10. Triple H Returns At Royal Rumble 2002 And Wins
Triple H's return to pro wrestling after his quadriceps tear in 2002 was accompanied by U2's "Beautiful Day" as a theme and a show-closing entrance at Madison Square Garden. However, his first in-ring action was at that year's Royal Rumble. Entering at number 22, he spent 23-plus minutes in the match and eliminated Kurt Angle to win. From there, inanity ensued as Stephanie McMahon-Hemsley demanded a divorce, sided with then-champion Chris Jericho (in a storyline that involved Jericho taking Stephanie's dog Lucy for a walk and allowing her to be hit by a limousine) and Hunter reclaimed his championship over Jericho in a (some believe to be) lackluster main event (as compared to The Rocks vs. Hulk Hogan match on the same show) at Wrestlemania X-8.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
