10 Best WWE Royal Rumble Debuts
1. Vader (1996)
It's a sorry fact that Vader is one of the very best WWE wrestlers never to capture the company's biggest prize - but that doesn't mean that his two years on Vince McMahon's payroll was short of memorable moments.
The first of them came at the 1996 Royal Rumble, where the former WCW star - just a couple months after walking out on Ted Turner amid an alleged contractual dispute - entered at number 13.
He claimed an impressive four eliminations during the 11 minutes he was in the ring; the third-highest behind runner-up Kevin Nash and eventual winner Shawn Michaels, the latter of whom only managed to get him out the ring with a huge assist from Yokozuna.
Like AJ, Vader went on to enjoy one of the best rookie years in WWE history, coming up narrowly short in his headline match with Michaels at SummerSlam eight months later - a result that many have since attributed to shameless backstage politics from the Heartbreak Kid.