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One would be lying if they say that surprise entrants are not the best part of Royal Rumble. Over the course of the pay-per-view’s rich history, there has been many such instances where the fans screamed their heart out while witnessing the unexpected.Vince McMahon and his creative team will have yet another opportunity to evoke similar emotions on January 25 when the party hits Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.There will be obvious expectations about surprise entrants in the pay-per-view but there is a fine line between what WWE is going to feed us and what we want. We’ll only know about the former category once the show kicks off so let’s just look at the latter.
#10 Randy Orton
Orton is expected to make his return at Royal Rumble or before that but many wouldn’t expect him to be an entrant in the Rumble match.
According to a majority of the fans, the viper is supposed to go behind Seth Rollins who curb stomped him out of action. Instead of that, if Orton goes in a different path, that would prove to be a big surprise for the pay-per-view.
Orton need not win the Rumble but his presence in the battle royal would sky rocket the star power and will also open the doors for his potential feuds with Rollins or Bray Wyatt which could then build up to a WrestleMania match.
#9 Someone from NXT
NXT is star studded with talents that could make it big in the main roster. The likes of Kevin Owens, Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, Adrian Neville or Sami Zayn are dying to get a stage to prove themselves to a bigger audience and Rumble might just be that window.
Last year Rusev was bought up from NXT to deliver a solid show while Bo Dallas also has a similar history. All the names mentioned earlier would be better than Rusev and Bo which makes it a more interesting prospect.
Fans have already been talking about about how good the NXT product is and a pay-per-view like Royal Rumble being staged for a superstar from there would go down as a good move.
#8 Some ECW original
This year’s Royal Rumble is going to take place in the land of extreme and we all know that the current WWE product is nowhere near the word ‘Extreme’. The fans at Philly would just take over the show and destroy WWE’s PPV for sure.
There isn’t really a real escape route from this problem but WWE could tone down the damage by bringing out some ECW original.
Names like Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, Sabu or even Rob Van Dam would do the job. Even if WWE doesn’t give them a good push in the match, a proper entrance itself is going to get some cheers from the hardcore fans in Philadelphia.
#7 Triple H
Hunter went out of power after the Survivor Series showdown with Team Cena. The Authority might be officially dead due to that result but that doesn’t mean WWE should not utilize Triple H’s star power for pay-per-views like this.
With the WrestleMania period approaching rapidly, Hunter should be bought back into the WWE programming and Royal Rumble offers a stage for the same.
He could easily come down as the 30th entrant and have a stare down with Roman Reigns at some point which will in turn refresh the friction that these two had a few months back. Sting interfering once again is another ‘best for business’ move and either way, Hunter’s appearance would go down as a success story.
#6 Shelton Benjamin
The rumors of Shelton Benjamin making his return to WWE has been making the rounds for quite some time now. None of the official sources have confirmed Shelton’s return yet but his tweet about the Bunny has added fuel to the fire.
A big reveal is still in place for Adam Rose’s bunny and after Rose’s turn on this week’s Raw, the angle has more significance.
Shelton revealing himself as the bunny and working in the Royal Rumble to eliminate Rose will be the right way to book if he is indeed returning. Shelton could be a big boost to the roster as he could give out a solid match while sleeping.
#5 Hulk Hogan
Hogan hasn’t been silent about his desire to wrestle one more match in the WWE squared circle. The ridiculous ideas of a Cena – Hogan match is certainly making rounds but Hogan making a surprise appearance at Royal Rumble would make much better sense.
There wouldn’t be much pressure on Hogan to perform in a battle royal match like this and since all eyes won’t be on him, he has enough space to deliver all his botches.
Hogan getting into the ring with names like Roman Reigns will be a joy to watch. This should be WWE’s path if they want Hogan to be in the ring once again as all others would end up in disaster.
#4 Rey Mysterio
The master of 619 has been out of WWE television for ages now. Never ending contractual disputes and Rey’s desire to go back to Mexico are the primary reasons for his hesitation to step back in the ring but since we are talking about WWE, we never know.
Despite his long absence, Rey is still a fan favorite who could pile up some merchandise sales. He is clearly miles away from his prime but that doesn’t mean that he should be kept out of the most important period of the year.
He still has the gas left in him to deliver a handful of matches before heading to Mexico and Vince should make sure that this opportunity doesn’t go in vain.
#3 Sting
The WWE Universe hasn’t yet recovered from Sting’s debut at Survivor Series for a handful of reasons. However, one thing that has been puzzling everyone is Sting’s intentions.
No explanation was given about why Sting wanted to end the Authority’s reign and WWE should solve that problem at the earliest. There is only a handful of appearances left for Sting’s contract and Rumble is a big enough pay-per-view to spare one.
Sting being a surprise entrant and then Triple H coming out to cost the Icon his match would be a great angle. It will also spark the feud between Hunter and Sting that could run all the way to WrestleMania or beyond.
#2 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan’s injury was most probably the biggest blow that WWE had this year. The flying goat was hot as hell when he had to take a break due to injury and the company never found a way to replace him ever since.
Discussions about Bryan’s in ring return has been cooled off significantly which leaves a sense of confusion all around the WWE Universe.
WWE could use this confusion to the core and make headlines with a returning Bryan. If Bryan goes on to win the match, we could see a Beast vs. Goat match at WrestleMania as well.
#1 Undertaker
We are still yet to hear from the Phenom after his streak ended at WrestleMania. There hasn’t been any good or bad news about Taker’s in ring career so far with the only hints being his personal pictures that surface on the Internet every now and then.
From those, Taker looks to be in no condition for wrestling but hope is always a good thing. What happened at WrestleMania 30 had no perks of a farewell match that the Phenom deserved and that makes a return at the Rumble likely.
Lesnar being the reigning champion makes the stage more ideal for Taker and a match like Rumble will always protect the fragile superstar.
