Every WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Surprise

2. Joe Hendry

WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Alexa Bliss
WWE

Someone behind the scenes in WWE clearly said his name, for TNA World Champion Joe Hendry turned up at #15 in the men's Royal Rumble.

Much like certain other 'surprise' entrants, many fans had speculated that Hendry would make a Royal Rumble appearance, and that he did - receiving quite the pop from the Lucas Oil Stadium crowd when his music hit.

A viral sensation with several NXT appearances under his belt, Joe is hotly tipped to join WWE as and when his existing TNA deal is up. And as a way to test the waters for how WWE fans would react to Joe Hendry, that Rumble appearance will have ticked plenty of boxes.

It may have only been four minutes, but seeing Hendry rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in the business for the biggest company in the game, that was all kinds of cool for long-time fans of the Scot - with that four-minute run brought to a halt by Roman Reigns, no less.

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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.