Royal Rumble: Biggest Returns
It’s January, and that means resolutions, wearing lots of layers, and most importantly, the Royal Rumble. Since 1988, the event has revolved around an over-the-top battle royal where competitors enter in 90-second(ish) intervals, soon evolving into a 30-man event where the winner gets a title shot at that year’s WrestleMania—and evolving once again last year, with the first-ever 30-woman Royal Rumble.
There are multiple hallmarks of the Royal Rumble match—competitors lasting for more than an hour, less lucky wrestlers being eliminated instantly, narrow escapes from elimination (often by Kofi Kingston), surprise debuts, and what we’re focusing on today: returns. With the Royal Rumble marking the first major stop on the “Road to WrestleMania,” it’s become a tradition for wrestlers to return at the event, either rejoining the company, coming back from injury, or just temporarily resurfacing to get a reaction from nostalgic fans.
While we’re speculating about who might return this year (Kevin Owens? Sami Zayn? Fandango?!), let’s look back at some of the biggest returns in Royal Rumble history.
2001: The Big Show
This February marks the 20th anniversary of The Big Show’s WWE debut, and the long-running Superstar has seen his fair share of ups and downs in those two decades. In 2000, he was written out of storylines with the reported goal of losing weight—and made a high-profile surprise return about six months later as entrant #23 in the 2001 Royal Rumble. Upon joining the fray, Big Show immediately eliminated Test and K-Kwik (now known as R-Truth, entrant #30 in this year’s men’s Rumble thanks to his Mixed Match Challenge victory alongside Carmella), and
Also, Drew Carey was an entrant in this Royal Rumble—not relevant to Big Show’s
2002: Mr. Perfect
By January 2002, the WWF had conquered its biggest rivals, WCW and ECW, which were both acquired in 2001. As a result, there were a lot of displaced ring veterans around that time, and at the 2002 Royal Rumble, Mr. Perfect—the late Curt Hennig, father of Curtis Axel—made a return to the WWF after nearly six years away.
Although Perfect had been arguably “mired in obscurity” in recent years, as Jim Ross put it on commentary, he entered at #25 and immediately stood toe to toe with two of the biggest stars of the era: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Triple H. It wasn’t quite a (sorry, can’t resist) perfect showing—he didn’t eliminate anyone—but he held his own and lasted 15 minutes in the match, winding up as one of the final four participants (along with Triple H, Austin, and Kurt Angle).
2002: Triple H
In the midst of the most memorable eras of Triple H‘s career—the “Two-Man Power Trip” tag team with Steve Austin—the current WWE exec suffered a serious injury by tearing his left quadricep. As fate would have it, his recovery synced nicely with the WWE schedule, and Triple H returned to action at the 2002 Royal Rumble—coming in at #22, at a point in the match when only Austin was left in the ring. The two proceeded to renew their rivalry, trading intense blows and pausing only to work together to eliminate the match’s next couple of entrants: The Hurricane (who, bless his heart, tried to chokeslam them both) and Faarooq.
Triple H’s in-ring return was a very successful one, as he eliminated Kurt Angle to win the match, and went on to beat Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship in the main event of that year’s WrestleMania.
2004: Mick Foley
Before he was “The Viper,” Randy Orton was “The Legend Killer,” due to terrorizing veterans of the business like a then-retired Mick Foley—who, a month before the 2004 Royal Rumble, Orton called a coward and spit in his face. Now, if you know anything about “The Hardcore Legend” Mick Foley, you can guess he didn’t take that in stride, and he responded by confronting Orton at the Rumble.
Foley’s appearance was a genuine surprise—as the story goes, Test was supposed to be #21, but he was taken out backstage. Orton (who had been in the match since its start, longer than a half hour at that point) was, to use terminology
2008: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper
The 2008 Royal Rumble took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the spot of some of the most famous moments in WWE history—so of
But the flashback didn’t last long—Kane came in at #20 and swiftly eliminated both Piper and Snuka. Fact: Big Red Monsters have no capacity for reverence.
2008: John Cena
The 2008 event also included what is generally considered “the” surprise Royal Rumble return: In October 2007, John Cena tore his pec in a match, and the injury was severe enough that he was stripped of the WWE Championship (which he had held for 380 days at that point), as it was reported that he would be out for potentially a full year.
But this is John Cena we’re talking about, and the dude pretty much has superpowers: He returned less than four months later at the 2008 Royal Rumble match as entry #30, stunning the New York City crowd and making audiences at home feel like it had to be some sort of, to put it in pro wrestling parlance, swerve. But it was the real deal, and the surprise entry paid off, too—Cena ended up winning the match, outlasting both Triple H and Batista. He also is only the second person to win the Royal Rumble while entering at the once-unlucky #30—following The Undertaker the year before.
2010: Edge
Another memorable return from injury happened two years later: Edge tore his Achilles tendon in July of 2009, ending his newly-formed tag team with Chris Jericho. He returned a little more than six months later at the 2010 Royal Rumble, quickly targeting his former partner with a spear, then hitting the same move on Shawn Michaels and John Cena for good measure. Edge then eliminated frenemy Jericho—who taunted Edge throughout his absence—from the match, and then another big
Edge maintained his momentum, though, and won the match by last eliminating Cena. Edge went on to face Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XXVI that year, and while he lost that contest, he ended up getting his revenge a month later at Extreme Rules in one of the most satisfying ways possible, a steel cage mach.
2018: Trish Stratus, Lita and More!
The first-ever women’s Royal Rumble happened in 2018, and along with showcasing the current stars of the women’s division, multiple names from the past returned, including several WWE Hall of Famers—all wanting to be a part of the historic event.
Lita, more than a decade removed from her days as a full-time competitor, entered at #5 wearing timely #TimesUp gear, and showed she still got it by scoring the first two eliminations of the match, on Mandy Rose and Tamina (before being eliminated by a pre-“The Man” Becky Lynch). Throughout the match, more classic stars of the Attitude and Divas Eras returned, who showed they could definitely hang with the current stars: Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Jacqueline, Beth Phoenix, and, finally, Trish Stratus at #30.
Asuka won the Rumble, but it was a powerful moment for the women’s talent of yesterday, who were never given that type of opportunity during their active careers.
Royal Rumble 2019—which could include a high-profile return or two—takes place January 27 on the WWE Network.