Former WWE Superstar Chris Masters could be set to return at the 2023 Royal Rumble, after a Twitter teaser went viral. The Masterpiece was released by the company in 2011 despite significant improvement inside the ring, and was even mentioned by name in the legendary “Pipe Bomb” promo by CM Punk prior to Money in the Bank 2011.
He was known for his impressive physique while in the WWE and his full-nelson finisher, known as The Masterlock, became subject to a challenge for fellow wrestlers – try to escape the hold once locked in. The only man to ever escape it was Bobby Lashley, although The Big Show technically passed due to his arms being too large to lock in the move.
He lost huge amounts of mass and was fired by WWE in 2011 and has yet to return to the company. However, this could all be set to change at the 2023 Royal Rumble, with a rumoured return for the former WWE wrestler likely to get a big pop for fans of the company during the later years of the Ruthless Aggression era.
Masters tweeted out a message from his personal Twitter account, counting down from 10 to 1, before tagging the WWE in the message. Masters tweeted the following from his personal account:
“10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1….. @WWE”
While the tweet was accompanied by a video of Masters at a separate event, the count down seems to be a reference to the WWE Royal Rumble, in which the entrance of each participant is preceded by a timer which counts down from ten to zero.
Chris Masters last appeared in the Royal Rumble match in 2011. He entered at number 14 in the largest Rumble match ever (not counting the Saudi-exclusive “Greatest Royal Rumble Match”) as one of the forty competitors vying to win the match and main event Wrestlemania in a WWE Championship match.
Sadly, his performance was not as he would have liked. He lasted under two minutes and was eliminated by CM Punk in a disappointing showing. The match was eventually won by Alberto Del Rio while Masters was released by WWE in August 2011.
Would you like to see Chris Masters make a surprise return at the Royal Rumble? Let us know in the comments or tell us your favourite Chris Masters moment in the WWE.
