20 Possible WWE Royal Rumble 2016 Surprise Entrants

Taking a look at the possible surprises for the big battle royal in Orlando.

by Matt Davis

The Royal Rumble has come to be the single, most anticipated WWE match of the year and with good reason. It started as a response to the Bunkhouse Stampede from the NWA then soon became a yearly favorite that would determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

A big part of the yearly anticipation has centered around who the surprise entrants would be in the 30-man battle royal match.

Each year several things are certain: the winner won't be a huge shock, Kofi Kingston will make a spectacular elimination-saving athletic feat, and there will be multiple surprise entrants. After decades of only featuring the company's top superstars as its winners, the match took a bit of a hit around the early part of the current decade when Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus became Royal Rumble winners.

While the company seems to have shifted back towards realizing the importance and prestige of the match's winner, it has also made sure to include several surprise entrants that keep fans guessing throughout the entire match. This year should be no different and while logic and mathematics say that all of these entries are unlikely to occur, these are 20 superstars that have some of the better chances at making the final cut...

20. Daniel Bryan

Bryan almost didn't make the list at all due to how highly unlikely the scenario of him returning to a WWE ring seems to be at this point, yet because WWE has not yet retired Bryan from the ring publicly, it technically remains a very small possibility.

Imagine the crowd reaction if #30 hits and out walks the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion and a man who has still yet to win the coveted Royal Rumble Match. The Amway Arena would come unglued and maybe it could happen if all of the stars and planets aligned in the next few weeks, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Contributor
Contributor

A former stuntman for Paramount Pictures, Matt enjoys sports, water skiing, driving fast, the beach, professional wrestling, technology, and scotch. At the same time, whenever possible. Having attended many famous (and infamous) shows including WrestleMania XV, In Your House: Mind Games, and the 1995 King of the Ring, Matt has been a lifelong professional sports and wrestling fan. Matt's been mentioned in numerous wrestling podcasts including the Steve Austin Show: Unleashed, Talk Is Jericho, and Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard. As a former countywide performer, Matt has been referred to as Mr. 300 for his amazing accomplishments in the world of amateur bowling. He is also the only man on record to have pitched back-to-back no hitters in the Veterans Stadium Wiffle Ball League of 2003.