WWE went on a firing spree when the pandemic hit, and many Superstars lost their job throughout the past couple of years. Some of them were total surprises, some of them not so much, but one thing was for sure: the Vince McMahon regime was ruthless when it came to cost-cutting.

When McMahon left WWE in July and his son-in-law took over creative and talent, it was inevitable that some of his favorites would be making their return. A new regime in charge was ready to inject some life into the company which had been somewhat suffering under McMahon’s way of thinking.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque didn’t bring one or two of “his” people…he brought back a lot of them, many of which were part of his NXT project when he was in charge, an NXT project which was gutted, literally, by Vince and John Laurinaitis. Triple H’s team was slashed and his trusted colleagues were fired, but we all know how that ended.

The returns started quickly at SummerSlam and continued at a steady pace. In total, 18 WWE Superstars found their way back to the company.

Dakota Kai, Braun Strowman, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Mia Yim, Sarah Logan, Emma, Tegan Nox, Karrion Kross, Scarlett, Dexter Lumis, Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, B-Fab, Johnny Gargano, Candice LaRae, Bronson Reed, and Bray Wyatt all returned to the company following the return of Triple H in power. Io Shirai, who was about to walk away, also signed a new deal and was moved to the main roster.

William Regal, who was fired by WWE in January and joined AEW in March, quit AEW in December and is starting again with WWE in January 2023. Regal is one of Triple H’s closest friends and advisors and AEW President Tony Khan facilitated his return by agreeing not to pick up Regal’s optional year so he can go back and also be with his son who wrestles for NXT.