5 Best “Never Say Never” Moments In WWE

In the world of professional wrestling, there is one phrase that is always thrown around and that is, “never say never”. It’s something a fan holds onto for years or decades. It’s hope that one day something magical will happen and you will see a blast from the past or an international star arrive when no one said it was possible.

There are several moments that stand the test of time as a testament to this, such as: Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels burying the hatchet in a WWE ring, The Hardy Boyz making their long-awaited return at WrestleMania 33, Daniel Bryan making his triumphant comeback to the squared circle, and at this year’s Royal Rumble where ‘The Rated-R Superstar’ Edge made his thunderous return after nine long years.

In this list, we’re going to run down the five best “never say never” moments from WWE’s storied history. Make sure you drop your own personal favourites in the comments section below.

 

5. Goldberg Debuts In WWE

Before the phenomenon known as the RAW after ‘Mania was even a thing, in 2003 something unbelievable happened. Twenty four hours prior, The Rock had finally defeated his long-time nemesis Stone Cold Steve Austin on the Grandest Stage of Them All, WrestleMania XIX.

‘Mr. Hollywood’ in all his arrogance claimed that he had beaten them all and now he was leaving WWE for good. The Rock wanted to know who was next? Moments later, none other than one of the biggest icons of WCW, Goldberg, made his historic debut on Monday Night RAW. With one hellacious spear, the former WCW World Champion answered that question.

“Say, Rock, you wanna know who’s next? YOU’RE NEXT!”

 

4. Sting Debuts At Survivor Series

This was yet another situation reminiscent of Goldberg coming to WWE and it was equally special. One of WCW’s pioneers who went down with the ship back in 2001 shocked the entire WWE Universe at the 2014 Survivor Series.

As the traditional 5 on 5 match concluded, the last two survivors for their respective teams were Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler, the latter of whom came extremely close to defeating Rollins. HHH was pulling referees out of the ring and knocking them out to avoid the loss. The COO had delivered the Pedigree to Ziggler and laid Rollins’ shoulder on top of him. Just as soon as crooked referee Scott Armstrong came down to make the count, the lights went out and some ominous music blared through the arena.

‘The Vigilante’ came out to a raucous reaction, donning his black crow attire and white face paint for the first time in WWE. But why now? HHH looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Both superstars shared some words and one kick to the gut and Scorpion Death Drop later, the end was near.

Sting pulled Ziggler’s arm over Rollins for the referee to make the three-count, setting up a huge dream match for WrestleMania 31.

 

3. Shane McMahon Returns To Raw

On the February 22nd, 2016 edition of RAW, ‘The Prodigal Son’ Shane McMahon made his shocking return during the Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award segment. Vince McMahon was seconds away from presenting it to Stephanie McMahon when “Here Comes The Money” blared through the arena. The place went nuts as this was the first time the WWE Universe had seen Shane since leaving the company in 2009.

Shane-O-Mac came back with one purpose: to gain control of WWE’s flagship show Monday Night RAW. He was tired of seeing Stephanie and Triple H run the show into the ground. So, Vince made a proposition, if Shane can beat The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania 32 he would gain control. The crowd reaction signaled how significant this moment truly was.

 

2. AJ Styles Debuts At The Royal Rumble

When you talk about “never say never” moments nothing beats the moment when ‘The Phenomenal One’ AJ Styles debuted at the 2016 Royal Rumble. Roman Reigns was forced to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against all thirty participants in the men’s Royal Rumble match. The backstory was that Styles was just kicked out of The Bullet Club in NJPW. There were rumors that he may come to WWE but nothing was certain. Styles entered the match at number three and the WWE Universe went nuts.

This was a huge moment for fans of both TNA, NJPW, and WWE, and quite honestly I don’t think Adam Cole would have joined the company if Styles hadn’t achieved so much success within a year.

I have to say that The Phenomenal One has been such an incredible addition to WWE, and he has this insane in-ring chemistry with nearly everyone he wrestles against. His matches are a work of art and he’s such a spectacular in-ring performer.

 

1. Daniel Bryan/Edge Cleared To Wrestle

Okay folks, these two incredible triumphant stories I feel go hand-in-hand. In my opinion, there would be no Edge comeback if Daniel Bryan never got cleared to compete in 2018. When he was forced to retire, it was one of the saddest moments in WWE ever since Edge retired back in 2011. Both superstars had serious neck surgeries and terrible career-threatening injuries.

I felt like for at least a couple years, the WWE Universe could see the writing on the wall for Bryan. After he won both the World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Title at WrestleMania 30, Bryan was forced to relinquish the titles due to his neck injuries and concussions. He would remain out of action until he came back in 2015, where he would win the Intercontinental Championship in the multi-man ladder match at WrestleMania 31. Yet again though, all his momentum was halted and dreams were crushed.

On the February 8th, 2016 edition of Raw, Bryan was forced to retire in his hometown of Washington and would take on the role of General Manager of SmackDown Live. On the March 21st, 2018 edition of SmackDown, Bryan was finally cleared for in-ring action in perfect time for WrestleMania 34.

The difference between Bryan and Edge was that The Rated-R Superstar’s retirement came out of nowhere. On the April 11th, 2011 edition of RAW, Edge dropped the huge bombshell to the WWE Universe. Just like that, he was gone, never to wrestle again. Edge was inducted into the 2012 Hall of Fame and stepped away from WWE. There were rumors a few months ago that he may have signed a new deal with the company but much like AJ Styles, nothing was certain.

At the Royal Rumble, ‘The Rated-R Superstar’ made his shocking return as the twenty-first entrant. Edge made it all the way down to the final three participants in the rumble. This, in my opinion, is one of the biggest “never say never” moments that occurred in WWE. You could clearly see that Edge was very emotional and almost in disbelief that he was actually heading to the ring.

That type of joy, excitement and hope is what professional wrestling fans live for. It truly shows that nothing is for certain and anything is possible.