Last year’s Royal Rumble event held numerous surprise entries. From returning legends, to forgotten names of yesteryear, to names on the roster coming back from absences. Rumble matches have become famous for surprise entrants, with expectation growing upon every countdown and buzzer, with the fans eagerly waiting for whose music will hit next.RELATED: 10 Wrestlers You Forgot Spent Less Than 10 Seconds Inside A Royal RumbleFor the sake of looking at a more diverse spread of wrestlers, two names from the 2021 Rumble matches, those being Seth Rollins and Lana won’t be included. Despite returning from absences, there was widespread expectation that these names would appear at the Rumble, especially since they hadn’t been out for too long, so they weren’t really huge surprises in the grand scheme of things.
10 Torrie Wilson
Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson is no stranger to surprise appearances for WWE in recent years, competing in the first ever Women’s Rumble, as well as a battle royal at WWE’s all women’s pay-per-view, Evolution.
She was much crisper in the ring this time round, perhaps even more so than when she was wrestling full-time, which was a pleasure to see, but she didn’t have too much impact on the match overall, getting eliminated by Shayna Baszler in just under four minutes.
9 The Hurricane
It is never not fun to see The Hurricane make an appearance. Having previously made a surprise cameo in the 2018 Rumble, he emerged once again, this time attempting his double chokeslam spot on Bobby Lashley and Big E.
The two future WWE Champions quickly dispatched of him, and due to it being the third time of this spot happening inside of a Rumble match, it was a little cheap, lessening the impact of his appearance as a whole. It was still fun regardless, with The Hurricane being one of the more beloved performers of all time.
8 Alicia Fox
After leaving WWE in 2019, Fox made a surprise appearance in the 2021 Women’s Rumble. Fox was certainly a veteran performer and didn’t get booked too strongly in her decade-plus run with the company, and that was no different during the Rumble.
Like she had been many times, Fox was booked in comedy spots, this time pinning R-Truth during the Rumble to become the 24/7 Champion. It was mildly entertaining, but not the most spectacular return.
7 Kane
Kane is synonymous with the Royal Rumble match, being one of the legends commonly associated with the match, with a record number of cumulative eliminations and appearances in the match over the years.
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This time round, however, the Hall of Famer was noticeably a little slower than he had been in the past, with his attire unable to mask his growing age and lack of ring time in recent years, due to his political endeavours. It was certainly a fun cameo though, reuniting with Daniel Bryan, and giving Damian Priest a rub when eliminated.
6 Carlito
It had been a long time since Carlito had appeared in a WWE ring, with many fans clamouring for an appearance over the years. After talks of botched plans to have him return for Legends Night on Raw, it seemed that the boat had been missed on bringing him back. However, a return finally happened in the 2021 Men’s Rumble, when Carlito emerged as a surprise.
With the pandemic ongoing, it was likely a clever decision to not have Carlito perform his iconic ‘spitting in the face’ spot, which was a shame, but it was fun to see the former United States, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Champion regardless.
5 Jillian Hall
Whilst Jillian Hall was nowhere near a huge star when she wrestled full time, and whilst it was likely that not too many popped upon seeing her, due the incredibly annoying gimmick that she has, the cameo was actually super fun.
She teamed up with Billie Kay, with the pair becoming a comedic highlight of the match and playing off each other as though they’d been partners for years. She had much more impact than many expected.
4 Victoria
In what was her first appearance in nearly twelve years in WWE, the former Women’s Champion made a big splash when she came out during the Rumble, taking it to opponents and not missing a beat.
Victoria was a hugely popular name in WWE, despite the poor booking for women’s wrestling, and expanded her résumé by dominating TNA upon a move there. This was a nice surprise and Victoria was given the opportunity to look like a strong veteran, despite not wrestling a match for well over a year. This Rumble appearance would mark her last in-ring match to date, so if she doesn’t make any more comebacks, this was certainly a nice send-off.
3 Naomi
There may have been some expectation when it came to Naomi’s return, but unlike Seth Rollins and Lana, she hadn’t been written off TV to fit a storyline or to be rebooted as a character. Instead, Naomi had been out with an injury, and the timescale for a return wasn’t entirely clear.
Therefore, when she came out as the number two entrant to go face to face with Bayley, who just so happened to be her last opponent before being ruled out with injury, it was a great surprise. Naomi lasted an incredible 47 minutes in the match, putting in a great performance.
2 Damian Priest
Damian Priest was a surprise entrant in the Rumble, which marked his official call-up to the main roster from NXT. Priest was made to look great in this match, lasting for over fifteen minutes, and being given a huge rub by eliminating Kane, John Morrison, The Miz, and Elias.
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The Rumble would also mark the beginning of his feud with The Miz and Morrison, as he teamed up with Bad Bunny on the road to a big win at his very first Wrestlemania, in one of the more entertaining celebrity wrestling matches of all time.
1 Christian
Christian was by far the biggest shock in either the men’s or women’s Rumble matches in 2021. After supposedly being forced into retirement years prior, there was not even the faintest whisper of rumour when it came to Christian returning the ring.
He shared a hugely emotional moment with Edge, who was a huge surprise the year prior, and he even made it to the final four in the match. He was just as smooth as he ever was in the ring and would eventually turn up in AEW to continue a remarkable comeback run.
