10 Most Exciting WWE Royal Rumble Finishes

2. John Cena Returns - 2008

Shawn Michaels Royal Rumble
WWE.com

Few moments in wrestling history have been as legitimately surprising as the end of the 2008 Royal Rumble. The bout, held in New York City's Madison Square Garden, was a star-studded affair, with The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels kicking things off as #1 and #2 and big names like Batista and Mick Foley joining later.

Finally, it was time for #30. The clock ticked down, the buzzer rang, and after a moment of silence, John Cena's music hit. For some perspective, Cena had suffered a torn pectoral muscle in October of 2007, and it was supposed to keep him out of action for several months - the weekend of the Rumble, news broke that he was doubtful for WrestleMania.

WWE managed to keep his return a secret, and so when his music hit, an MSG full of Cena haters rose to their feet, cheering. The cheers continued as Cena walked out from the back, proving that this was indeed not a joke or a trick. The cheers turned to boos, of course, but the electricity was still palpable. Cena ran to the ring and cleared house en route to his first Royal Rumble victory.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013