3 best final entrants in Royal Rumble history
The final position in the Royal Rumble match is a coveted spot. The Superstar who enters at the last position has to deal mostly with fatigued opponents and thus has a greater chance to win the Rumble. Even from the WWE Universe's perspective, the ultimate entrant in the Royal Rumble match is the most anticipated participant. We could see a Superstar returning from a serious injury, or even an icon of the business making a one-off return to the ring. When WWE fails to send out an exciting Superstar as the last entrant, the WWE Universe often express their disappointment vocally - case in point, Rey Mysterio in 2014 -- everyone was desperate for it to be Daniel Bryan, who would vanquish Batista and save us from a man nobody wanted to move on to WrestleMania, but it was not to be.
Over the years, WWE has given us some amazing moments with the final entrant in the Royal Rumble match. In this article, we will take a look at three of the best final entrants in Royal Rumble history.
#3 Nia Jax - 2019
Nia Jax made history when she attacked R-Truth and took his spot as #30 in the Men's Royal Rumble match in 2019. Jax became the first-ever WWE Superstar to participate in two Royal Rumble bouts on the same night and also became only the fourth woman to ever enter the Men's Royal Rumble match.
Jax was not a pushover either. The dominant Superstar eliminated Mustafa Ali and stood up to her male counterparts. In fact, it took the teamwork from WWE veterans Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio to take Jax out of the match. Ziggler hit her with a Superkick, allowing Mysterio to hit a 619, which led to Orton to hitting an RKO on the "Irresistible Force".
The whole segment involving Jax was nothing short of gold and the WWE fans throughout the world enjoyed her participation in the main event of Royal Rumble 2020.
#2 Triple H - 2016
The 2016 edition of Royal Rumble was fantastic, to say the least. Starting with the debut of the Phenomenal One AJ Styles, we had plenty to see at the event. The evergreen rivalry between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, R-Truth's hilarious mixup with the ladder, and the Wyatt Family's strong showing were brilliant. However, the icing on the cake was the 30th entrant during the main event.
The WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns had to defend his title during the Royal Rumble that year. The Big Dog had been in a heated rivalry with Triple H and The Authority for most of 2015 and destroyed Triple H at TLC in December 2015. The King of Kings didn't show up for the rest of the year, and for weeks into 2016. It looked like he was being written off of TV for a while, so WWE fans did not expect to see the return of the COO of WWE at Royal Rumble 2016.
Triple H won the Rumble match by last eliminating Dean Ambrose to become a 14-time World Champion - his first title reign since 2009. Triple H also broke the record of most time in between Royal Rumble wins. Triple H's other Royal Rumble win was in 14 years earlier, in 2002.
#1 John Cena - 2008
The Royal Rumble has been well-established as a night of returns. Many Superstars made their return from injury or hiatus at Royal Rumble throughout the years. However, all of those returns pale in comparison to John Cena's return at the 2008 Royal Rumble.
During an October 2007 episode of Monday Night RAW, Cena suffered a legitimate injury while having a match against Mr. Kennedy. Cena finished the match and even performed the post-match angle against Randy Orton, which ended up writing him off for what people expected to be a very long time. Cene had suffered a torn pectoral muscle and it was estimated that Cena required at least half a year to a year for recovery, but doctors warned that it was more likely to be 9 months or more. Cena had to relinquish his WWE Championship, which was awarded to Randy Orton at No Mercy later in October.
However, Cena proved us that he indeed is "Super Cena" by returning way ahead of his scheduled return. Cena returned in just four months to occupy the 30th spot in Royal Rumble 2008. The WWE Universe was legitimately happy at the return of Cena. Cena went on to win the 2008 Royal Rumble match but could not clinch the title from Randy Orton. Nevertheless, the image of John Cena standing in the Madison Square Garden with a smile on his face is immortal, and will live on as one of the most shocking and surprising moments in WWE history.