The next big return should be around February 2013 when The Undertaker starts hyping Wrestlemania again.
Seriously, enough of the returns. Since the beginning of the year we've had Mick Foley, The Rock, Chris Jericho, The Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Brock Lesnar, and Albert return to WWE in some form or another. It's obvious why - ratings. WWE wants a big buyrate for WM so they put the big big names on the card, same with the Rumble by having older names enter the match. And putting Brock on the post-WM Raw makes business sense, as a lot of casual fans will be tuning to catch the fallout, and seeing a returning superstar will convince them to watch next week too.
Now, I'm not knocking these superstars from the past; 'Taker and Trips fought the match of the year on Sunday night and created one of my favourite Wrestlemania moments at the same time. But there are only a handful of superstars from past rosters who can perform at full capacity, and who would be worthwhile having around.
Now that the season of big returns and huge matches has come to an end, the talent from the current roster - erstwhile pushed to the wayside to make way for the main events - will be brought back to the fore, shuffled around to create new feuds. Hence why the Draft is usually this time of year.
In essence, big returns take up flagship time that could also be dedicated to WWE's rising stars, and while these huge dream matches never generally disappoint, fans shouldn't rely on them to make the product exciting or even just watchable.
But it's just another example of the IWC's Janus complex:
"
X from FCW is awesome he should totally get pushed!"
"Oh they should bring back
X, he was awesome in the Attitude Era, imagine how dominating he would be now!"
