5 most surprising Royal Rumble winners

#3 Sheamus - 2012

Luck of the Irish

The 2012 Royal Rumble event currently remains to have the last Royal Rumble match to date where the winner was a complete surprise.

Heading into the match, the favourite to come out on top was the recently returned Chris Jericho, who was already pencilled in to be facing CM Punk for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami, Florida. This much became even more obvious to those who thought so when it came down to Jericho and Sheamus, and then came the surprise. Sheamus would elevate Chris to the ring apron and Brogue Kick him to the floor, leaving a stunned audience.

The decision to have Sheamus win was ultimately praised for being surprising, but despite Jericho being the planned winner getting leaked, many fans still would have preferred Jericho to come out on top as it would have been a better storyline starter for his feud with CM Punk and many have also always wanted Jericho to win a Royal Rumble match, and this was the closest he had ever come to doing .