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The Royal Rumble match is one of the most, if not the most exciting match of the year, and one of the reasons is that you never know who is going to show up. Other than AJ Styles's WWE debut at the Royal Rumble in 2016, there have not been many surprise Rumble entries in recent years, having had no legends appear since 2015 and just about one NXT star in each of the 2016 and 2017 matches.
That is until the 2018 WWE Royal Rumble matches. I do mean matches as both the men's and women's matches had a pretty fair share of surprise entries that no one saw coming. First, let's take a look at the top five surprise entries in the men's Royal Rumble.
#5 Dolph Ziggler
No, this wasn't a legend's cameo, debut or call up, but a surprise entry nonetheless. At WWE's Night of Champions PPV last month, Dolph Ziggler defeated Bobby Roode and then Champion Baron Corbin for the WWE United States Championship. Just two days later, on the following SmackDown, Dolph bizarrely forfeited the Championship after saying that the fans did not deserve him and placed the title belt in the ring before leaving.
The following week, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan claimed that Ziggler was nowhere to be found and had indeed vacated his title.
As of this writing, we have no idea where this angle is heading. Many fans actually speculated that Dolph may have legitimately walked out of WWE but that is obviously untrue as Dolph returned to WWE TV as the #30 entry in the Royal Rumble match. Unfortunately, he didn't last very long, so hopefully he will be able to further his angle in a more interesting way upon his return to SmackDown, presumably this Tuesday.
#4 Adam Cole
The leader of The Undisputed Era, Adam Cole was one of two NXT stars to make a cameo appearance in the Royal Rumble. Adam came in at number #23 with taped up ribs after his brutal match with Aleister Black the previous evening at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia.
Adam would last just about ten minutes before being eliminated by another surprise entrant, Rey Mysterio. For the moment, this was just a cameo appearance, but we can expect The Undisputed Era to debut on the main roster as a unit sometime in the next year.
#3 Andrade "Cien" Almas
Just 24 hours removed from a Match of The Year caliber performance with Johnny Gargano at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, WWE NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas made his surprising Royal Rumble entrance at #7 and lasted more than 30 minutes, before being eliminated by Randy Orton.
Cien received a very positive response from the audience, likely due to his match with Gargano, and gave yet another thrilling performance. I can see big things awaiting him and his manager Zelina Vega on RAW or SmackDown, in the future.
#2 The Hurricane
For the first time since 2015, we finally had a WWE legend make a cameo appearance in the Royal Rumble, former WWE Cruiserweight, Hardcore, European and 2-time Tag Team Champion, The Hurricane. The superhero emerged to a surprised audience and garnered a fun pop from the Philly fans. Hurricane lasted just 23 seconds, but still provided a very fun moment, especially as since this was the first time we had seen him on WWE TV since early 2010.
This appearance makes you wonder if it will be more than just a one-off appearance, as WWE will be announcing a new General Manager for 205 Live this Tuesday and Shane 'Hurricane' Helms is a favourite among internet fans to be selected for the role. Helms holds the record for longest WWE Cruiserweight Championship reign in company history at 13 months, from the Royal Rumble 2006 until No Way Out 2007. I certainly can't think of a better superstar for the role.
#1 Rey Mysterio
Without a doubt the biggest surprise of the men's Royal Rumble, former WWE Champion Rey Mysterio returned to WWE for the first time since the Raw after WrestleMania 30 and emerged to a massive pop from the Philly fans.
Rey entered at #27 and lasted just about 15 minutes before being eliminated by Finn Bálor. As of this writing, we have learned that Rey's appearance in the Rumble was put together during the week and was kept well hidden, and that it was a one time appearance and he has not signed a new WWE deal.
Rey was last in the wrestling news earlier this month for apparently being very close to signing a contract with Impact Wrestling. There were rumours last summer that Rey had been unsuccessful in negotiating a return to WWE.
Rey received such a strong reaction from the audience that WWE may consider signing a new deal with Mysterio.
