10 WWE Royal Rumble Eliminations More Significant Than You First Thought

10. Chris Jericho (2012)

In November 2011, ominous vignettes started airing promoting the return of an unknown wrestler. These vignettes showed a, well, creepy young boy and girl standing in an empty classroom spouting vague, prophetic lines such as “The power will come with vengeance, to render his anger with fury” while rapidly alternating between shots of the children and shots of “scary” images, such as swing sets or erm…. trees.

The internet immediately began swarming with rumours that these vignettes were promoting a returning Undertaker, or maybe even the debut of Sting. They were for Chris Jericho. Maybe was undergoing another character transformation? Well, he was slightly snarkier now, but thats about it. Jericho ended up debuting weeks later, announcing he was going to win the Rumble and it would be “the end of the world as we knew it”. He came close, entering at #28 and eliminating two people in five minutes. He then traded near-eliminations with Sheamus, before he was thrown out following a failed codebreaker attempt. Sheamus, who just months earlier had been feuded with Mark Henry over Henry being “a bully”. All that hype… to be trolled?

What makes this elimination so significant?

It was just another reminder to the fans that Vince McMahon pushes who he wants, and it was a prime example of WWE taking the more complicated route just for the case of suspense. And what about the first ever Undisputed Champion? Well, he ended up facing CM Punk for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 28 anyway. Was it really worth the trolling? Imagine if he had just won the Rumble instead - it would have been a legitimate storyline worth investing in.

It's easy to forget how Sheamus’ title shot went, but it doesn't take more than 18 seconds to remember.