10 Forgotten WWE Royal Rumble Returns

One of the most exciting aspects of the WWE Royal Rumble is the potential for returns, whether they are well-loved legends from the past or a current star coming back after some time on the sidelines. 

For every truly great return that earns a place on the highlight reel, though, there is one that earns a shrug of the shoulders instead. Whether they were surprises or known about well ahead of time, some of them don’t get talked about often, if at all – and for good reason. 

These are 10 Forgotten WWE Royal Rumble Returns. 

10. Val Venis - 2002

The 2002 Royal Rumble was the scene of a bunch of returns, most of which were for memorable characters of years gone by. 

The re-emergence of Mr. Perfect and Goldust got a lot of hype, but lost among the hoopla was the fact that Val Venis also stepped back into a WWE ring for the first time on television since June of the previous year. 

Venis – last seen as a member of the Right to Censor stable – had been kept off television while he recovered from hip surgery, while the ongoing Invasion storyline meant that the writers didn’t have anything pertinent planned for him. 

Back in his old gimmick, Val received a warm welcome from fans who were glad to hear that familiar strain of ‘Hello, ladies!’, but he wasn’t given such a kind response from a rampant Stone Cold Steve Austin, who sent him over the top rope in 2 minutes and 58 seconds. The adult entertainer was one of seven men that the Texas Rattlesnake eliminated. 

With the likes of Perfect, Goldust and match-winner Triple H taking the headlines, nobody really gave a second thought to the Big Valbowski on the night. 

9. The Godfather - 2002

Like Venis, The Godfather was another Right to Censor member who was left directionless once the group disbanded and the Invasion began in earnest. The only solution was for him to take some time away and return under his old, fan-favourite gimmick. 

How disappointing, then, when this newer and decidedly unimproved version of The Godfather showed up. The new direction for the character was to be very toned-down, with The Godfather claiming to have gone legitimate with a legal escort business. 

Chuck Palumbo and Christian escorted him out of the Rumble in a grand total of 1 minute and 48 seconds, setting the tone for the underwhelming run that followed. 

8. Billy Gunn - 2004

After sustaining a shoulder injury in September 2003, Billy Gunn was out of action until December and spent time in OVW working off the ring rust while WWE promoted his return for the Royal Rumble. 

Gunn himself hyped it up via vignettes on SmackDown, counting down his greatest moments, such as winning his first tag team title with kayfabe brother Bart and going all the way in the 1999 King of the Ring. 

It felt like WWE were teasing Gunn becoming a heel, but not much about him seemed to have changed when he entered the fray in the 2004 Rumble at number 27 and hit his Fame-Asser finisher on everyone in sight. 

That was as good as it got for Gunn as Goldberg unceremoniously dumped Billy out after just 5 minutes and 37 seconds of ring time. 

7. Jim Duggan - 2012

The winner of the very first Royal Rumble made an appearance in the 2012 iteration of the match. 

Duggan entered at number 19 with his trusty two-by-four in hand. After dishing out some punches, kicks and clotheslines to the mid-carders cluttering the ring, Duggan was himself clotheslined out by Cody Rhodes. 

This was obviously all about the nostalgia pop and letting the fans belt out their favourite patriotic chant of ‘U-S-A! U-S-A!.’ It was still a somewhat weak and wasted surprise, though. 

Hacksaw had not too long been gone from WWE, having last appeared in the 2009 Rumble. Him popping up here was also overshadowed by Road Dogg making his first WWE appearance in over a decade, as well as the return of Kharma. 

6. Haku - 2001

The Monday Night Wars were well and truly over by the time the 2001 Royal Rumble rolled around. 

WCW were on life support, while WWE were thriving and marching triumphantly towards the monumental WrestleMania 17. Just months before Vince McMahon bought his closest competition, however, he managed to get one over on them one last time when Haku returned to WWE for the first time since the 1992 Rumble.

The former WWE Tag Team Champion had won the WCW Hardcore Title a week earlier at their Sin pay-per-view, but since he was working on a per-night deal with the Atlanta-based organisation and didn’t have a proper contract, he was free to make the jump.

Entering at number 29, many fans were more like ‘Hak-WHO?’ when the man very recently known as Meng made his entrance. Haku then lasted a paltry 2 minutes and 51 seconds and scored 0 eliminations of his own before he was thrown out by eventual winner Steve Austin.

5. Sheamus - 2014

The 2012 Royal Rumble match was, at that point, the career highlight of Sheamus. The Celtic Warrior Brogue Kicked his name into the history books by lasting 22 minutes and scoring 3 eliminations. He bumped those numbers up to 37 minutes and 5 eliminations the next year, where he finished a respectable third. 

That August, however, Sheamus tore the labrum in his left shoulder, with a mooted recovery time of four to six months. Given that timeframe, it wasn’t much of a surprise to see him resurface in the 2014 Royal Rumble. 

Sheamus entered at #17 and lasted a not-inconsiderable 28 minutes, eliminating Big E Langston before another third-placed finish. 

Like everything in that match, though, his return was completely overshadowed by the vehemently negative reaction of the Pittsburgh fans who were furious at Daniel Bryan not entering the match. The lack of Bryan wrestling at the Rumble then dominated the discourse following the event all the way until ‘The American Dragon’ won the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 30. 

4. Rob Van Dam - 2006

Everything about Rob Van Dam’s return at the 2006 Royal Rumble should have been great. The Whole F’N Show had been out of action for a little over a year after undergoing major knee surgery and vignettes promoted his re-arrival for weeks beforehand. RVD hadn’t had much luck in his three previous inconsistent Rumble outings, but all signs pointed towards him faring much better in ’06. 

Coming in at number 20, Van Dam was in the Rumble for just short of 24 minutes and got rid of Carlito, Road Warrior Animal, Super Crazy, and Goldust. Besides some cool teamwork with Rey Mysterio, Van Dam didn’t do a whole lot to stand out, though. 

Much of that was down to the herculean efforts of Mysterio, who set a new longevity record and eliminated six people – including playing a part in Van Dam’s – before winning the Rumble, after entering second and dedicating his triumph to the late Eddie Guerrero. With all of that going on, Van Dam’s return became something of an afterthought. 

RVD’s surprise 2009 Rumble return, on the other hand, was much better.

3. Jacqueline - 2018

2018 was a historic year for the Royal Rumble, as the namesake pay-per-view hosted not just a men’s, but also a women’s Rumble match for the time ever. 

The returns of Hall of Famers like Lita, Trish Stratus, Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly and Beth Phoenix were great to see, while Sasha Banks was the MVP with a 55-minute showing and, after Asuka’s popular win, Ronda Rousey made her proper debut as a full-time WWE star. 

Regrettably, some surprises got lost in the shuffle, like the return of Jacqueline, wrestling in a WWE ring for the first time in almost 14 years. A Hall of Famer in her own right and one of the toughest women to ever lace up a pair of boots, the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion entered at number 21 and got a nice pop. 

The then-54-year-old looked like she hadn’t lost a step and was allowed to briefly shine, before she was bundled out by entrant number 22 – Nia Jax. 

2. Rick Martel - 1995

The 1995 Royal Rumble had one of the weakest fields ever and only Shawn Michaels, the British Bulldog, Lex Luger and (maybe) Owen Hart had a realistic chance of winning the match.

The roster was so threadbare that WWE even called in Dick Murdoch and gave the likes of Well Dunn a number, just because. One man who didn’t make it to the Sun Dome in Tampa, though, was Jim Neidhart as The Anvil was let go after no-showing one too many events. 

Drafted in as his late-in-the-day replacement was Rick Martel, who hadn’t been seen in WWE since a tour of Asia in July of 1994. 

It was The Model’s seventh Rumble appearance – a record at the time – but he wouldn’t be able to repeat the heroics of his 1991 Rumble performance where he eliminated four people and lasted 52 minutes en route to a commendable fifth-place finish.

In 1995, he entered at #10, eliminated nobody, and was himself thrown out by Headshrinker Sione in two-and-a-half minutes in what turned out to be Martel’s last WWE match. 

1. Bob Backlund - 2000

The 2000 Royal Rumble felt like a gritty pay-per-view designed to push the Attitude Era envelope. 

You had the debut of ECW star Tazz, who got off to a hot start by choking out Kurt Angle, as well as the brutal and bloody WWE Title street fight classic between Triple H and Cactus Jack. 

Seeing Bob Backlund rock up to Madison Square Garden and looking like he’d got on the wrong bus certainly was at odds with the vibe of the show. 

A former WWE Champion and legend of the business, Backlund had put on a great showing in the 1993 Rumble when he entered at number 2 and lasted 61 minutes, setting a longevity record that would last for 11 years.

In the first Rumble of the new millennium, Backlund helped gang up and eliminate Rikishi, but was afforded an early shower when Chris Jericho eliminated him after just 2 minutes. 

Bob had a legacy in the World’s Most Famous Arena, yes, but his cameo here hardly added to it.