One of the biggest parts of the Royal Rumble each year is that superstars who have been on the shelf make their return during the Rumble match. Sure, there are legends and long-forgotten superstars who will make an appearance, but were talking about regular performers who are getting back to action. John Cena, Edge and Sheamus come to mind. But no major stars made their return to action Sunday night, even with the likes of Sheamus and Randy Orton on the sidelines. Whats worse, Ortons picture is on the poster for the Royal Rumble. In some ways, he was basically advertised to appear and didnt show. Maybe they needed his spot for the Boogeyman. Its somewhat understandable, as bringing Orton back and then having him get eliminated in short order wouldnt have made any sense. And thats an important point: It would be absolutely crazy to put a major star who has been on the shelf in a Rumble match that they werent going to win. It would be a waste and would run the risk of pissing off the fans. Oh wait
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.
