I'm a huge Ravishing Rick Rude fan & I’ve always been intrigued that before his untimely passing he planned to make an in-ring comeback in 1999. Below I've assembled information regarding said return:

PWT0rch [28th March 1998]
Rick Rude is seriously considering buying out his permanent disability clause in his Lloyd's of London contract because he misses being part of the in-ring action. With wrestling as hot as it is, he sees a bigger contract being offered if he can wrestle, especially with wrestlers years older than him getting featured.

Scott Hall [2006]
I was a huge, huge Rick Rude fan. I thought he was really something special. I only got to be around him a little bit. You know how some guys are just cool? Rude was just fuckin' cool. He was somethin' special. He wanted to come back to work. He was trying to get (Eric) Bischoff to try to pay off his Lloyd's of London insurance thing & he wanted Bischoff to pay it off so he could come back to work. Rude was smart enough to know this nWo shit was paying good. So one time we were at TV & then a week later we were at the Georgia Dome & Rude showed up & he had gained 30 pounds. I was, like, what the fuck? Rick what are you doin'? He was so fuckin' jacked & so fuckin' bloated, his eyes looked like little slits. He was jacked. I think even Bischoff went to him & went, "Rick, what the fuck are you doin'?" I never had the pleasure to ever wrestle with him, I only got to be around him briefly around the locker room & some little stuff like interviews & things like that. He was something special. I used to watch him when he did the angle with Jake the Snake. Remember when he had Jake's old lady's face painted on his tights & all that shit. I think Rick will go down in the business as one of the very best.

Curt Hennig [1999]
The last time I talked to him was the day before he died. He had just started with this shoot fighting interest. He had been taking some classes in it & had two sparring matches. He said he did really well & figures he might be able to compete. He wanted to perform so badly. He couldn't wrestle because of some insurance reasons. He thought when he came back to WCW he'd have a chance to at least manage me or be involved in some way, shape or form. He came home shortly after the session & told me he was having some trouble breathing. Keep in mind, 10 days before this he had been in a car wreck. He cracked three ribs & was put in the hospital. Fluid had accumulated in his lungs, & yet he fought that day. When I got home from the funeral & the live Nitro in Fargo, N.D., I checked my answering machine. There were two messages from him. In the final one he asked me if I had Eric Bischoff's telephone number, that he needed to call him about something. Then he said, "I'll see you later." I still hear those words, "I'll see you later". I've kept that tape & will never let anything happen to it.

Wrestling Observer [April 1999]
Rick Rude also had been training for an in-ring comeback nearly five years after he suffered a career-threatening injury during a May 1, 1994, match against Sting at the Fukuoka Dome. He reportedly had been trying to get out of his WCW contract since December 1998, presumably to wrestle in the World Wrestling Federation.

Mike Mooneyham [25th April 1999]
Rick Rude, who weighed in excess of 250 pounds at the time of his death & had bulked up nearly 40 pounds over his natural weight, was planning a ring comeback with hopes of reprising his late-’80s role as a major heel in the WWF.

PWT0rch [1st May 1999]
Rick Rude was actually planning an in-ring comeback. Wrestling was in a boom period & he saw an opportunity to make tremendous money as a heel opponent for Steve Austin in the WWF. His back had recovered enough where he believed he could pay off the insurance policy & return to the ring. To prepare for that possibility, he began training heavily, gaining considerable weight in a short period of time. Some estimates say he was up to 250 pounds. His 6-3 frame was naturally thin. Were he not a wrestler, he probably would weigh less than 200 pounds. With just weight training, he would never have gotten as big as he was at the time of his death or as big as he was during his career.

Fin Martin [24th October 2014]
Rick Rude had hoped to make an in-ring return for a feud with his longtime pal Curt Hennig. This was something he was training for - & truly believed would be massive - when he died of a drug overdose on April 20, 1999, aged 40.

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