13 Surprise Entrants We Want At Royal Rumble 2023

Publish date: 2024-05-18
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With the Royal Rumble PLE just around the corner, WWE fans cannot wait for what the show from Texas has in store. The event is not only one of WWE's biggest shows of the year but is also where the Road to WrestleMania begins.

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What makes the event so special is the Royal Rumble match itself, a fun and unique bout that also sees many of the fan favorites return in a surprise spot. With that, let's take a look at the surprise entrants fans would love the most to see in the 2023 Royal Rumble matches, as WWE may look to bring back legends and well-known competitors for both the men's and women's Rumble.

UPDATE: 2023/01/27 06:30 EST BY TEVON KING

Since 1988, the Royal Rumble match has become one of WWE's best gimmick matches that have evolved. In 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble match earnt the right to challenge a World Champion in a title match at WrestleMania. 25 years later, the women's Royal Rumble match was added to the Royal Rumble premium live event. Whilst there are usual suspects expected to win the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches, fans want to see surprise entrants for nostalgia purposes. In recent years, Michelle McCool has been a surprise entrant in the women's Royal Rumble match, and she had a superb outing. With the 2023 Royal Rumble on the horizon, there are going to be a few unannounced entrants that fans will be buzzing to see participate in the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches.

13 Candice Michelle

Candice Michelle is a former WWE Women's Champion and whilst she may have not been technically sounded inside the squared circle, she improved in the ring. Michelle was part of Vince Devils with Victoria and Torrie Wilson in late 2005 and early 2006, and they were a good trio together as they were friends in real life.

Michelle has sporadically shown up on WWE programming since she left the company in 2009. A decade later, Candice won the 24/7 Championship in a backstage segment on a Raw Reunion. Candice hasn't competed in a women's Royal Rumble match, but she would be a good addition as a surprise entrant.

12 Eve Torres

Eve Torres is another female wrestler who was criminally underrated, and she maximized her potential. Eve made history at Night of Champions 2012 as she became the first woman to win the Divas Championship three times.

Eve retired a decade ago in January 2013, and she has not competed in a WWE ring since she dropped the Divas Championship to Kaitlyn. Eve had other projects to focus on outside the squared circle, and she got married and had kids. Nonetheless, Eve would receive a hug pop if she competed in the 2023 women's Royal Rumble match, and she still keeps extremely fit and would be raring to go.

11 Jazz

Multiple injuries hampered Jazz's WWE career but she was one of the toughest wrestlers on the WWE roster. Jazz won the WWE Women's Championship twice, and she defeated Trish Stratus both times for the title.

Jazz has retired from professional wrestling but fans would be best pleased to see Jazz making an appearance in the 2023 women's Royal Rumble match. It's highly unlikely but Jazz should be a WWE Hall of Famer in the future with the successful career that she had in WWE.

10 Lita

WWE Hall of Famer Lita has competed in two women's Royal Rumble matches, and fans wouldn't begrudge Lita to compete in the 2023 women's Royal Rumble match. After competing in the 2022 iteration of the women's Royal Rumble, Lita stuck around for a short while, and she had a fantastic Raw Women's Championship match with Becky Lynch at Elimination Chamber 2022.

RELATED: The Last 10 Losses Of Lita's WWE Career

Lita mixing it up with some of the current female talents in the locker room was fun to watch, and Lita proved that she can still hang with the current women's division. Ultimately, Lita participating in a hat-trick of women's Royal Rumble matches would be the shrewd business to get her in as a surprise participant.

9 X-Pac

With Triple H now at the helm of WWE creative, it would make perfect sense for him to convince his best friend and D-Generation X faction-mate X-Pac to return to the ring one more time for the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble.

Sean Waltman has already wrestled two times last year, with both bouts taking place in Game Changer Wrestling. The matches were indeed proof that the WWE Hall of Famer still has the desire to compete and can have a fun showing in the Rumble. Waltman tore his bicep upon his return to the ring last year, but he has still expressed interest in wrestling a few more matches.

8 Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle had his final wrestling match at WrestleMania 35 against Baron Corbin in what was a disappointing way for the Olympic Gold Medalist to hang up his boots. While Kurt initially made it clear that he does not plan on returning to the ring, he has recently hinted about having one last bout following his double knee surgery.

A surprise return in the 2023 rumble will not only be a feel-good moment for the multiple-time former world champion but will also be a perfect way to not expose his limited in-ring movement.

7 Roderick Strong

When WWE decided to rebrand NXT as NXT 2.0, there was not a superstar who suffered in quite the way Roderick Strong did. The former NXT North American Champion soon felt like a misfit for the entire show and hence fell down the card drastically. Even after the end of the 2.0 era, Strong has not been featured on TV.

Calling up the former ROH World Champion to the main roster as a part of the 2023 Men's Rumble will be a perfect way for the company to give Strong a new beginning under the creative guidance of Triple H. Moreover, due to his time in the Undisputed Era, Strong is relatively a more recognized act than his other NXT counterparts and hence will get a good reception from the Texas crowd.

6 Wade Barrett

After his release from WWE back in 2016, Wade Barrett announced that he will take a break from in-ring competition. Following that he only worked in the capacity of an on-screen personality for WCPW and Lucha Underground before becoming a color commentator for NWA. This eventually got him back in WWE in a similar role.

RELATED: 10 Things Fans Should Know About Wade Barrett

Barrett finally stepping back in the ring during the Rumble match will make for an amazing moment at the PLE and will lead to some fun interactions between him and the current crop of WWE stars.

5 Naomi

Naomi has been missing from the limelight since May 2022, when the then-WWE Women's Tag Team Champion walked out from the company along with her partner Sasha Banks. While Banks has since debuted for NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 17, reports suggest that Mrs. Jimmy Uso is under negotiations with WWE for a return.

A Rumble appearance will be the perfect way for Naomi to return to the Stamford-based promotion, as this will put her right back in the mix with some of the top stars of the division. Moreover, this will also allow the company to reintroduce her as a singles star now that Banks has left the company.

4 Ken Shamrock

It has been nearly 23 years since Ken Shamrock left WWE in order to pursue his MMA career. With the star now being 58 years old, it will be nice to see the Attitude Era star having his swan song in the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble match.

Shamrock's brief stints in Impact in 2021 have proved how he still is a physical specimen and can indeed go in the ring. Moreover, with him being away from the Stamford-based promotion for such a lengthy time, his return will make for a perfect moment inside the Alamodome.

3 Chelsea Green

After her contract with Impact Wrestling expired at the end of 2022, multiple sites reported that the former Impact Knockouts Champion is on her way back to WWE. Also, Green shutting down her OnlyFans page is just another confirmation that she is indeed WWE bound.

The women's Rumble matches have typically lacked genuine surprises, with most of them being 'legend' appearances that fans have already seen before. This provides Hunter with a great opportunity to pop the crowd with a Chelsea Green return.

2 Dragon Lee

WWE ended the year 2022 on a high note when the company announced the major signing of Mexican high-flying sensation Dragon Lee to the company. As per reports, Lee has signed a big money contract with the company which sees him become the highest-paid star on the NXT roster.

While Dragon Lee is initially set to join the black-and-gold brand, it will make perfect sense for him to start his WWE career by showing up at the Rumble match itself. Lee's incredible athletic work will not only win over the Texas crowd but will also bring eyes to NXT when he eventually starts as a full-time roster member.

1 The Rock

While the fans want someone between either Cody Rhodes or Sami Zayn to be the ones to dethrone Reigns, those stories might have to wait a little longer. Since Roman began his heel run as "The Tribal Chief", everything he has done has hinted towards an eventual clash for the ages with his cousin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

With WrestleMania 39 being from Hollywood, there will never be another great opportunity for the promotion to book a bout between the members of the Anoa'i family. For this to happen, the only possible route is for The Rock to show up in Texas and win the entire thing.

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