple H is probably happy that RVD isn’t with WWE as well.

4 4. Stephanie: Kaitlyn

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Kaitlyn was a pretty good wrestler who would be able to keep up with the Women’s Revolution. It’s just unlikely that Kaitlyn will get that opportunity again, after ending up on Stephanie’s bad side. Apparently, the heat between the two began when Kaitlyn approached McMahon backstage to ask her a question while she was talking to someone else. Yeah, how rude. Kaitlyn was severely punished for that very minor incident – she lost her Divas Championship not too long after, and Kaitlyn then requested her release. Kaitlyn has since announced her plans to come out of retirement, but do not count on her returning to WWE anytime soon.

3 3. Triple H: Melina

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Melina was a key part of the WWE Women’s Division for several years, successfully making the transition from manager to wrestler. She was a talented wrestler who impressed many with her great split-leg entrance, but Melina often got into trouble backstage. There was a lot of talk about her having a massive ego and was alleged to have had an affair with Batista. Once she left the company, Melina had not been shy about badmouthing her former employers. Most notably, Melina tweeted out about how she wanted to puke her guts out when she saw Triple H in public. Odds are that these incidents will not make Triple H want to bring her back to compete with the other women in WWE.

2 2. Triple H: Zahra Schreiber

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In interviews, Triple H has spoken about creating a family-friendly wrestling environment. WWE also expects their talent to behave appropriately and not get caught up in any behaviour that might embarrass or harm WWE, and themselves.

A few years ago, Zahra Schreiber did not follow those rules. During the midst of a push as a manager, many infamous photos and posts of her with Nazi memorabilia and making racist remarks were found online. WWE quickly fired her and sent a warning to the other wrestlers about social media posts. Schreiber is now persona non-grata in WWE, for good reason. Triple H will almost certainly not welcome Schreiber back after her extremely racist posts were found online and became known to the WWE Universe.

1 1. Stephanie: Justin Roberts

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Justin Roberts was a fan favourite ring announcer during his tenure with WWE and was a part of some pretty special matches during his time with the company. To the shock of much of the WWE Universe, Roberts was released in 2014. His departure apparently had a lot to do with the charitable organization, Connor’s Cure, that was set up by WWE for Connor ‘The Crusher’ Michalek.

Roberts basically claimed the charity was set up to create goodwill and good publicity for WWE and that he was actually way more involved with Michalek than Daniel Bryan, Stephanie McMahon, and WWE. Roberts wrote a scathing tell-all in his autobiography, Best Seat in the House, that called out Stephanie McMahon in particular, for trying to generate the positive publicity for something he started but got no credit for.