Triple H Reportedly Planning Surprising WWE Returns

WWE’s new creative head Triple H has quickly rebuilt the company’s once thin roster, and more changes are on the way.

Thus far, “The Game” has brought back a number of high-profile stars, including Johnny Gargano and Braun Strowman, since taking over for WWE’s booking following the abrupt retirement of Vince McMahon, and according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestlingNews.co), Triple H has even more surprises “who are not people being talked about.”

With McMahon looking to cut costs, WWE released more than 80 performers in 2021 in a series of move that absolutely decimated WWE’s roster. Among the most notable stars let go during that span were Strowman, Bray Wyatt, Aleister Black, Keith Lee and Jeff Hardy, and the toll it took on WWE’s ability—or lack thereof—to create compelling storylines was incredibly noticable during that span, though it certainly wasn’t the only reason why WWE programming struggled over the course of the past two years.

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But Triple H, in just a couple of months, has done a fantastic job of reinvigorating both Raw and SmackDown, and he’s done it in two ways: By booking more engaging storylines and feuds and by significantly improving WWE’s roster depth. In addition to potential main eventers like Gargano and Strowman, WWE has really bolstered its women’s division with the return of Dakota Kai and reignited the career of another possible future world champion in Karrion Kross.

Many of those returns were expected, however, a reality that remains true with Wyatt widely being expected to come back soon despite his high asking price and Sasha Banks and Naomi also being positioned for an epic comeback. What isn’t clear, though, is what other shockers Triple H could have in store for WWE’s fan base in the months ahead.

The vast majority of pro wrestling’s biggest and most marketable stars are already under contract, most either with WWE or AEW but some with New Japan Pro-Wrestling as well. While top stars like The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and even MJF could be on their way out of AEW—and perhaps into WWE—at some point, that likely wouldn’t be contractually possible until early 2024.

So, what does that mean for Triple H’s potential surprise returns?

Well, logic says that Triple H will be looking in-house to utilize top part-time attractions to instantly bolster its roster, though he likely won’t rely on them as much as McMahon did. While WWE’s group of part-timers isn’t nearly as deep as it was just a few years ago, there are certainly a handful of names who could be waiting in the wings for an epic comeback.

Infrequently seen superstars who fit that bill include John Cena, Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, the latter of which seems to come and go more often than any WWE part-timer over the past decade. In addition to Banks and Naomi on the women’s side, there is another major factor to consider here: Charlotte Flair. One of the faces of WWE for nearly a decade, Flair has been out of action for several months and is long overdue for a return, and though Flair’s never-ending push has been a point of contention among fans for years, she is someone whose star power and presence would be seen internally as a major boost to WWE’s women’s division.

Triple H has showed no reservations regarding bringing back stars across the men’s, women’s and tag team divisions, with Hit Row recently making their return to instantly improve the tag team division on SmackDown. It does look like Triple H has missed out on some potentially huge free agent signings, such as W. Morrissey—formerly Big Cass in WWE—who, in somewhat of a surprising move, chose to sign with AEW instead.

The good news for WWE is that Triple H has already done such a masterful job of improving the roster that he doesn’t really need to bring back any more stars at the moment. WWE’s roster depth has shown so many signs of advancement in just a two-month span that it would be better for the sake of the overall roster to spread out these marquee returns over the course of the next half a year heading into WrestleMania season.

While adding a few more key pieces in the form of full-time or part-timers would help WWE, the company does not want to get to the point where it has too many stars to be able to adequately use them. Finding the right balance of having a roster that is deep—but not too deep—is critical in terms of boosting morale and keeping superstars happy, and Triple H has been a beacon of hope in that regard thus far.

With WWE morale on the upswing under Triple H’s guidance, he needs to err on the side of caution when it comes to bringing back stars and pushing them at the expense of the stars who are already on the roster and are just waiting for a chance to shine.