WWE Royal Rumble 2019: 10 Surprise Entrants We Could See

2. Batista

Rob Van Dam
WWE.com

Lord knows what is going on with Batista at the moment. There has been talk of a big WrestleMania match for the past two years, and he certainly sounds like he wants to do it, but Triple H’s injury means that Batista is at least one potential opponent down.

But the rumours refuse to die. 'The Animal' wants to sign off on his wrestling career the right way, and until he eventually calls time on this daft little fake fighting thing, there’s always going to be the chance that he’ll show back up in WWE.

Now his last Royal Rumble appearance was, of course, a complete disaster. 2014 was a nightmare scenario that saw him and poor old Rey Mysterio eviscerated for not being Daniel Bryan, but WWE took those lemons and made lemonade at WrestleMania, where Batista was a huge part of Bryan’s coronation.

It’d go down a lot better in 2019, particularly as a surprise entrant, and let’s not forget how convincing Batista was in that Evolution reunion segment on SmackDown 1000. There's a hunger for his grand farewell, and big Dave deserves the chance to start it at the Royal Rumble.

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.