WWE Royal Rumble 2021: Top Ten Surprise Entrants
5. Victoria
Fans have been calling for this moment for many years. Since leaving the company in 2009, fans have been patiently waiting for Victoria to return home. Even when she was making a name for herself in Impact Wrestling as Tara, people were talking about what she could be doing in WWE. She spent only a handful of years in the company before leaving Impact in 2013.
Once she was finished with the company, WWE fans speculated when she would make her return to the company. Ten years after her WWE release, the real-life Lisa Marie Varon announced that 2019 would her last year as an in-ring competitor. She had her last match that September against Melina Perez and most fans thought any possible return was then squashed.
Then her music hit at number 10 in the Women’s Royal Rumble. The internet erupted for her as much as a live crowd would’ve if there were one. It was awesome to see Victoria fighting against some of today’s top stars during her seven minutes in the match. She was ultimately eliminated by a legit star in Shayna Baszler, which was acceptable. This may have been a one-off, but surely nobody would argue against seeing more of Victoria.
4. Damian Priest
It may surprise some people, but only one NXT superstar appeared in the men’s Royal Rumble match. That said, they don’t get much bigger than the NXT star that was selected. “The Archer of Infamy” Damian Priest had a breakout year in 2020. He started the year off by winning the NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: XXX.
After winning the five-man ladder match for the title, Priest turned face soon after. Since turning face, Priest has been on the top of his game. He has feuded against the likes of Johnny Gargano and most recently brawled with Karrion Kross, both of who are former NXT World Champions. Following this debut, nobody can doubt that Priest is a name in the discussion for the world championship.
Royal Rumble could be an indication that Priest is on his way to the main roster. He eliminated four people during the match, including the huge elimination of Kane mentioned earlier. He also eliminated The Miz and John Morrison at the same time. He was shown as a real threat throughout the near 15 minutes he spent in the rumble before being eliminated by Bobby Lashley. I would love to see Priest look to get some revenge against Lashley.