Chris Masters Pitched Confrontation With Top WWE Star

Chris Masters (now known in wrestling as Chris Adonis) once made a push to return to WWE. He had already made two separate runs with the company that didn't end all that well. During his initial stretch with WWE, which started in 2005, he was being pushed as a potential breakout headliner. However, he was released in November 2007 after violating WWE's Substance Abuse and Drug Policy for a second time. Masters would come back in 2009, but after a forgettable two years, he was again let go.

Speaking to Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston's "Ten Count," Masters said initially he wasn't going to make a pitch for a third go-round. "In terms of a comeback, all I can say is the desire is always there a little bit, because this is what I love to do and I still do it," Masters said. "Even as far as last year, as long as I've been outside of WWE, I've never pitched to come back. It's just because I didn't look at it like an option after the second time. After the first time, sure, but after the second time, it's like, I gotta move on. I still wanna wrestle, but it's just not gonna be on television with WWE, and that's okay."

That changed when Masters saw an opportunity to do something with Bobby Lashley, and Masters came forward looking to maybe do some business with WWE again, but the timing wasn't right. "When you also think of the whole Bobby Lashley aspect — the idea of the Hurt Lock-Master Lock thing — and so when Royal Rumble came around, I kind of started petitioning for it a little bit. There was some talks with some of the people I knew in WWE, so it wasn't it was just going on deaf ears, but Bobby Lashley ended up not being in the Rumble."

If you use any quotes in this article, please credit NBC Sports Boston's "Ten Count" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc.