Every WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Surprise

4. Nikki Bella

WWE Royal Rumble 2025 Alexa Bliss
WWE

Leading up to the 2025 Royal Rumble, rumours began to swirl that Nikki Bella was set for a return to WWE this year. Rather than simply a Rumble cameo, though, these rumours suggested that this would be a proper return for Bella.

Whether this Nikki appearance was a one-and-done one or something more, that remains to be seen. Could the WWE Hall of Famer appear on Raw tomorrow? Could she pop up on SmackDown on Friday? Either of those things could play out if Bella is indeed returning for one more run.

As for the Royal Rumble, Nikki was the final entrant in the women's Rumble match, brought Bayley's Rumble to an end after 46 minutes, and was soon dumped herself by Nia Jax - Nikki Bella being one of a record-setting nine eliminations for Nia.

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.