Every WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Surprise

1. AJ Styles

WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Alexa Bliss
WWE

Bafflingly, AJ Styles is these days 47 years of age, but you wouldn't think it when looking at the Phenomenal One or his work. And as a surprise in the men's Royal Rumble, AJ ran through his greatest hits in a stellar 21-minute display that was ended at the hands of the crafty Logan Paul - Paul pulling AJ off the ring apron as P1 was about to hit his patented Phenomenal Forearm.

Styles did manage to notch up one elimination himself during the Rumble, dumping out one-time rival LA Knight, but it was just great to see the two-time WWE Champion back in action following a spell on the sidelines.

As for that spell on the sidelines, AJ suffered a foot injury during a SmackDown match against Carmelo Hayes back in October. Now it just remains to be seen whether AJ Styles picks things back up with the blue brand or maybe he switches over to WWE Raw as part of the ongoing transfer window.

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.