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Drew Carey at the 2001 Royal RumbleAnother Royal Rumble is at our door steps and while it is any one's guess as to who might win the Rumble – Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt and even Triple H have been tipped as strong contenders – one thing is certain. There will be at least one surprise entrant this year as well.For more than a decade or so, each Rumble has seen multiple surprise participants – WWE legends, commentators, celebrities and even women.Remember the time Drew Carey entered the Rumble and almost got Chokeslamed by Kane? This list takes a look at the top 10 surprise Royal Rumble entrants of all time.
#10 Curt Hennig - 2002 Royal Rumble
Technically not a surprise as Curt Hennig’s entry was announced in the build up to the Rumble. However, what was a surprise was the strong showing the veteran gave at the 2002 Rumble.
Even though widely acknowledged as one of the greatest wrestlers in history, ‘Mr.Perfect’ had not been in a WWE ring for the past six years. The 43-year-old was expected to just make a ‘blink and miss’ appearance in the Rumble, but the wily technician lasted more than 15 minutes in the ring and made it to the final three.
He even had a hand in eliminating Stone Cold Steve Austin before hitting the Perfect Plex on Kurt Angle. Hennig would be eliminated by Triple H, but his performance at the Rumble would earn him a full-time WWE contract.
Class is indeed permanent!!!
#9 Diesel - 2011
This was the only time Kevin Nash showed off his ‘Diesel’ persona in the WWE after leaving for WCW in the mid-nineties. The reception that greeted the former WWE Champion when the sound of the running truck – Diesel’s music – was played on the Titantron was simply unbelievable.
The WWE Superstars in the ring too played their part with their wide mouthed antics on seeing Diesel make his way to the ring.
He would last just about three minutes in the ring before being eliminated by Wade Barrett, but the positive reaction of the crowd forced WWE’s hand and made them inject Nash in an angle with CM Punk and Triple H as part of the ‘Summer of Punk’ story line later that year.
#8 Beth Phoenix - 2010
Unlike Chyna before her and Kharma after, Beth Phoenix was never expected to throw her weight around male competitors. However, the Glamazon did enter the 2010 Royal Rumble and pulled off a great upset by eliminating none other than the 400 pound Great Khali.
She would soon be eliminated by CM Punk though and the Rumble would be won by Edge, Phoenix’s future real life partner.
#7 Kharma - 2012
In the 2012 edition of the Rumble, Kharma joined Chyna and Beth Phoenix as the only women to ever make a Rumble appearance. Her entry was even more surprising since she had been off T.V after announcing that she was pregnant.
Kharma’s entry was memorable, even though it did not last very long. She would eliminate the then heel Michael Cole from the Rumble, soon to be eliminated herself by Dolph Ziggler, but only after delivering an Implant buster on the Show off.
#6 The Honky Tonk Man - 2001
The entry that is said to have inspired the concept of a host of superstars making surprise entrances in the Rumble every year, The Honky Tonk Man’s entry in the 2001 Rumble was shocking, to say the least.
The once feared villain displayed that he had lost none of his swagger, gyrating to outrageous dance moves and bringing along his famed guitar for good measure. However, the man himself did not last too long in the Rumble as he came face to face with masked Kane.
The Big Red Monster proceeded to smash the guitar over Honky Tonk’s head and making the legend one of his 11 eliminations that year,
#5 Bubba Ray Dudley - 2015
When Philadelphia was announced as the venue of last year’s Royal Rumble, fans expected a few former ECW wrestlers to make appearances. However, nobody thought that Bubba Ray Dudley would choose to make his Royal Rumble match debut at that edition after nine years away from the WWE.
Adding to the disbelief was the fact that Bubba had just come off his only successful career singles run in Impact Wrestling.
The pleasantly surprised Philly crowd were on their feet for Bubba, who would later return to the WWE full-time alongside his tag team partner D-Von Dudley. Bubba’s entry was the lone bright spot of the night which ended in a chorus of boos after Roman Reigns won the match
#4 Chris Jericho - 2013
Another shocker – Chris Jericho had been the last man eliminated at the 2012 Rumble and soon afterwards, he entered into a feud with Dolph Ziggler that would eventually end with Y2J at the wrong end of a ‘Loser leaves WWE’ match on Raw.
Even though Ziggler was announced as the #1 entrant in the Rumble, nobody expected Jericho to come out and renew their rivalry at the 2013 Royal Rumble. But when the buzzer hit, he did – at #2, to a huge pop from the crowd.
Y2J would last in the Rumble for more than 45 minutes before being eliminated by Ziggler himself.
#3 Rob Van Dam - 2009
Rob Van Dam had last been seen in the WWE in 2007. So it is safe to say that it was a huge surprise to see RVD come out to the ring as part of the 2009 Royal Rumble.
The crowd who had no clue that Mr.Monday night was in the building were so much behind RVD to win the match that they were bitterly disappointed when Chris Jericho eliminated Van Dam after 15 minutes of solid display.
RVD would not return to the WWE for another four and a half years, making his 09 Rumble appearance truly special.
#2 John Cena - 2008
John Cena was expected to be out of action for up to eight months after a pectoral injury in the winter of 2007.
Triple H was the favourite to win the 08 Royal Rumble until the final man entering the match turned out to be Cena himself. The former WWE Champion stunned a packed MSG crowd with his earlier than expected return from injury and it would come down to Triple H, Batista and Cena to decide the winner of the match.
Triple H would take care of Batista, but Cena would deliver an Attitude Adjustment to the outside to end the Game’s hopes of winning the Rumble.
However, both Cena and Triple H would challenge WWE Champion Randy Orton at Wrestlemania 24 and neither would capture the title.
#1 Edge - 2010
Edge and Chris Jericho had captured the Unified Tag team championships in July 2009 and were set to go on an extended main event run, much like how Edge and Randy Orton used to run around as Rated RKO a few years earlier.
However, Edge tore his Achilles tendon and the Jericho – Edge angle was scrapped leading to the birth of Jeri-Show instead.
By the time the 2010 Royal Rumble came about, Edge was supposed to be nowhere near his recovery date and there for it came as a huge surprise to the crowd at the Philips Arena in Atlanta when the Rated R Superstar came out as entry # 29.
Edge would go on to eliminate Jericho, who had been calling the Toronto native weak for getting himself injured. He would take the momentum forward and go on to win the entire thing, throwing John Cena over the top rope to earn a World title shot at Wrestlemania 26.
Ironically, Edge would lose that Wrestlemania match to the new World Heavyweight champion Jericho a few months later.
