Royal Rumble season is upon us and it’s one of the most exciting times of the year, as it begins the road to the most exciting period in the pro wrestling calendar – WrestleMania season. The Royal Rumble match alone has become one of the biggest special attractions in WWE and it rightfully belongs to the big four PPVs.
Apart from the fact that the Royal Rumble match format is simple and has big implications, one of the most important things that people love when tuning into the match every year is the potential surprises that it brings. You never know when a WWE legend of old could walk out, an injured superstar returns far earlier than anticipated and even explosive debuts.
We’ll be covering all that and more in this list. Don’t get this mistaken with “returns”, because this feature covers a wider spectrum, including debuts.
#5.) Triple H – Royal Rumble 2016
This Royal Rumble may not mark very highly on fans’ list because there was a general sense of dissatisfaction around it. For one, this was the peak of Roman Reigns‘ forced push and WWE decided to center the entire Royal Rumble match around him. He had to defend the WWE title against 29 other men and hardly anyone wanted to see him win.
Secondly, the booking of Reigns in the match alone got people more agitated as he was taken out for a long time during the contest. Thirdly, fans wanted to see someone new and younger win the title and get a bigger opportunity. Their support was undoubtedly the strongest for Dean Ambrose.
Despite this, Triple H made a return at #30 and got the second biggest pop of the entire night. It was a surprise to some and it was still a great moment seeing The Game return in such epic fashion. The end result and where it led to at WrestleMania is something that’s best not spoken about.
Next Page: 5 best Royal Rumble surprise entries
