10 Biggest surprise returns in Royal Rumble history

The inaugural WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view is now less than a week away and this year's show is already one of the finest and stacked cards' WWE has managed to come up with. Superstars such as Finn Balor, AJ Styles, and Sasha Banks have all earned a title shot and will challenge for the Universal, WWE, and Raw Women's Championship respectively at the Rumble.

Elsewhere, other stars such as Buddy Murphy, Shinsuke Nakamura, Becky Lynch, and The Bar are also confirmed to feature on the card, however, one of the prime reasons' why the Royal Rumble pay-per-view is the most exciting WWE show of all time is of course due to the two 30 men and women over the top rope battle royale matches.

For years now, the Royal Rumble pay-per-view has been solely based around its namesake match and ever since the first pay-per-view took place in 1988, the WWE Universe has been treated to some of the greatest and shocking returns of all time.

In this article, I'll take an in-depth look at 10 of the biggest and surprising returns that underwent at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view during the infamous Rumble match.

#10 Mick Foley

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has done it all and seen it all in a WWE ring where he has competed in some of the hardest hitting, gruelling, and brutal matches of all time. However, in 2003, Foley, who despite being way past his prime years, refused to fight the up and coming star in Randy Orton.

Being the Intercontinental Champion at that point in time, Orton made sure that Foley walked out of a scheduled match against the former Evolution protege. In response to Foley walking out, Orton asked the former WWF Champion why he had walked out and called him a coward in the process, before spitting in his face and making sure that Foley walked out of WWE as well.

However, at the 2004 Royal Rumble, Foley finally made his highly awaited return to the WWE, as the evergreen crowd favorite came out an awesome pop from the crowd before eventually eliminating both himself and Randy Orton in the Rumble match with his trademark Cactus Jack Clothesline.

Foley's return eventually led to a reunion between The Rock 'n' Sock Connection, who faced off against Evolution at WrestleMania XX, and shortly afterwards, Foley and Orton finally squared off in a classic match at Backlash.

#9 Goldust

Cody Rhodes' older brother Goldust is already a legend of the business and has been loyal to the WWE for decades now. However, there was this one point in Goldust's career when he departed from the WWE in 2012 after initially suffering a shoulder injury.

Following his return from the injury, Goldust competed on the Independent Circuit for a brief period of time before eventually being rehired by the WWE in 2013, as the former Intercontinental Champion made his return in the most spectacular way possible.

At the 2013 Royal Rumble match, Goldust returned as a surprise entrant in number eight in the Rumble match. In his first match back, Goldust received a huge pop from the WWE Universe and was eventually eliminated by his brother Cody Rhodes.

This led to the teasing of a feud between the two brothers, however, WWE never really cashed in on that angle and instead pushed Goldust and Cody as the two mainstays in the tag team division by having them defeat The Shield in order to capture the WWE Tag Team Titles, with their late great father Dusty Rhodes in their corner.

#8 Triple H

In late 2015, Roman Reigns was involved in a blood intense feud with The Authority, which obviously was led by Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon. Having defeated Sheamus to win the WWE Championship, Reigns ended the year 2015 on a very high note, as not only did he win his second World Championship in the WWE but also put Triple H on the shelf by brutally spearing him at the TLC PPV.

Heading into the 2016 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Roman Reigns had the task of outlasting 29 other men in the Rumble match, as he became the very first man to defend his WWE Championship in the 30-man Royal Rumble match. With Ric Flair having previously achieved the record of winning the vacant world title in 1992 at the Rumble match, this was Reigns' opportunity to rewrite history once again.

And in order to rewrite that history, the toughest of competitors made their presence known at the 2016 Rumble match, including the likes of the new WWE signee AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Dean Ambrose, and the returning Triple H.

After being sidelined by Reigns in 2015, 'The Game' made his dramatic return to the WWE, entering the Royal Rumble pay-per-view and not only did he eliminate Reigns but also went on to capture his 14th WWE World Championship in style.

#7 Rey Mysterio

After an absence from WWE for almost three years, former World Champion Rey Mysterio made his return to the company last year at the Royal Rumble match as a surprise entrant as part of a one-time deal with WWE.

Mysterio's return was kept as a secret by WWE and 'The Master of the 619' eventually got an outstanding reaction from the WWE Universe as well. In his first match back, Mysterio, as usual, dazzled the crowd with his high-flying antics and eliminated NXT superstar Adam Cole before being thrown over the top rope by Finn Balor.

Within the next few months, Mysterio once again made another appearance at The Greatest Royal Rumble before eventually confirming that he had signed a deal with the WWE and officially joined the SmackDown Live brand.

Since his return to the WWE, not only has Mysterio been dazzling the WWE Universe with his outstanding in-ring skills but has also been putting tremendous matches week in and week out against the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Andrade.

#6 Kharma

Prior to signing with the WWE in 2010, Kharma dominated the entire women's wrestling scene all across the globe and eventually made her way over to the WWE in December of 2010.

In her first appearance for the company, Kharma attacked former Divas Champion, Michelle McCool brutally and continued attacking her for the next following weeks on SmackDown and even on Monday Night Raw as well.

However, within the next few weeks, Kharma interrupted a tag team match on Raw and instead of putting a gruesome beating on the women of Monday Night Raw, the former TNA Knockouts Champion decided to cut a promo in the ring, as she revealed her pregnancy and claimed that she will not be able to wrestle for the WWE and was forced to leave the company.

Fast forward to 2012, Kharma shocked the entire world when she made her return to WWE, as she entered the 30-man Royal Rumble match and became only the third woman in history to do so following the likes of Chyna and Beth Phoenix.

By competing in the Rumble match not only did Kharma make history but also managed to eliminate Michael Cole (by intimidating him) and then managed Hunico as well, before eventually being thrown out by Dolph Ziggler. Kharma's official WWE in-ring debut might have lasted short but it was surely a feel-good moment.

#5 Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam is arguably one of the most loved and over superstars' of all time and his return at the 2009 Royal Rumble match speaks for itself. Having established himself as one of the all-time favourites, thanks to his classic matches under the ECW banner, RVD is definitely one of the best high fliers of the game.

In 2007, RVD had competed in his supposed last match for the WWE, only to return to a triumphant ovation two years later at the Royal Rumble match. In his return match, RVD stuck to his natural game and stunned the entire WWE Universe with his all-around high flying skills.

RVD once again took some time off from the WWE and made his eventual return at the 2013 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, as one of the six entrants in the Ladder Match to determine the Mr. Money in the Bank.

With the 2019 Rumble match approaching, I'm pretty sure the WWE Universe wouldn't mind another special appearance from RVD.

#4 Diesel

WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash is one of the biggest legends' of the business and being one of the originators' of the evergreen New World Order faction, Nash remains as one of the all-time greats of the Pro Wrestling industry.

In 2002, Nash once again reunited the nWo with Hulk Hogan and Scott Hall, as the three men made their way over to the WWE for the first time since WCW got dissolved. However, injuries to various members of the nWo eventually ended the group's run in a disappointing manner and by 2004, WWE decided not to renew Nash's contract as he was officially released from the company.

However, in 2011, Kevin Nash shocked the entire world and returned to the WWE and that too using his Diesel gimmick for the first time since 1996. Despite lasting well over just two minutes, Nash's return truly remains as one of the most memorable returns' in Royal Rumble history so far.

#3 Chris Jericho

After several feuds around the 2011-12 time period, Chris Jericho was written off WWE TV in order to be on tour with his rock band Fozzy for the rest of the year. After a five-month hiatus though, Jericho eventually made his way back to the WWE, as he entered the 2013 Royal Rumble match as the second entrant and shocking the WWE Universe in the process as well.

As expected, Jericho came out to a huge pop and lasted about 47 minutes before being eventually eliminated by the first Rumble entrant that year, Dolph Ziggler. This eventually led to a feud against Ziggler, which Jericho resumed for the next few weeks, however, by the time we got to July, Y2J was once again written off WWE TV in order to focus on his musical career.

Jericho's next appearance under WWE wasn't 2014 when he returned for a feud against Dean Ambrose and eventually formed a dream pairing with AJ Styles before turning his back on 'The Phenomenal One'.

With Jericho recently signing with AEW, I think it's for the best if we don't expect him to appear at this year's 30-man Rumble match.

#2 Edge

After tearing his Achilles tendon in July 2009, it was reported by many that multi-time WWE World Champion, Edge will not be competing in a WWE ring for at least one year.

Prior to his injury, Edge formed a menacing tag team with Chris Jericho and won the tag team titles for a record 12th time. However, due to his gruesome injury, Y2J eventually decided to replace Edge with a new tag team partner in the form of The Big Show and thus started mocking 'The Rated R Superstar' for his injury.

At the 2010 Royal Rumble though, Edge shocked the world and more importantly shocked Chris Jericho of all people when he entered the Royal Rumble match as the 29th superstar and turning face once again in the process and quickly eliminating the likes of Jericho and his big-time rival John Cena to eventually win the Royal Rumble match for the very first time in his career.

#1 John Cena

The biggest and most shocking Royal Rumble return of all time!

In October of 2007, disaster struck both WWE and John Cena, as the now 16-time World Champion legitimately tore his pectoral muscle while executing a hip toss in a match against Mr. Kennedy. Cena's injury eventually led to WWE stripping his off the WWE Championship and thus ending a reign which was the longest in over 19 years.

Expected to be out for a few months at least, at the 2008 Royal Rumble match Cena proved why he at times is being billed as the 'Iron Man' of WWE, as the leader of the Cenation shocked the entire world by entering the 2008 Rumble match at #30.

Cena eventually went on to cause a rampage in the ring, eliminating stars left, right, and centre before eventually throwing out Triple H over the top rope to earn himself a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXIV.

Cena's return truly will remain as the greatest Rumble return of all time!

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