Jinder Mahal and 6 Superstars Who Benefited the Most from 2nd Chance by WWE

Jinder Mahal is the No. 1 contender to the WWE Championship, and on May 21 at Backlash, he will challenge Randy Orton for the title in the main event of that WWE Network presentation.

For the young Canadian-Indian star, it represents the culmination an arduous journey back to the major leagues of professional wrestling after he was released from Vince McMahon's company in 2014. More dedicated and in better shape than he was during his initial run, Mahal capitalized on a second chance to become the star he always knew he could be.

WWE history is full of talented individuals who did not find the success they strived for in their first opportunities with the company, but they continued to work, either in developmental or elsewhere, and came back ready to make it as a main event attraction in the industry's most storied promotion.

From tag team specialists who seized the opportunity to prove themselves a singles competitors in a second go-round to sons of famous pro wrestlers seeking the chance to prove they could contribute to the industry in a significant manner, the WWE product as we know it may not be the same without their stories.

As Mahal prepares to make the most of his second chance, take this journey through WWE history and relive the unlikely returns and successes of some of wrestling's most respected stars.

Christian

When Christian seized an opportunity to take his talents to TNA Wrestling rather than sticking around a WWE that never fully valued his talents as a singles performer, many wondered if he would ever again step foot inside a Vince McMahon-owned ring.

Fans got the answer to that question when he returned to the company that made him a star in 2009.

Pegged as the face of a fledgling ECW reboot, he almost instantly captured the brand's title and enjoyed a lengthy reign with it. He also wrestled some of the best matches of his singles career in WWE, delivering show-stealers with both Jack Swagger and Zack Ryder that helped shape those competitor's careers early in their runs.

It was not until 2011 that Christian truly seized the opportunity that came along with his second chance in WWE.

A member of the SmackDown roster, he found himself entered into a rivalry with Randy Orton over the World Championship. Having won the title when injured champion and former tag partner Edge was forced into retirement, he lost it just days later to The Viper.

Angered and frustrated by the loss, the former Captain Charisma underwent a character change and became the whining, complaining villain who cheated and took shortcuts to regain the title. His series of matches with Orton established him a legitimate main event attraction on the blue brand, a position he had never previously achieved.

While he may not have enjoyed sustained success as champion, he remained in the upper midcard scene for the remainder of his in-ring career, with his value to WWE greater than it had ever been before.

Bray Wyatt

Unlike every other Superstar on this list, Bray Wyatt never left WWE. He was always part of the company, a mainstay in its developmental territories, but to suggest he was never the beneficiary of a second chance would be a massive, uninformed statement.

Originally introduced to the WWE Universe as Husky Harris, the third-generation star was an undefined and uninteresting addition to the underachieving New Nexus. He showed off some of his raw athleticism but never achieved anything remotely close to success, thanks primarily to WWE Creative's inconsistent use of young stars of the first incarnation of NXT.

When he caught a punt to the head courtesy of Randy Orton, he disappeared from television for two full years, re-emerging in 2013 as The Reaper of Souls fans know and appreciate today.

After such an early failure, there was no promise he would get another chance to make a first impression. It is a testament to his determination to achieve success in the industry in which his father and grandfather were champions. He was able to create a character for himself that erased the ghosts of Harris and allowed him to star at the highest level imaginable in WWE.

A former world champion for Vince McMahon's promotion, Wyatt is an elite star who consistently finds himself opposite the biggest babyfaces in the industry.

Regardless of creative pitfalls and a lackluster win-loss record, Wyatt is one of the top stars in all professional wrestling—the result of unwavering dedication to his craft.

Goldust

In 1995, Goldust took the wrestling world by storm, a controversial character that generated buzz about the content of Vince McMahon's show for the first in what felt like an eternity. He became one of the hottest stars on a talented roster and immediately won the Intercontinental Championship.

Unfortunately, an ill-advised babyface turn in 1997 killed his momentum and doomed him to mediocrity. Two years later, one of the most influential characters in WWE's long and illustrious history disappeared from television and the man behind the face paint, Dustin Rhodes, returned to WCW.

In 2002, Goldust returned to WWE in the Royal Rumble. While it would take a handful of months to get back to relevancy, he made the most of an opportunity created by the brand extension and became a featured player on Monday Night Raw.

Alongside Booker T, he enjoyed one of the most entertaining runs of his entire career.

Motived between the ropes and hilarious outside of them, Goldust became an integral piece of the puzzle for WWE's flagship show. In the process, he added to his Hall of Fame-worthy legacy.

Jeff Hardy

When Jeff Hardy left WWE in 2003, he was a shell of his former self. It was clear to all around him that there was something off about his performances. The arrival of TNA Wrestling to the big time as part of their television deal with Fox Sports Net brought with it the need for bigger, more recognizable stars.

Enter Hardy.

Thought to be the savior of the company, he became unreliable and erratic.

His demons were overwhelming him, and his future in professional wrestling was in doubt.

In 2006, he received a second chance to realize his potential as a star in WWE. Unlike his first failed stint in TNA, he would make the most of it. There were bumps along the way, but Hardy became a bigger star than anyone could have imagined.

After several runs with the intercontinental title, Hardy finally ascended the ladder to the top of professional wrestling, defeating Triple H and Edge in a Triple Threat Match to become WWE champion. It was the first world title win, but not the only one.

When all was said and done, he would have three reigns to his name and status as the face of SmackDown for a good two-year stretch.

Back in WWE now for what should be one last run, it will be interesting to see if management takes the opportunity to push The Charismatic Enigma one last time or if he is destined to be a tag team worker as he nears 40.

Daniel Bryan

In the summer of 2010, Daniel Bryan was poised to be a major part of the Nexus invasion of WWE. On night one of the storyline, he got himself fired for choking ring announcer Justin Roberts with his necktie.

Forced back to the independents, there were major questions as to whether Bryan would ever have the opportunity to showcase his abilities on the grand stage of WWE again.

At SummerSlam, some three months into the Nexus storyline, Bryan returned and teamed with John Cena, Chris Jericho, R-Truth, John Morrison, Bret Hart and Edge to battle his rebellious former teammates.

It was the start of an unlikely journey to the top of WWE that would culminate in extraordinary fashion at WrestleMania XXX, where he defeated Triple H in the night's opener and beat Randy Orton and Batista in a Triple Threat match to capture the WWE Championship in the main event.

The journey was not an easy one. He suffered numerous setbacks courtesy of awful booking, but he weathered every storm and had his second chance pay off by developing into the most beloved professional wrestler of his era.

William Regal

In 1998, double-tough Brit William Regal made his WWE debut fresh off a run with WCW that saw him achieve notoriety as the wrestler who brought credibility to that promotion's Television Championship. Debuting through a series of vignettes touting him as a "Real Man's Man," Regal failed to catch on with audiences.

It did not help that he was in the midst of a personal battle with addiction, which he relived in painstaking detail in his 2005 autobiography, Walking a Golden Mile.

He was released from the company but would return at the turn of the millennium, filling the role of goodwill ambassador to the United States. In short order, he captured the European Championship, became the right-hand man of Vince McMahon and the on-screen commissioner of WWE.

Now in his 17th year with the company, Regal has earned the reputation as a trusted and respected veteran. A King of the Ring, two-time intercontinental and multi-time authority figure whose willingness to do what was necessary for the sake of entertaining the masses made him invaluable to WWE, Regal is a future Hall of Famer who may not have been destined for that recognition had it not been for the second chance he received in WWE and his making the most of it.