Every WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Surprise

6. Trish Stratus

WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Alexa Bliss
WWE

Trish Stratus is no stranger to the Royal Rumble, be that the Rumble match itself or the wider Premium Live Event - having competed in the inaugural women's Royal Rumble in 2018, and having retained her then-WWF Women's Title against Jazz at the 2002 Royal Rumble.

Still, it was a surprise to see Stratus be the 25th person to enter this year's women's Rumble. Granted, there had been reports of the WWE Hall of Famer being spotted in Indianapolis, but that can so often mean nothing - as seen by Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Ron Simmons, and the Godfather being in attendance for the Rumble.

Unlike those other legends, though, Trish did get involved at the Royal Rumble, eliminating Candice LeRae before being one of Nia Jax's nine victims. Unlike certain other surprise Rumble participants, one has to imagine that Trish Stratus' appearance was a one-and-done cameo rather than anything more, but stranger things have happened...

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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.