20 Awesome WWE Royal Rumble Debuts And Returns

5. Women’s Rumble (2018)

edge royal rumble
WWE.com

During the past several years, WWE has been all about making history when it comes to women’s wrestling. And indeed, they have been doing just that, breaking new ground every few months with their female superstars doing something they’ve never done before.

And while a few women had entered a Royal Rumble match before, we had never seen an all-women’s Rumble – until last year. The moment a 30-woman Rumble was announced, you knew WWE would have to dig up several stars from the past to fill out its ranks. There simply weren’t enough women on the main rosters, and you couldn’t envision them burning nearly one-third of the slots on NXT superstars.

And so, we got a smattering of returning women showing up for one-off appearances, making the women’s Rumble a true must-see event. Among the women who turned up were Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly, Ivory, Kelly Kelly, Jacqueline, Vickie Guerrero, Brie Bella and Beth Phoenix. Of course, the godmothers of women’s wrestling (according to WWE) Lita and Trish Stratus competed as well.

Perhaps most interestingly, it was a surprise entrant, Michelle McCool, who would go on to set the record for most eliminations – five – despite not having competed in WWE for nearly seven years.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.