100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

80. Chris Jericho Answers Dolph Ziggler (2013)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE.com

Having been gone from the company for five months, Chris Jericho made his return to WWE in spectacular fashion at the 2013 Royal Rumble.

Jericho had been kayfabe fired by AJ Lee after losing a match to Dolph Ziggler the night after the prior year’s SummerSlam. So, when Ziggler entered the 2013 Rumble at #1 and cut a promo about not caring who the second entrant was, the US Airways Center crowd popped big when Jericho’s music hit and he appeared in his customary light-up jacket.

In reality, the future Le Champion had stepped away from the ring to tour with Fozzy, but he’d clearly not missed a step as he put in an impressive 48-minute Rumble shift. And who eliminated Jericho? Why, that’d be Dolph Ziggler, with the rivalry between the two reignited and carrying on throughout the early part of the year.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.