10 Times WWE Royal Rumble Opened The Forbidden Door

8. Hiroki Sumi (Greatest Royal Rumble)

Haku Royal Rumble
WWE

Arguably the strangest moment from an incredibly strange night, Hiroki Sumi's cameo in 2021's one-off Greatest Royal Rumble was totally in keeping with the grim tone of WWE's first Vision 2030 show in Saudi Arabia.

Everything had to be the biggest and best per the whims of the paymasters. The headlining battle royal had to be nearly double the size of the annual January tradition and burst at the seams with monsters, giants and anybody from bygone eras those pulling the strings within the Saudi Arabian Sports Authority particularly liked.

Up, then, stepped Hiroki Sumi.

No, you're not supposed to know that name from his Cagematch profile or a long-forgotten WrestleMania classic. Sumi booked his place in WWE and Royal Rumble infamy for who he wasn't rather than who he was. Per Dave Meltzer's reporting, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman wanted The Undertaker, Ultimate Warrior and Yokozuna. The latter two being dead naturally created an issue, which WWE elected to partially address with Sumi's otherwise-inexplicable 46 seconds in the match.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 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. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, 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