Tag: Surprise

Surprise! It’s the Royal Rumble.

My personal favourite PPV/PLE is almost here. As a citizen of His Majesty’s United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, watching WWE live takes serious commitment. As a fresh-faced youth I would generally stay up for every event, shrugging off fatigue the next day with an exuberance I now find staggering. As I approach my forties it’s almost impossible to contemplate deliberately staying up until 4am… Unless it’s that most Royal of all the Rumbles. The penchant for surprise, my love of an entrance theme’s first 3 seconds, and of course the regular dopamine hits make it a firm favourite in the Murray household.

 

TL/DR: I love it.

 

This may stray slightly into the realms of fantasy booking, so if that’s not your bag please make your merry way to the comments section and hurl some abuse at me.

Today I’m discussing the art of the Royal Rumble surprise. It’s a staple of the art form, arguably the best way to give an historic superstar one last moment in the sun (without asking them to do anything strenuous). It’s also an excellent way to further a storyline, particularly if one of the superstars has been injured recently (looking at you, Jade Cargill), or even to begin one. Many a blood feud has begun with the simple act of throwing an opponent over the top rope and stealing their Wrestlemania dream from them.

 

I’m always excited for the Rumble, but this year is shaping up to be an excellent one. John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Jey Uso… The list of male superstars with a legitimate chance of winning is better than it’s been for years. And it’s similar, if not quite so star-studded yet, for the womenfolk: Charlotte Flair’s return, Nia Jax’s beef with Tiffy Time, Bianca Belair’s perennial main event challenge, Liv Morgan gaining one final shot at Rhea Ripley… Not to mention one or two top-tier players potentially waiting in the wings.

 

So let’s talk about the surprises. Some are more plausible than others but I’ve tried to root each entry in a bed of reason, allowing it to bloom with potential in the mind-garden of your brain, dear reader. Without further ado:

 

The Rock

 Earth’s third-best Rock seems to be floating continuously above the head of Roman Reigns, a ghostly, heavily-muscled apparition ready to attack at any given moment. I don’t buy “Nice Rock” for a second, The Great One is ramping up to something… But what? Would it be a huge surprise to see him in the Rumble? Not really, but it would still blow the roof off. And what better way to eliminate Roman Reigns? The OTC has been on such a winning streak for the last 4 years he can’t just be casually tossed out. No, even if he’s not an official entrant I can easily see Rock costing Roman his Wrestlemania revenge, setting them up for a Bloodline showdown.

 

Jade Cargill

 Look, you know how this goes. I’ve got to cover the more predictable predictions before I wow you with my powers of imagination. Cargill coming back in the Rumble makes all the sense in the world, she’s got a storyline ready to storm back into and the pop for her will be good (if probably unspectacular). She doesn’t need to spend long in the match. Return, show her power, maybe eliminate Charlotte just for fun, and then leave.

 

William Goldberg

 You can see it, can’t you? “Who’s number thirty?” Enter Goldberg. He spends 5 minutes in the Rumble before retiring in a losing effort against Gunther in the main event of Wrestlemania. And honestly? I’m kind of fine with that. Say what you want about his latter performances, Goldberg has a legitimate claim to being one of the biggest superstars in the history of professional wrestling. He’s got more Charisma than a Carpenter, he’s a multi-time world champion, and even now he looks a million quid. A superstar of his calibre deserves a Wrestlemania send-off and it can be a “main event” without going on last.

 

Jordynne Grace

 I mean, does this even count as a surprise anymore? Arguably it would be more surprising if we don’t see Jordynne Grace debut at the Rumble. Could she win it? Stranger things have happened, but I think it’s more likely we see her setting up her first WWE feud by crossing paths with someone mid-match. She’s an outstanding talent and could easily be in the mix for winning next year.

 

Mick Foley

 Please, please, please don’t do it Mick. You have absolutely nothing to prove to anyone about your wrestling ability. If you need the buzz of the crowd, come and do guest commentary. Announce the first two entrants. Act as a special guest enforcer. But please, don’t put yourself in the ring. You’ve given us more than enough of your blood and sweatsocks. I’m confident that I speak for all wrestling fans here: the weight loss is impressive enough in itself, don’t push yourself further than you have to. We don’t want to see you get hurt.

 

Alexa Bliss

 Will she? Won’t she? Should she? All excellent questions, thank you for asking. I usually think of myself as quite an even-minded wrestling fan. I can happily read the opinions of others without feeling the need to pound vitriol into my keyboard with the fury of a thousand suns. But on this particular occasion, I categorially do not understand the commenters who claim Alexa Bliss wouldn’t add value to the WWE again.

Now, if she doesn’t want to come back that’s another matter entirely, but to imply that she won’t be able to hold her own against literally anyone on the roster is insane to me. The women’s roster is getting deeper and better all the time, but I’d argue that Alexa Bliss brings better character work than anyone else on the current roster. I’d love her to come back.

 

Wade Barrett

 Ah, now we’re talking aren’t we? Barrett and McIntyre gave us a little teaser earlier in the year and (albeit with a clear and obvious domestic-player-bias) I am 100% here for it. England v Scotland on the grandest stage of them all? Sign me up. It’s also beautifully logical storytelling. Wade returning is a shock. He gets lucky and eliminates McIntyre. Drew pulls him out of the ring in anger. It’s a tale as old as time, and with their combined storytelling skill I have no doubt it would be one of the most captivating feuds heading into Wrestlemania. Personally, this is the one I’m hanging my hat on. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t see it, unless it’s being saved for an England PLE later in the year. Wade would be given a hero’s welcome.

 

AJ Lee

 Speaking of hero’s welcomes, can you imagine the noise we’ll hear if AJ returns to the Rumble? CM Punk is an expert at blurring the lines between story and reality, and the little teases of an AJ return could very well just be him messing with us. But if he’s not… Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather AJ returned full-time and added to an incredibly stacked women’s roster, but even if it’s just a one-off surprise appearance it’ll go down in history as one of the biggest Rumble pops ever. Now that her husband appears firmly embedded in the company (and with a whole heap of Netflix money lying around), could she be tempted? I flipping hope so.

 

William Regal

 The case of William Regal is a strange one. You could argue that his career was good without being great, a smattering of missed opportunities hidden between fantastic character work, impressive technical ability, and a handful of well-told storylines. And yet, as time goes by, he’s becoming more and more revered in the wrestling world. Not just by his peers, but by more casual fans as well. It feels like wrestling fans are gaining awareness of his talents on a level never really appreciated during his peak years. Maybe this will be the year we see him celebrated in the ring as well as out of it.

 

Nikki Bella

 This would be a curveball during Cena’s farewell tour, wouldn’t it? If the rumours are true, what better way to test the waters than with a Royal Rumble return? It’s not one that I’m particularly excited to see, but I think the Bella Twins deserve more credit than they currently receive as performers. While Nikki may not have reached the Stratusphere when it comes to wrestlers who started as eye candy, she’s built a highly respectable in-ring career for herself and received big crowd reactions at a time when most women didn’t. It’s a guaranteed Rumble pop if she does decide to return.

 

Joe Hendry

 On the subject of guaranteed Rumble pops… All I’ll say is this: I believe. Maybe this has become slightly less likely now that he’s the TNA champion. After all, what does it say about your “World Title” if the incumbent feels the need to fight for another one? On the flip side, maybe it makes sense that Joe Hendry would want to unify both belts and be a truly undisputed champion. You know what? Maybe it doesn’t matter if it makes sense. Maybe this is one crowd moment that we can’t afford not to experience. Make it happen, Trips ol’ buddy. Make it happen.

 

Tessa Blanchard

 Ain’t gonna happen.

 

Dolph Ziggler

 It seems to me that Dolph is going to be this generation’s William Regal. At times it seemed like he was the hottest thing in the business; that Survivor Series match must go down as one of the all-time biggest missed opportunities in WWE history. Dolph was a made man that night, and they didn’t capitalise on it. Now that he’s not in possession of the TNA title, could you have him come out to his old WWE music? It’s tricky but not impossible, and I think the WWE top brass will be surprised at how big a pop he commands.

 

Mandy Rose

 It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Corey Graves, but this could make it all worthwhile. WWE has been through a lot of changes since Mandy Rose was fired. Is it beyond the realms of possibility that they’d reconcile? Contrary to my Alexa Bliss opinions, I don’t think they need Mandy as a full-time performer given the sheer depth of talent they have on the roster. But a one-off Royal Rumble appearance would draw a strong crowd reaction and be a nice moment to say “sorry about all that kerfuffle before”.

 

Either/Both Hardys

 It feels like they should have one last WWE moment. It also feels like they’re past the point where they need a full-time run. If there were such a thing as a tag-team Royal Rumble (you’re welcome, Triple H) then they’d be a shoe-in for a guest appearance. As it stands, while I wouldn’t be utterly shocked to see them, I would be surprised. But then again, stranger things have happened. If you’re going to let TNA wrestlers compete in the Rumble, doesn’t it make sense for them to be the most recognisable ones you’ve got?

 

Big E Langston

 Wouldn’t you love to see it? I certainly would. If there is to be a true payoff to New Day’s current storyline, it has to start here. It has to start with Big E in the Royal Rumble. Whether he’s an actual participant or just gets physically involved with Kofi and Xavier, this is the perfect time to do it. But, while my heart believes it could happen, my head suspects that this is the least likely of all the wildcard entries. But you never know, do you? You never know.

 

So, what say you, dear reader? Who have I missed? Who would be ridiculous? Who would you pop the most for? Who deserves it the most? More importantly, who writes a surprise entrants column and doesn’t even mention Becky Lynch?