So we are less than two weeks away now from the WWE draft, which takes places on the very first Smackdown LIVE show on July 19th. Fans are excited with anticipation, and rumours have been swirling around ever since the announcement was made about who WWE could potentially be bringing back to bolster their roster for the draft? Batista? Carlito? CM Punk? (Ok I’m just kidding about that last one).
Here are my 5 potential draft returns.
Kurt Angle
Let’s start with the fan favourite to return, the Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle.
For years fans have speculated the amazing matches Angle would have with the likes of Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler, now (almost) all of those matches could become a reality.
Angle would almost certainly be used carefully, given WWE’s concerns over his health, but it’d be impossible not to feature him in main event storylines upon his return.
One idea I had a while ago that seems to be quite popular is that Kurt takes Chad Gable and Jason Jordan under his wing and form a new era ‘Team Angle.
Whilst the possibility of an Angle return seems a stretch, he could slot into any programme against any wrestler at any time and make it unmissable.
John Morrison
One of the best character transformations over the past 10 years, John Hennigan has gone from tag team specialist with Johnny Nitro, to ECW/Intercontinental Champion as John Morrison, to now wrestling as part of Lucha Underground under the name Johnny Mundo.
There is no doubting Hennigan’s versatility to get the best out of everything given to him, which is something that would be a huge asset on the main roster of WWE.
Although WWE wouldn’t want to entertain the idea of signing Morrison to an open contract, it would be beneficial for him to work a part time schedule to allow him to honour his Lucha Underground commitments, before ultimately departing.
Morrison would easily fit right back into the Intercontinental title scene as if he’d never been gone, but I see bigger things for him, and a WWE title opportunity wouldn’t be so out of the question.
Shelton Benjamin
When fans often talk about Shelton Benjamin, the word ‘waste’ is nearly always involved in the conversation. This isn’t down to Benjamin, it’s due to WWE not capitalising on one of the most gifted athletes of his time in the company.
A very brief stint in the WWE World Heavyweight Title picture was deemed not worthy enough of such talent, and although Benjamin was an Intercontinental Champion, fans felt there was more, much more to come from Benjamin.
Hopefully second time around if he were to show up during the draft on July 19th or shortly afterwards, it’d be business as usual and Shelton would use his ability to get him to the top.
Rey Mysterio
In February of 2015 Mysterio ended his 13 year stint with WWE, ultimately on bad terms, with the company extending his contract (due to his injury) without his approval.
The whole final year of Mysterio’s WWE run was plagued by injury and a case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’, having entered the 2014 Royal Rumble at #30, only to be boo’ed heavily by a crowd only interested in seeing Daniel Bryan.
Unfortunately, this only furthered to multiple losses from there on and Mysterio didn’t do anything of note until departing WWE.
Mysterio still speaks highly of WWE and has admitted he would never close the door to returning, which is great news for long term fans of the high flyer.
If brought back during the draft it’d be hard to fit Rey in straight away, you’d have to imagine a feud with Rusev would be in his near future.
Would WWE have the faith to put the WWE title on Mysterio? You could argue circumstances (the death of Eddie Guerrero) played a huge part in his first title win, but you can never rule out a superstar like Rey who never fails to entertain.
Goldberg
This was the long shot, yet in recent weeks it doesn’t seem like such a crazy idea anymore.
In the past Goldberg has said he would never return to wrestling, and that he was finished with WWE, yet the door for a return seems more open now than it ever has.
Over the course of the past few months, Goldberg has been dropping hints that he still has matches in him, and that he would return to WWE if there was a purpose for him being there, which is huge progress from the fact he once said he would never wrestle again.
Only last year he made two appearances at the ‘Legends of Wrestling’ shows, which would indicate he still holds the passion to entertain.
In an even bigger indication that a return could be back on the cards, Goldberg shocked everybody as a trailer for the WWE 2K17 video game revealed that he would be a pre-order bonus additional character.
With some sort of deal with WWE signed to appear in a video game, you have to wonder what else was in the contract offered to him, and why all of a sudden is he included in the game?
Another note about the 2K17 game, is that previous years’ pre order bonus characters such as Sting and Ultimate Warrior, have all had notable roles within WWE afterwards..
The addition of Goldberg would boost whichever brand he appeared on, and would be without question a main event star.
So there are my 5 potential WWE returns for the July 19th Draft. Do you agree?
If you could bring back just one superstar for the draft, who would it be?
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