5 Best No. 6 Entries in the Royal Rumble 

WWE's traditional January PPV, The Royal Rumble, is always a high point of the PPV Schedule
WWE's traditional January PPV, The Royal Rumble, is always a high point of the PPV Schedule

#5 Rusev (2014) - Eliminated 3rd - 0 Eliminations

Rusev making his first appearance on the main roster at the 2014 Royal Rumble
Rusev making his first appearance on the main roster at the 2014 Royal Rumble

While Rusev's first appearance didn't leave much of an impact, it came at a time before Rusev day, or even when Rusev was to make a splash in the WWE. It came at a time when Rusev was in NXT, then very much a developmental brand trying to establish itself out of the ruins of Florida Championship Wrestling and other secondary wrestling organizations that the WWE often farmed it's talents off to.

Rusev was only the second person from NXT to appear at the Rumble while still in NXT, which spoke to the potential that they saw in him. The only NXT wrestler who had appeared at a Royal Rumble at that time was Bo Dallas. However, it has become a yearly tradition since 2016 with at least 1 NXT superstar appearing in the Royal Rumble.

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