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Who might we see make his or her debut at the Royal Rumble?
Several stars could return from injuries or make their main roster debuts.
A lot of the big-name free agents that may have previously been rumored to show up are either under contract still (Kenny Omega) or are tied up due to their former contracts (Shane Strickland, Pentagon, Jr., Fenix).
That still doesn't mean WWE won't toss a few surprises our way in terms of call-ups from NXT or former stars returning.
Part-timers returning
John Cena had an impromptu match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 34.
Ever since then, he's been nearly MIA.
He's been away promoting his Bumblebee movie as well as doing the same in China regarding his movie with Jackie Chan.
He's rumored to be appearing at some live events in the near future, so maybe he gets talked into an appearance at the Royal Rumble.
Depending on plans for Wrestlemania, it might just be a one-off or it could set up a potential program for April.
Cena's still attempting to break his tie with Ric Flair for most World Title reigns, so he's always a threat to win the Royal Rumble.
The Rock was originally heavily rumored to not only appear at the Royal Rumble but win the whole dang thing.
That would have been in order to set up a Universal Title match with his cousin, Roman Reigns.
Since Reigns is out indefinitely, those rumored plans were scrapped.
Other rumors suggested that Brock Lesnar could be a potential match for the Great One in April.
We'll never truly know if the Rock will show up, but you can never count out the possibility of the Rock having a match at Wrestlemania.
Could Shawn Michaels enter the match and set up an angle for Wrestlemania season?
Injury returnees
John Cena, Triple H and Edge all returned from injuries and caused a raucous crowd reaction during various Royal Rumbles in the past.
While the names of the stars currently injured aren't as big as the future Hall Of Famers, it doesn't mean we won't see some faces we haven't seen in some time.
Fandango has been on the shelf with a shoulder injury since July. His original timetable for a return was sixth months.
That would put him right in line with a return in January. While he's not a big name, he'd still get some laughs in the match if he returns.
Like Fandango, Tye Dillinger has been out with a hand injury. He debuted at #10 last year, but will he make it two years in a row at his number?
And then two wrestlers a little higher in the pecking order, Luke Harper and Sami Zayn, could possibly return in time for the match.
Harper has been out over the last few months with a hand injury but hadn't been featured on television since his tag partner, Erick Rowan, got injured.
Could Harper return in some fashion?
Sami Zayn has also been out of action since July with multiple surgeries to his collarbone/shoulder area. The timetable for his return might be more than eight months, but he might be able to return earlier since he's dealt with the injuries before.
The Females
Since last year was the first-ever Royal Rumble for the women, a lot of stars from the past were relied on in order to fill out the 30 slots.
Lita, Trish Stratus, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Vickie Guerrero and Torrie Wilson all returned to WWE for varying runs in the match itself.
While the first three ladies would likely be welcomed back for another run, the other three didn't make much of a mark.
Could someone like Kaitlyn return after her appearance in the Mae Young Classic?
If it's for another one-shot appearance, it could certainly happen.
And then there are women from NXT like Nikki Cross, Mia Yim and Lacey Evans.
Evans and Cross have been in NXT for a while and it's apparent neither are in the title plans.
Cross faced Becky Lynch in England earlier in the fall but hasn't been seen on TV since.
Mia Yim is an ultra-talented star who also appeared at the Mae Young Classic. She's currently under contract but doesn't need much seasoning in NXT. Could she jump to the main roster or is more in store for her down in NXT?
Will Alexa Bliss be cleared from her concussion in time to make a splash? And then there's someone from left field like Alpha Female (Jazzy Gabbert).
Gabbert was the one the crowd chanted for Triple H to sign, but they were unable to do so because Gabbert had an injury. She recently revealed that they had her at the recent tryouts in Cologne as an observer, not a participant.
Could she make her mark in the Rumble match?
Potential Free Agents
Of the big-name free agents that could debut at the Royal Rumble, several are either entangled in contracts preventing them from appearing or rumored to have turned down offers.
Cody recently stated that he 'turned down an offer a few weeks ago'.
Whether he really did or is just throwing up a smoke screen won't be known until 2019.
He and the Bucks are rumored to be creating their own promotion, so that wouldn't put them in line with signing with WWE.
Kenny Omega is signed until January 31, 2019.
He's either joining the rest of the Elite in their promotion venture, signing later with the WWE or could show up if WWE offers NJPW an insane amount of $$ to buy him out of his last few days.
Anything could happen and it just might.
Any of the Elite could show up or they might not. They've truly done a great job of holding most of their cards close to their vests. Pentagon Jr. and Fenix were reportedly WWE-bound, but their contracts with Lucha Underground are preventing them from doing so.
They originally have a 90-day no-compete clause that stems from the day the last episode of the current season airs. That was November 22nd.
They're also rumored to have signed contracts for up to 7 seasons but had an opt-out after season four. Needless to say, they originally said they'd stop taking bookings for 2019 but have recently picked up more for next year.
We might see the Lucha Brothers in WWE at some point, it just won't likely be in time for the Royal Rumble.
NXT Call-Ups
The biggest surprises might come from the wrestlers from NXT that debut.
Someone like EC3 might make a quick jump to the main roster after a brief run in NXT. Bobby Roode and Drew McIntyre both did it so EC3 might have signed a similar type of deal.
The NXT Title scene is currently filled with the likes of Tomasso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano and Aleister Black, so if EC3 were to remain in NXT with hopes of a title shot, he'd likely have to wait a little longer.
And speaking of Black, he gets his rematch for the title at NXT: Phoenix. Since he already lost the belt, he'll probably fail in his bid to reclaim it.
He's clearly done most of what he could do in NXT so him debuting the next night in the Rumble might be the next logical step for Black.
And then there's the uber-talented Velveteen Dream.
He's stolen the show on almost every Takeover Special he's been on albeit without any gold to show for his troubles.
The crowd loves him and he was clearly the most talented member of the last version of Tough Enough.
The crowd would go nuts if he did debut and he even danced around the subject when asked by Cathy Kelley regarding what was next for him in NXT.
Hopefully, he'll be able to maintain a lot of his character's traits on the main roster when/if he debuts.
