While it is not often the very best match of the year, in fact, the 2018 men’s Royal Rumble was the best one in at least 7 or 8 years. As exciting as it was, it didn’t really have much competition over the years. Despite this, what remains the most exciting part of it every year, is who the next entrant will be?

Could it be someone from RAW? SmackDown? NXT? 205 Live? Perhaps someone will make their return from an injury in the match or maybe even a new superstar making his or her debut, or even the return of a legend from the past!

Yes, it is always exciting to countdown from 10 and see who it is. And many will have no problem in admitting that quite often the highlight of the entire night is one of these unadvertised surprise entries. We get at least two or three in the men’s every year and with the women’s roster needing a little support to make it to 30, this will always lead to several surprise entries.

So, who would you like to see enter? These are the top 10 best Royal Rumble surprise entries that would be amazing additions to the men and women’s Royal Rumble matches.

#10 Trish Stratus & Lita

Two for the price of one with this entry. This one starts off the list because, while they would be cool to see enter the women’s Royal Rumble match for the second time each, this one is also expected to happen.

After being entrants in the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble match last year, WWE Hall of Famers Trish Stratus and Lita both returned to WWE TV in the late Summer to help build to the women’s exclusive pay-per-view, Evolution, where they competed in a tag team match. Following their victory over Alicia Fox and Mickie James, they appeared on RAW the following night for a multi-women’s tag team match, before leaving TV again.

It was reported by various sources shortly thereafter that the two multi-time WWE Women’s Champions would both return to WWE TV once again in the future and may even have an angle and match at WrestleMania 35. I can think of no better way to get there than by setting something up as surprise entrants in the second ever WWE Women’s Royal Rumble.

#9 ‘Broken/Woken’ Matt Hardy

As of this writing, Matt Hardy is still working for WWE and in his own words, is not yet retired, despite some reports claiming that he is.

Matt’s wrestling career, although not yet over, is certainly up in the air and it seems likely that he may be finished as a full-time performer. This doesn’t rule him out from wrestling occasionally though, and who knows, he may even make a full recovery and climb back into the ring for another run.

Regardless, Matt can still wrestle to an extent in his current condition, or condeeetion, as he would say in his Woken wisdom. So with that said, why not have him make an appearance in the men’s Royal Rumble match? He is well capable of doing so, it would be a good way to write him back onto television as a regular character (who doesn’t have to wrestle) and if not, could still also be a good way to promote his returning House Hardy WWE Network series, which many expect to be given a season deal.

#8 Kassius Ohno

The Royal Rumble match over the last several years has always had appearances from at least one or two NXT superstars.

And looking over the current NXT roster, hardly anyone deserves to make a Royal Rumble appearance among the men and women, more than Kassius Ohno. Kassius Ohno is a workhorse who gives great performances, yet always helps put others over and get ahead of him if it is best for business.

The former independent sensation is an NXT original, having been on the original NXT roster from its transformation from Florida Championship Wrestling to NXT. After his release from WWE in 2013, he once again took the independent scene by storm and was making so much noise on it, that WWE just had to take him back.

To be honest, it is not known if Kassius Ohno will ever make it to the main roster, with him now being 39 years old. He doesn’t have the look of someone who will get the push he deserves on the main roster. So if it isn’t meant to be, then he should at least be given the opportunity to knock some superstars out in the Royal Rumble, and show the casual fans and WWE higher-ups that he does have what it takes to make an impact someday.

#7 Ivory

WWE brought back several of the past greatest women’s wrestlers for the inaugural women’s Royal Rumble last year, including Trish Stratus, Lita, Alundra Blayze, Michelle McCool, Molly Holly and more, but one notable exception was former WWE Women’s Champion and 2018 WWE Hall of Fame inductee, Ivory.

Now while it is true that Ivory is long since retired, back in 2006 to be exact, that hasn’t stopped WWE from asking other retired stars to make cameo appearances in the Royal Rumble over the years. I think ivory deserves a spot in this years match as she is one of the all-time greats, a 2 time WWE Women’s Champion and unlike a lot of women’s wrestlers of the Attitude Era, could actually wrestle and didn’t rely on her sexuality.

And as seen at the Hall of Fame ceremony last year, Ivory, who seems to have stumbled across the fountain of youth, is still in great physical condition and looks like she could have no problem lasting in the Royal Rumble for a few minutes.

#6 Kharma

Kharma is one of the greatest women’s wrestlers of all-time, and probably the second best TNA Impact Wrestling Knockout of all-time, being beaten by just her greatest rival in her career, Gail Kim.

The former 2-time Knockout’s Champion debuted for WWE in 2011 but was quickly removed from the TV when she announced her pregnancy. Although she would tragically miscarriage, she returned to WWE for a cameo appearance in the 2012 Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant, and that is the last we saw of her in WWE.

Kharma deserves another go around in WWE, or at least another appearance, particularly in the Royal Rumble. She is one of the best of all-time and deserves to show a casual WWE audience what she can do, which would hopefully lead to more.

Although to be fair, Kharma is a very busy woman today, having successfully branched out into acting and snagging a starring role as Tammé “The Welfare Queen” Dawson in the Netflix original smash hit comedy series, GLOW.

#5 Pete Dunne

As mentioned earlier, there is no one on the NXT roster more deserving of an appearance in the Royal Rumble, than Kassius Ohno. However, the Rumble generally caters to at least two NXT appearances, and the other who would make a great addition to the match is the WWE United Kingdom Champion, Pete Dunne.

Pete Dunne is on a roll today. Pete is the reigning WWE UK Champion and is closing in on two years as Champion, he is a regular on WWE NXT, NXT UK and is still allowed to compete on the independent scene as much as possible.

Pete Dunne is truly one of the most talented performers in the world today and deserves to add a little more WWE main roster experience to his growing resume, with an appearance in the Royal Rumble. Dunne deserves to show the casual WWE fans what he is capable of and how talented of a performer he is. You could throw Pete Dunne into a ring full of Rumble entrants, and he would easily stand out.

#4 Victoria

When fans discuss the best women’s wrestlers of all-time, I think one name that is often surprisingly overlooked is former WWE Women’s Champion and TNA Knockout’s Champion Victoria.

Victoria made a name for herself in WWE back in 2002 when she defeated Trish Stratus for the Women’s Championship in a rarity for women at the time, a Street Fight. In 2003, she also competed in the first women’s Steel Cage match with Lita. She would become a 2-time WWE Women’s Champion in 2004, and spend the next four-plus years being one of the best, and beating the best. Truly, she is highly overlooked by many today, including WWE themselves.

I honestly believe Victoria has done more than enough to not only have earned a spot in the 2018 WWE Royal Rumble but this year’s as well (obviously), a spot at WWE Evolution back in October and an overdue WWE Hall of Fame induction. Even at 47 years old today, she still looks fantastic, is in great physical condition and could give today’s roster a run for their money.

#3 Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts

To put it plain and simple, this is something that Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts has wanted for over 6 years now, and not only does he still want it, but deserves it too.

If we are being honest, before Diamond Dallas Page helped Jake get back to the best physical condition he is capable of, he was probably at deaths doorstep, having battled so many alcohol and drug problems throughout the years. As seen in the biopic The Resurrection of Jake Roberts, against all odds, Jake conquered his demons and got his life back on track.

He was rewarded for this with an appearance on an Old School episode of WWE RAW in 2014, and an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame that same year. As great as these are, he still deserves one more, and that is his desired spot in a Royal Rumble match. It doesn’t need to be very long, just long enough to get that roof popping reception and hit a DDT, and everyone is going home happy.

#2 David Arquette

To be honest, I just think this one would be a whole lot of fun.

There are so many controversial figures in the history of professional wrestling, and not all are wrestlers, and some, have completely different professions. One such is the Scream movie series actor David Arquette. A lifelong wrestling fan who was given the lead role in the dire but now cult classic WCW comedy film Ready To Rumble, Vince Russo booked David to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion in 2000 to help promote the film and get some press.

The move is looked at as the final nail in the WCW coffin, and went down extremely bad with everyone, including Arquette himself, who only did it after he was begged by Russo and an unwilling Diamond Dallas Page. Amazingly, David returned to wrestling as an actual wrestler, 18 years later in 2018. David wrestled Nick Gage in a Deathmatch at Joey Janela’s LA Confidential where he suffered a severe cut in the neck, causing him to bleed profusely.

David’s performance in the match received critical acclaim. He is certainly earning his stripes in professional wrestling and a cameo appearance in the Royal Rumble makes total sense due to his celebrity status and how incredible he has been doing so far on the independent scene. His appearance would also be surprising for everyone and provide a big pop and likely some comedic moments.

#1 Jeff Jarrett

It is still incredible to say that Jeff Jarrett is now in the WWE Hall of Fame. Although he certainly has the career to earn it, he left WWE under the worst circumstances possible, enough to be blacklisted by the company forever, and was even legitimately fired from WCW/WWE on live television. Jeff would even start his own competing wrestling company TNA, who although never had the ratings they needed, were still a thorn in WWE’s side for several years.

A Royal Rumble cameo for Double J is well earned and as he hasn’t wrestled for WWE since No Mercy 1999, it would be really cool to see. The former 10 time World Champion can still hold his own in the ring and is a name that everyone still knows and would totally pop big for if he entered the match.

Jeff could also be a valuable asset to WWE, so an appearance in the Royal Rumble match could lead him back to WWE to work backstage and as a TV performer in some capacity. Regardless, a Jeff Jarrett appearance in the Royal Rumble match would go down well with everyone.

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