'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Saturday, January 27, the 37th edition of the WWE Premium Live Event, Royal Rumble will take place at Tropicana Field in Florida.
As well as the men's match, fans are highly anticipating the women's matchup, with the winner getting the chance to face either the WWE Women's Champion or Women's World Champion at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia.
Alongside the chance to see the active roster, the Rumble also offers the opportunity for absent stars to make their much-awaited return.
Join us, as we take a look at 3 unexpected returns fans could see in the women's rumble match:
#3 - A WWE Hall of Famer stuns the crowd
One star who has shown in recent years that she is more than capable of rolling back the clock is Hall of Famer Lita.
The former Women's Champion made her return to the company last year as she joined forces with Becky Lynch to win the Women's Tag Team Titles, she would then go on to team with Irishwoman and her longtime friend Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 39.
Lita has not been seen in the ring since RAW last April after she was attacked backstage by Stratus herself. With the Royal Rumble now on the horizon, fans are eagerly hoping for her return.
If she were to win the Rumble, one champion she could face is the Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley. During a recent interview with Daily DDT, Lita stated that she would love to have a match with the matriarch of The Judgment Day.
"I actually just saw an interview where Rhea threw that back out there for a match against me,” the WWE Hall of Famer said. “I know we just talked about matches being really great without titles, but I would want that one to involve the title. She’s an incredible talent and I’d love to work with her because it would push me to go beyond my comfort zone I feel like I’ve been satisfied with what I’ve done in this chapter, but I’d love to see how far I can take it," said Lita. (H/T Daily DDT)
#2 - A former SmackDown Women's Champion returns
One top star who fans would like to see make their return at the Rumble is the former SmackDown Women's Champion, Liv Morgan.
The 29-year-old has been out of action since August last year after she picked up a shoulder injury in a match where she and Raquel Rodriguez lost the Women's Tag Team titles to Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville.
Whilst her return date is not yet confirmed, a recent report from PWInsider has indicated the company is looking to bring her back soon for her to be a part of a WrestleMania 40:
"We are told that Morgan had already been penciled in as to when she would be returning to company storylines in 2024 and currently, this is not believed to change those plans. The belief was she would be back in by the build to Wrestlemania and was very much in the mix for what we are told is ‘a high profile program." (H/T PWInsider)
If WWE top brass do want her to be a part of The Show of Shows, then the best way for fans to be reminded of how good she is would be for her to make her comeback at the Royal Rumble on January 27.
#1 - The GOAT makes more history
One of the standout performers of 2023 in WWE was undoubtedly Trish Stratus. After making her return ahead of WrestleMania 39, the Hall of Famer would turn her back on Lita, Becky Lynch and the fans as she donned a whole new side to her on-screen persona.
Stratus would then embroil herself in a lengthy feud with Becky Lynch, with their rivalry coming to an end inside a steel cage at Payback in what many consider to be the best match of 2023.
Now having been absent for a few months, many are hoping for her return. Speaking at a Q&A at Big Texas Comic Con, Trish was asked when she will be making her return to WWE:
"I’ve been asked by people here, ‘Are you coming back? Do you want to do another run?’ But this is the thing, I’m like… the boxes it has to check,” Stratus said. “One is the creative. What is the creative? What am I going to come back and do? Is it going to check these boxes? So, I always turn it back to people and go, ‘I might go back but who should I face?’ Tell me, I wanna know." (H/T Post Wrestling)
Whilst the WWE has always had current female stars win the Rumble match, a win for Stratus on January 27 would potentially put her above the rest of any women that's come before or after her.
