100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

78. Bubba Ray Dudley’s Philly Homecoming (2015)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE

Philadelphia is famously ECW Country, with Paul E. Dangerously’s Land of Extreme having operated out of the Southeast corner of Swanson and Rittner.

In terms of ECW legends, few are as revered as The Dudley Boyz. As one would expect, then, Philly’s Wells Fargo Center went absolutely nuts when Bubba Ray Dudley was a surprise entrant in the 2015 Royal Rumble.

Having been gone from WWE for ten years by that point, Bubba entered at number three, quickly eliminating both The Miz and R-Truth before himself being thrown out by Bray Wyatt. There also has to be plenty of praise here for The Miz, for he magnificently sold the shock of that Dudley Boyz music hitting and Bubba strutting out to the ring.

Given that The Dudley Boyz were back in WWE on a full-time basis by that August, you have to imagine the Royal Rumble pop for Bubba Ray likely played some part in that return.

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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.