10 Terrible WWE Royal Rumbles With One INCREDIBLE Moment

4. John Cena Shocks The World('s Most Famous Arena) (2008)

John Cena Royal Rumble
WWE

The 2008 Royal Rumble isn't particularly strong.

The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels starting the match having ended the prior year's iteration with a classic mini-match is the latest chapter point in what became a WrestleMania saga, and Umaga has tights so bright they threatened to smash the new HD cameras installed for the company's first effort with the new tech, but the match lacks bite for much of its duration.

WWE clearly weren't worried about what the Madison Square Garden faithful were going to be taking with them as they left for the night. John Cena's return as the #30 entrant from underneath a veil of complete secrecy wasn't just an all-time epic Rumble moment - it was one of the best surprises in company history.

Going down injured in October 2007 and given a minimum of a year on the shelf with it, Cena dropped no hints that he was massively ahead of schedule and/or WWE had smartly extended the severity of the knock in the first place. All anybody knew for certain was that he was as good as gone. All until an iconic pavlovian pop that wholly justified keeping everything under wraps.

In this post: 
Roman Reigns
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett