Back in 2020, Edge came out of retirement. Everyone loved his return and other similar returns that happened in the past. When a wrestler returns to WWE, fans can't help but speculate who'd be the next one to make a comeback. Over the years, multiple wrestlers were rumored to return to WWE once again. Some of them did happen, while many didn't.
In some cases, plans were changed at the last minute. While fans would've loved to see most of these returns, it's probably better that some of these rumors didn't come true.
10 Sanity
While speaking to Ringsiders Wrestling last year, Alexander Wolfe revealed that before the pandemic happened, WWE had plans to reunite Sanity. As fans might remember, Eric Young got released in April 2020. This is why the reunion couldn't happen. They were supposed to feud with Imperium.
9 CM Punk
CM Punk left WWE in 2014 and the company later fired him on his wedding day. He then retired from wrestling and vowed to never work for WWE again. But fans always expected him to return to the company one day and chanted his name all the time. Over the years, several reports claimed Punk could be returning to WWE. Back when Punk joined WWE Backstage as an analyst, a lot of fans believed that this could lead to his return to the company as a wrestler. That didn't happen and Punk ended up signing with All Elite Wrestling instead.
8 Melina
While former Women's Champion Melina did return to WWE during this year's Royal Rumble, there were rumors of her return in 2020. Many reports claimed that Melina signed a contract with WWE that year. But she never ended up returning, except for a one-off appearance during Raw Legends Night. Melina later clarified that while she was in talks with WWE, both parties never agreed to a deal. Melina also had a bad knee at that time, which could be why she didn't return.
7 Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle retired from wrestling in 2019 after having his final match at WrestleMania 35 against Baron Corbin. He later transitioned into a backstage role as a producer. Angle was one of the wrestlers who were released in 2020. The company later offered him several return offers, but Angle never returned.
Recently, there were rumors that he and WWE had agreed to a deal. Angle even confirmed his return on WWE programming, but those plans got changed at the last minute. Angle was planned to be involved in the storyline between Alpha Academy and RK-Bro.
6 Nexus
Nexus was red-hot when the faction first debuted in 2010. They were disbanded a year later, and most wrestlers walked different ways. Darren Young revealed that WWE had plans to reunite Nexus at WrestleMania 36. But the reaction to COVID-19 changed plans for them. Last year, Darren once again teased a Nexus return by saying they'd defeat Retribution at WrestleMania. Most likely, he was trolling the fans, but we can't deny that a Nexus reunion could've been exciting since they are a nostalgic act at this point.
5 Evolution
In 2018, WWE did the first-ever all-women pay-per-view named Evolution. Ronda Rousey and Nikki Bella headlined this show for the Raw Women's Championship. The company didn't bring back this event the next year. Reportedly, Ronda Rousey's absence had a lot to do with it.
In 2020, there were rumors that WWE is planning to bring back the Evolution pay-per-view. A report claimed that WWE was planning to do the show on August 30, a week after SummerSlam that year. That slot would go to the Payback pay-per-view, which saw the beginning of The Tribal Chief's historic Universal Title reign.
4 Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio was one of WWE's failed experiments. They tried to push him way too early, and it didn't work out the way they wanted. Del Rio left WWE on bad terms and has said many controversial things about the company since.
But last year, he teased a return to the company. There were rumors that Alberto has been telling people close to him that he's returning to WWE. But another report claimed that WWE has no plan to bring him back again.
3 Maven
In 2020, Maven traveled to Orlando and had a meeting with Triple H about returning to the company for some announcing work. But shortly after he met Triple H, COVID-19-related restrictions were put into place globally. WWE was cutting staff at that time, working with as fewer talents as possible. Because of this, Maven never got a chance to return to WWE.
2 Lana
WWE brought several female wrestlers back this year for the Royal Rumble PPV. At one point, "The Ravishing Russian" Lana was also set to return for the Women's Royal Rumble match. But as Royal Rumble got closer, her name was no longer mentioned internally.
Both parties were in talks about a surprise appearance, but for some reason, this didn't happen. Since getting released from WWE, Lana hasn't worked for any promotion. Her husband Miro works for AEW, and there's a chance they might reunite there soon.
1 Brawl For All
Brawl For All was one of the dumbest things WWE ever did. It was Vince Russo's idea, which hurt almost everyone involved. A former WWE writer revealed that Vince McMahon wanted to bring Brawl For All back for the original NXT. Almost everyone backstage was against this idea, and they had to talk McMahon out of it. The last time this shoot-fight tournament happened, many wrestlers got injured and suffered concussions.