100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

74. A One Of A Kind Return (2009)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE

Speaking of ECW…

Having not competed for the company since a squash match surprise appearance on Raw’s 15th Anniversary at the end of 2007, the 2009 Royal Rumble featured the return of Rob Van Dam.

The Whole F’n Show always guarantees a strong reaction, but his home state Michigan crowd at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena meant RVD was even more loudly welcomed than usual. And in typical Van Dam fashion, he didn’t disappoint as he ran through a slew of his greatest hits against the likes of Kane, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, CM Punk, and Chris Jericho - with Jericho the one to eventually bring Van Dam’s involvement to an end after a solid 15 minutes.

It would be four-and-a-half years until Rob Van Dam returned to a WWE ring after this, being part of Money in the Bank 2013 and spending a stellar year back with the company.

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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.