15 Most Surprising WWE Royal Rumble Entrants Of All Time

8. Kurt Angle (2005)

WWE

Kurt Angle was originally not supposed to be in the 2005 Royal Rumble. He was already competing at the event in a Triple Threat match with Big Show and JBL for the WWE Championship. After losing the match, Angle confronted Nunzio backstage and basically bullied his way into Nunzio's spot.

Angle went nuts in the Rumble match, suplexing everybody before being eliminated by Shawn Michaels. Angle then snapped and attacked Shawn, bloodying him and eliminating him. This started an inter-promotional feud between Angle and Michaels which culminated in a classic match at WrestleMania 21.

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Contributor

Justin has been writing about professional wrestling for more than 15 years. A lifelong WWE fan, he also is a big fan of Ring of Honor.