The Royal Rumble is one of the biggest wrestling events of the year. A fan favorite pay-per-view, it draws eyes and buys from around the world. People try to predict who will come out on top, and win their way into the main event of WrestleMania. Since WWE added the Women's Royal Rumble match, it's just gotten better.
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Part of what makes any Royal Rumble match so interesting is the surprise entrants. Sometimes, it's a returning Superstar. And other times it's because that person is one of the oddest possible choices. The Royal Rumble can get really weird.
10 Vickie Guerrero
After the death of her husband, Eddie, Vickie Guerrero became an on-screen personality with WWE. She played the role of a manager, a GM, and even as the fiancée of Edge for a time. There was a period that she was considered to be one of the top heels in the company, due in no small part to her constant screeching.
During the first Women's Royal Rumble match in 2018, Vickie Guerrero was a surprise entrant. She yelled her way down to the ring and was almost immediately eliminated by a group of Superstars.
9 AJ Styles
The career of AJ Styles has become one of the most storied in professional wrestling. He built a name for himself in TNA but has also achieved a lot of success in both NJPW and ROH. Styles has wrestled around the world and is generally regarded as a top performer.
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WWE fans were clamoring for years for the company to sign him. Then, he debuted as part of the 2016 Royal Rumble match. It was a surreal moment for fans to see this all-star performer show up in WWE. He was a signing that needed to be made by the WWE, and they pulled out all the stops to make it happen.
8 Becky Lynch
"The Man" was the dominant player in the WWE, finally putting Becky Lynch in the main event position fans knew she belonged in. WWE management took some time to clue into this but Lynch seized the opportunity when it came up and stayed on top until she took maternity leave after Money in the Back 2020.
The 2019 Royal Rumble was an odd night for her. First, Lynch failed to recapture the SmackDown Women's Championship from Asuka. Then, she unexpectedly replaced Lana in the Women's Royal Rumble match and went on to main event WrestleMania 35.
7 Diesel
Kevin Nash has been one of the biggest names in the business for decades. His runs in WWE and WCW ensured his place in wrestling history. But his career wasn't always great as he was saddled with some terrible gimmicks early on. Then came Diesel and a partnership with Shawn Michaels that took him to the top.
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He appeared as Diesel for the first time since 1996 in the 2011 Royal Rumble match. It was an absolute trip for wrestling fans as they never thought they would see him work that gimmick again.
6 Kharma
Awesome Kong was one of the most dominant women in wrestling for a long time, particularly in TNA. But she also spent time in Japan, ROH, and more recently had a very brief run in AEW. She's still listed on their official roster page despite not appearing on any AEW show in over a year.
When she signed with WWE in December 2010, she debuted under the name Kharma in a series of vignettes. But before she could wrestle a match, she took maternity leave from the company. She returned in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, eliminating two men. This ended up being the only match she wrestled in WWE.
5 MVP
The 2020 Royal Rumble had more than a few surprises for fans. Brock Lesnar, who announced he was going to enter at number one, absolutely dominated the ring. Eventually, he was ousted by Drew McIntyre who went on to take his championship at WrestleMania 36.
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But seeing MVP enter the event was amazing. He had been away from WWE for a while, and his run with The Hurt Business since then has proven to be epic. Unfortunately, he entered the match before Lesnar was eliminated so that part of his return didn't last long.
4 Edge
MVP wasn't the only big return at the 2020 Royal Rumble. Fans were absolutely stunned when the former WWE Champion Edge made an unexpected return at the event. A surprise entrant, he initially retired after an injury sidelined him for nearly nine years. The roar of the crowd when he made his comeback was incomparable.
Another injury kept Edge sidelined for most of 2020. He is expected to return to the ring in 2021, considering this isn't a career-threatening injury like the one that put him out of action in April 2011. Still, his 2020 return will go down as one of the most surreal moments at the Royal Rumble.
3 Beth Phoenix
"The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix was a dominant wrestler and an absolute powerhouse player in the ring. And in 2010, she became the second woman to compete in the Royal Rumble. The first was Chyna 11 years earlier.
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Phoenix eliminated The Great Khali with a kiss before being eliminated by CM Punk. Eight years later, she would also participate in the first Women's Royal Rumble match. That made her the first person to participate in both the Men's and the Women's Royal Rumbles, something only a handful of people have done.
2 Nia Jax
At the 2019 Royal Rumble, Nia Jax became the first person in history to be in two Royal Rumble matches in one night. She was an entrant in the Women's Royal Rumble, only to be eliminated by Becky Lynch.
Later in the evening, she jumped R-Truth as he made his way to the ring for the Men's Royal Rumble match. She entered the event and eliminated Mustafa Ali. It took Dolph Ziggler, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton working together to take her out of the match. They all looked pretty uncertain about hitting their finishing moves on her.
1 Santina Marella
Santino Marella wasn't afraid to take things in interesting directions in WWE. His finishing move involved pretending his hand was a snake and essentially poking people. It was called The Cobra, and it was incredible.
His run also included performing in drag as his own twin sister, Santina Marella. Santina made her return as a surprise entrant in the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble match. The return didn't last long as Santina was scared out of the ring by Natalya and Beth Phoenix, aka The Divas of Doom.
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