WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Ranking All 30 Match Winners

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13. John Cena – 2008

When John Cena tore his pectoral muscle in October, his imminent future seemed to be in jeopardy. A WrestleMania appearance wouldn’t be guaranteed, which would have taken the young star out of the mix of potentially main eventing the biggest show of the year.

Well, to everyone’s disbelief, Cena made an epic return to the Royal Rumble in 2008 as the No. 30 entrant. It stunned the competitors in the ring, including Triple H. This led to them disposing the others out of the ring and having a staredown. After a brief fight, Cena eliminated the Game to cap off his return and claim a spot in a World title match at WrestleMania 24.

The aftermath of the Face That Runs the Place’s Royal Rumble win would see him join the WWE Championship match with Triple H against Randy Orton, the titleholder. In only a 14-minute match, Orton would win. This left Cena without a title win until the end of 2009.

So, would this be a failure of a Royal Rumble victory? Not quite. WWE cashed in on a surprising return and stirred up buzz from the match heading into WrestleMania season. The future result wouldn’t be the best, but the right decision was made here.