5 Best No. 22 Entries in the Royal Rumble
A lot has been made of the 2011 Royal Rumble PPV. The Royal Rumble match saw the number of entrants bumped from 30 to 40. The Royal Rumble saw a battle between the New Nexus and the Corre, a group made up of wrestlers who were involved in the original Nexus run.
While the New Nexus, led by CM Punk dominated the first half of the Royal Rumble match, The Corre and Wade Barrett would dominate the second half. Barrett would record one of his best Royal Rumble performances, eventually eliminated 37th, making it to the final four and having eliminated two legends in Rey Mysterio and Diesel.
The 2011 Royal Rumble saw a unique makeup in the final four, as the WWE usually uses the final stages of the Rumble to identify top talent. Names such as Kane, The Rock, Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, Roman Reigns, and The Undertaker would usually find themselves in the final four and in line for winning the Royal Rumble match.
However, in 2011 the final four consisted of Wade Barrett, Randy Orton, Santino Marella, and eventual winner Alberto Del Rio. Considering that Barrett had not been in the WWE for a very long time, and Del Rio himself was a surprising champion, let alone Santino making it to the final two of the Royal Rumble. The only name that didn't seem out of place of the biggest Royal Rumble the WWE produced, until 2018 with Saudi Arabia's "Greatest Royal Rumble".
You can see the other entries in this series below:
Part 1 is here; Part 6 is here; Part 11 is here; Part 16 is here; Part 21 is here
Part 2 is here; Part 7 is here; Part 12 is here; Part 17 is here
Part 3 is here; Part 8 is here; Part 13 is here; Part 18 is here
Part 4 is here; Part 9 is here; Part 14 is here; Part 19 is here
Part 5 is here; Part 10 is here; Part 15 is here; Part 20 is here