8 Possible Surprise Entrants for Royal Rumble 2019

The road to WrestleMania always begins with the Royal Rumble, with the winner of the Royal Rumble traditionally challenging for the title of their choosing at the Grandest Stage of them all. One of the most exciting things about the Royal Rumble match is the countdown as no-one knows who is coming out or in what order. With the exception of R-Truth and Carmella coming out as the #30 entrant of their respective Royal Rumble matches, this year is no different.

Another exciting element to the Royal Rumble match in recent years is that there are usually a number of entrants entering a Royal Rumble that shocks the universe. Back in 2008, Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper, two Hall of Famers, entered the match. In 2010, Beth Phoenix became only the second woman entering in a Men’s Royal Rumble match, whilst in 2012, professional commentator Michael Cole tried his chances too.

With less than a week to go until the 32nd annual Royal Rumble, and with only 19 confirmed male entrants and 23 confirmed female entrants, there are still plenty of potential surprise entrants that could shock, confuse or just generate one of the biggest reactions of the night.

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#8 Batista

Will the Animal return at the Royal Rumble match?

Batista is certainly no stranger to entering or even winning the Royal Rumble match as he did back in 2005. He also won the event again 9 years later, in 2014, although his second victory was far less memorable than his first, as he left the WWE within six months.

Since then, like The Rock and John Cena, Batista has had a successful career in Hollywood, working on juggernaut film franchises including James Bond and Guardians of The Galaxy. With an ever-growing film reel including an Avengers film due to be released this April, it seems like Batista entering this years’ Royal Rumble is impossible, right?

On the SmackDown 1000 episode in October last year, Batista made a return for one night only as part of Evolution, reminiscing their dominance as a stable which appeared to be a happy reunion until Batista highlighted to Triple H that he has never beat him. Even though the briefly heated moment was laughed off by the two wrestlers, this was a possible tease that they may finally face each other again in the near future. If you also take into account that Triple H will almost certainly feature in a match of some capacity at this years’ WrestleMania (considering he has wrestled in 21 out of the last 22 WrestleMania events), there aren’t too many opponents he could face that wouldn’t feature better elsewhere - but a rematch between the former Evolution members would be a WrestleMania moment to savour.

#7 Bray Wyatt

The Eater of Worlds has been missing in action for months

The last 12 months for Bray Wyatt have been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride. After having a very bizarre yet memorable feud with ‘Woken’ Matt Hardy, he then came to Hardy’s aid at WrestleMania 34, helping him win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. This then led to the two wrestlers forming a tag team together and winning the Raw Tag Team Championships.

However, shortly after dropping the titles to B-Team at Extreme Rules last year, Bray Wyatt has been missing in action on both the weekly shows and pay-per-views. If the WWE wants to bring Bray Wyatt back into the WWE picture, then an appearance at the Royal Rumble match this year would be the perfect opportunity to do it, with him potentially crafting out new relationships or rivalries with fellow wrestlers.

Furthermore, if you take into account that Bray Wyatt has deleted all of his former tweets on his personal Twitter page leaving just one cryptic tweet saying ‘Today I am someone different. Today I have finally become who I really am’ is a suggestion that Wyatt may even come back with a completely different persona.

#6 Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley is no longer the NXT UK Women's Champion, opening the door to enter the Royal Rumble.

Even though Rhea Ripley has been on the independent circuit for several years, her breakout year in wrestling came at the Mae Young Classic in 2017 when she made it through to the second round. Since then, she has appeared on the Mae Young Classic again, this time getting to the semi-finals, before going on to become the inaugural WWE NXT UK Women’s Champion.

Her four-month reign came to an end against Toni Storm just over a week ago. Hence, this would be the perfect time for Ripley to be able to showcase her talents at one of the big four pay-per-views, and a strong showing at the Royal Rumble would further boost her portfolio to eventually make the jump onto one of the main weekly shows.

#5 Lars Sullivan

Sullivan putting in a good performance at the Royal Rumble would mark his territory for the main roster

It is hard to argue against Lars Sullivan being possibly the most powerful wrestler on NXT in the past few years. With a combination of his strength and speed, Sullivan has unsurprisingly been on the losing end very few times and will be taking this momentum onto the main shows to possibly be the next Strowman-type character.

When he was announced as a confirmed wrestler on the main show back at Survivor Series last year, it has shown that Sullivan’s call up as a when rather than an if, and a good display at the Royal Rumble would be the perfect opportunity to display his dominance. Even better, getting the most eliminations on the actual night would be making a strong statement as he joins the main roster.

#4 Kevin Owens

Owens is due to return to WWE soon, and the Royal Rumble would be the perfect opportunity to come back.

WWE have recently shown vignettes of Kevin Owens returning to the company again, since he was last seen on Raw back in October. He has since been out of action after undergoing double knee surgery. Over the past year, Owens has predominately been linked with teaming up with Sami Zayn against the likes of Shane McMahon, AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan.

A surprise return at the Royal Rumble match either alone or alongside Sami Zayn would confirm if they will reunite together as a team or go it alone as singles competitors. Furthermore, if you take into account Owen’s ego, a return at the Royal Rumble rather than a weekly show seems the only way to return for the former Universal Champion.

#3 Velveteen Dream

Dream's not so subtle message to being called on the main roster.

NXT wrestlers are no strangers to entering Royal Rumbles. Since Bo Dallas became the first wrestler to enter a Royal Rumble back in 2013 whilst still being on NXT, there have been a number of wrestlers from the developmental show enter in four of the following five Royal Rumble matches. Last year, an unprecedented four wrestlers from NXT entered in the two Royal Rumble matches last year.

This year should be no different, and one very plausible option is none other than Velveteen Dream. The Dream has appeared in the last six NXT TakeOver events, but finds himself without an opponent at NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, the night before the Royal Rumble. If you take into account that Dream has had some memorable matches with the likes of Aleister Black, Ricochet and current NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa, it would be a noticeable absence to the WWE Universe if he isn’t utilised in the Royal Rumble match in some capacity.

#2 Kenny Omega

Since leaving NJPW, Omega's future isn't clear.

When AJ Styles departed NJPW for WWE back in early 2016, it also became the catalyst that boosted Kenny Omega’s career at the Japanese promotion. Even though he had already won a few Championship titles, his career significantly propelled afterwards as he became the leader of the Bullet Club, was the inaugural IWGP United States Champion, became IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion. He has had some of the best-rated wrestling matches of all time with the likes of Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi.

After recently losing the Heavyweight Championship to Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13 last week, Omega announced in an interview with Tokyo Sports that he would be leaving NJPW. He also announced in the same interview that he mentioned both Cody Rhodes new found wrestling promotion, All Elite Wrestling, or WWE, when discussing his future. However, the reality is that there’s no official confirmation of Omega’s current status for any wrestling promotion. With Omega’s exceptional talent and WWE’s deep pockets, there is no reason not to expect to see Omega at the Royal Rumble this year.

#1 The Rock

The Rock's return may be unlikely but not impossible

If there was one wrestler that would get the loudest pop of the night if they were to return at the Royal Rumble, it’d be none other than the Great One, The Rock.

The Rock’s successful transition from wrestler to Hollywood superstar has opened up the doors for other wrestlers swapping the WWE entrance ramp for the red carpet, including Batista and John Cena.

In fact, according to last year Forbes list, The Rock’s career in Hollywood makes him currently one of the highest paid actors in the world, and with blockbusters like Moana, Jumanji and the Fast and the Furious franchise films, it is easy to see why.

Based on the information, at first glance, it seems very unlikely that The Rock would make a return to the ring, or would it? Even though his career was blossoming in Hollywood, it is clear that The Rock hasn’t forgotten his roots as he still has made sporadic appearances at pay-per-views, with his most recent appearance back at WrestleMania 32. If fitness and schedule come into place, then a return at Royal Rumble, and the potential possibility to headline WrestleMania against the likes of Brock Lesnar, would be a money-making match that noone would be able to put a price on.