There have been instances in the past where middleweight champions have entered the Royal Rumble match. In the 2015 Royal Rumble match, both Ziggler and Rusev would be participants, with Rusev entering first, and dominating against multiple opponents in the same way that he did during his appearance in the 2014 Rumble match. To make Ziggler a bit stronger, he would defend the Intercontinental Championship in the opening match of the Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View. He would leave the match exhausted, only to be once again attacked by Rusev. Right before the match itself, it would be announced that Ziggler is too injured to compete and would therefore be removed from the Rumble match. During the Royal Rumble match itself, at one point there would be at least eight or nine Superstars in the ring, and Rusev would enter. All the Superstars in the ring would stop their fighting and focus on their attention on Rusev. However, Rusev would re-buff them in the same way that Big Show and Great Khali have done in the past. Rusev would proceed to eliminate several superstars, much to the dismay of the audience. The major turning point of the feud would be Ziggler returning, despite not being an official participant, and single-handedly eliminating Rusev. The two begin to brawl with one another, all the way back to the backstage area, in a similar way to how Randy Orton and Mick Foley fought during the 2004 Royal Rumble match.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
