WWE: 7 Greatest Royal Rumble Matches of All-Time

4. 2008 - Cena Shocks the WWE Universe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHYq_sbPuK0 Prior to his Last Man Standing match with Randy Orton at No Mercy in 2007, John Cena had the misfortune of tearing his pectoral muscle, taking him out of action for the foreseeable future. Love him or hate him, the superstar that provided the largest pops was suddenly out of the picture. While Orton ascended to the WWE Title, Cena secretly put his sights on the 2008 Royal Rumble for his return, doing nonstop physical therapy to ensure he was ready to get back into the ring. With the fans (and many superstars) unaware of his impending return, the 2008 Royal Rumble match started how the previous year's match had ended, with a face-off between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. These two men dominated the majority of the match, but the 2008 Rumble also saw appearances by Batista, CM Punk, Kane, Mick Foley, Triple H, and WWE Legends Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who stopped the match dead when the two locked up in the center of the ring. When Triple H entered the match at #29 and began to dominate his opposition (tossing out 6 superstars before the night was done), it looked as though The Game was punching his ticket to Wrestlemania. Standing tall in the center of the ring, he waited amongst his downed foes for the 30th man. The moment Cena's music hit, Madison Square Garden, for lack of a better word, exploded. Every man in the ring looked dumbstruck. All six commentators stammered in surprise. At the center of it all was Triple H, looking down the aisle in disbelief at a man who had recovered from a torn pectoral in three months. Cena stormed the ring and began tossing out would-be assailants, even throwing out Mark Henry on his own. The match came down to Batista, Triple H, and Cena, three powerful masses of humanity, who put on a masterful sequence of strikes and counters as they fought for supremacy over the other two. In the end, Cena, through a series of parries and dodges, managed to hoist Triple H up on his shoulders, hitting the F-U (or "Attitude Adjustment" for the sake of remaining current) and depositing The Cerebral Assassin outside the ring. Cena had shocked the WWE Universe with his return, and stood alone at the end, gazing thoughtfully into the Wrestlemania 24 logo atop the arena.