20 Awesome WWE Royal Rumble Debuts And Returns

13. Rob Van Dam (2009)

edge royal rumble
WWE.com

Rob Van Dam was arguably one of WWE’s most popular superstars throughout his initial run with the company, which ended in 2007.

So when he turned up in the 2009 Royal Rumble, it was a wonderful surprise for fans. RVD didn’t eliminate anyone during his 15-minute run in the match, but seeing him back in WWE for that one night was reward enough and would foreshadow a fulltime return four years later for Mr. Monday Night.

Since then, RVD has been a perennial rumored return for the Rumble, which no doubt includes this year’s edition.

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.