100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

18. CM Punk Wrestling In A WWE Ring Again (2024)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE

Sticking with the 2024 Royal Rumble, and the simple sight of CM Punk wrestling in a WWE ring again felt like some sort of fever dream.

Sure, Punk had worked a couple of house show matches against Dominik Mysterio the month before the Rumble, but this was the Second City Saint in his gear in a WWE ring on one of the biggest events of the year for the first time in ten years.

Infamously, the final match of CM Punk’s previous run was the 2014 Royal Rumble, and for the longest time it felt utterly unthinkable to ever see the Punker back in WWE. So, when the Straight Edge Superstar came out at #27 in 2024, it was refreshingly surreal to see him enter a match that had Dirty Dom, Damian Priest, and Gunther in it, and would soon be joined by Ricochet and Sami Zayn - all men who Punk had never wrestled.

Added to that, Cody Rhodes, The Miz, Jey Uso, and Drew McIntyre - the other men in the Rumble during Punk’s time in the match - were all at vastly different places to where they were the last time they’d tangled with the former AEW World Champion.

Granted, it may have resulted in an unfortunate triceps injury that put him on the sidelines, but man, was it great to see CM Punk back competing in a WWE ring again.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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.