5 WWE superstars who entered the Royal Rumble after losing world title matches

Becky Lynch is set to face Asuka for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. This would traditionally mean that she will not be in the Royal Rumble match, a hugely unpopular move if done.

Over the past six months, Becky Lynch has been one of the best things on WWE programming, consistently captivating crowds with her stellar promos and is probably the biggest full-time star in the company today. It would be criminal to not put her in the annual 30-person staple.

Despite already having a match at the event, Becky is one of the favourites to win the Rumble match as she is inching closer to an eventual collision course with Raw Women's Champion, Ronda Rousey.

She needs to be in the Rumble and there is a possibility of it happening. There have been superstars in the past who took another bite of the cherry by competing in the Royal Rumble match. It has been a semi-constant theme to see some of the losers of world title matches earlier in the night make another appearance in the Royal Rumble.

The Man will most likely follow suit, drifting over from the Blue brand to the Red brand in one night. There is potential for her, despite the fact that none of the losers who entered their respective Royal Rumbles has won the match.

A few have come close but ultimately fell short. This is perhaps because their respective inclusions are necessitated to build on planned WrestleMania matches. However, with the women, it could be different in this case. Becky Lynch will have a chance to win the 2019 women's Royal Rumble match. That is what history says.

Here are five previous Royal Rumble entrants who joined the match despite losing earlier in the night.

#5 Kurt Angle (2005)

At Royal Rumble 2005, JBL retained his WWE Championship in a triple threat match against Kurt Angle and the Big Show. Later in the night, Angle stole Smackdown superstar Nunzio's entrant and spot in the Royal Rumble match.

Despite getting pinned earlier on, the Olympic Gold Medalist made his way at number 20 in the main event. He went crazy with suplexes before getting superkicked out of the ring by Shawn Michaels, in what was a shockingly quick elimination.

Angle then came back to take HBK, who was pulling double duty as well, out of the match and viciously attacked him with the steel steps. This would set up a classic inter-promotional match for WrestleMania 21.

The pair would tear it up and steal the show at the grandest stage, but it all began in the Rumble. Kurt Angle may have only lasted a minute in the Rumble match, but his appearance served a huge purpose.

#4 Randy Orton (2011)

2011 saw WWE book a 40-man Royal Rumble match, to accommodate all the members of the New Nexus and the Corre. It hardly enhanced the match, making it feel like a chore to watch at times.

Randy Orton, who lost to WWE champion The Miz earlier, entered second to last in the main event. He enjoyed a decent showing towards the end after being screwed out of the WWE title by CM Punk and his followers.

Orton eliminated a couple of upper midcarders like Sheamus and Wade Barrett, seemingly making the final two before Alberto Del Rio sneaked in behind to dump him over. Del Rio would win the match by eliminating Santino Marella, dropping the Viper to third place.

However, it was an encouraging performance and showed that the loser of a world title match could still be a possible winner of the Royal Rumble match.

#3 Dolph Ziggler (2012)

Also making a second appearance of his night in 2011 was Dolph Ziggler, who entered at number 31 in the 40-man match. He had a better showing in the 2012 Rumble, which he entered after losing a hard-fought match against CM Punk for the WWE Championship.

The Showoff came in at number 18 and lasted until the final stages of the match, before getting eliminated by the final entrant and another world title match loser on the night, the Big Show.

It was necessary for Ziggler to be involved in the Rumble because of the absolute lack of stars on the roster, which induced WWE to include all 3 commentators in the match as well. Even Michael Cole. Nevertheless, he did take part in one of the more memorable moments of the match, alongside Kharma. Ziggler took the former Awesome Kong's finisher before he eliminated her from the match.

#2 Sami Zayn (2018)

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn challenged AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at last year's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, but they lost after some shoddy officiating. This would prompt the dastardly pair to attack Tye Dillinger backstage and take his clichéd number 10 spot in the men's Royal Rumble match. The pair of best friends then got into a mini-argument over who would enter the match, with Zayn eventually winning and moving on.

Sami Zayn made his way into the ring but did not have that great a showing, being eliminated by Shinsuke Nakamura a few minutes later. It was a harmless move to get Owens and Zayn involved in the Rumble match in some way, continuing their ruthless streak of being utterly hated bad guys. Now we just want to see them return to the ring and back to their glorious selves. Oh, how times have changed.

#1 Roman Reigns (2017)

This is by far the biggest example of a wrestler losing a world title match on the Royal Rumble undercard and then showing up in the Rumble match later on, but not necessarily for the right reasons.

Roman Reigns lost an excellent No Disqualification match against Kevin Owens after Braun Strowman interfered. Later in the night, the Undertaker was in the ring and waiting for the final entrant to come out. People were expecting Finn Balor or Samoa Joe.

But then, out came Roman Reigns. It was probably the most underwhelming number 30 entrant in Royal Rumble history. He was the big surprise entrant who would fight the Undertaker, eventually eliminating him and setting up their WrestleMania match.

Reigns lasted until the final two, but him entering at number 30 was so anticlimactic and ruined this match for many. However, he remains the biggest example of why Becky Lynch still has a chance to come out and win the women's Royal Rumble.

Edited by Sripad