Three WWE Hall of Famers Who Could Return to In-Ring Action

The line between a WWE Hall of Fame induction and retirement keeps getting blurrier, and heading toward the end of 2026, there’s renewed speculation about which legends might lace the boots back up. Recent comments from several Hall of Famers suggest at least three names worth watching: Brie Bella, Booker T, and Trish Stratus.

Brie Bella is the closest to an actual in-ring return out of necessity rather than speculation. She came back earlier this year for the women’s Royal Rumble, her first match since 2022, and went on to reunite with sister Nikki Bella and win the Women’s Tag Team Championship alongside Paige. That run was interrupted at SummerSlam when Brie suffered a broken scapula during six-woman tag action. She indicated at the time she expected to be sidelined three to six months, which would put a possible return somewhere between now and early 2027. Given her history with Nikki, a program built around reclaiming the Women’s Tag Team Championship feels like the obvious landing spot once she’s medically cleared.

Booker T’s situation is murkier but no less intriguing. The Hall of Famer hasn’t wrestled for WWE since the 2023 Royal Rumble, instead staying active through his own Reality of Wrestling promotion. The hook here is Trick Williams, the NXT-developed US Champion who has publicly campaigned for a match against Booker T, floating the idea of serving as his retirement opponent. Booker T has been coy but not dismissive, and in an interview with Chris Van Vliet shared on Thursday, he suggested he’d be willing to put the boots on again to, in his words, “slap somebody around a little bit.” Booker played a significant mentorship role in Trick Williams’ NXT rise, so a match between the two would carry genuine storyline weight rather than feeling like a nostalgia booking.

Trish Stratus rounds out the trio. In her own conversation with Van Vliet, Stratus said she’d consider stepping back into the ring if the circumstances were right, and she specifically named Rhea Ripley as a dream opponent. There’s also a wrinkle on NXT’s side, with Blake Monroe reportedly pitching a storyline built around a Legend Killer gimmick targeting Stratus. Between Ripley and a potential Monroe program, Stratus wouldn’t lack for credible dance partners if WWE decided to pull the trigger. Her most recent WWE appearance came at Evolution in July 2025, when she came up short against Tiffany Stratton’s Women’s Championship in what capped her 25th-anniversary celebration run.

None of this is confirmed as locked-in creative, and WWE has a long track record of teasing legend returns that either take months to materialize or never happen at all. But the pattern matters: Rey Mysterio and others have shown that a Hall of Fame plaque isn’t necessarily a career eulogy anymore, and WWE clearly sees value in blending nostalgia with its current stars. Whether it’s Brie chasing tag gold, Booker closing the loop with Trick Williams, or Trish stepping in against Ripley or Monroe, each scenario ties a legend directly into an active storyline rather than a standalone cameo. Keep an eye on how these threads develop as WWE builds toward its next major shows.