WWE Royal Rumble 2021: Top Ten Surprise Entrants
3. Rhea Ripley
Last year, Rhea Ripley was the woman to beat, with the 2020 Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair selected to face the then-NXT Women’s Champion at WrestleMania 36. This year, Rhea among the contenders in the Rumble and came close to winning the guaranteed title shot. She was the runner-up to her old rival Bianca Belair, who spent just short of an hour in the match.
Despite coming up just short of victory, nobody is going to forget about her showing anytime soon. She had the most eliminations in the match, eliminating seven different women, including the woman who beat her at WrestleMania, Charlotte Flair, with the help of Bianca Belair. Ripley has accomplished everything in NXT. It is time for her to try her luck elsewhere.
Ripley could be a top contender on Raw or SmackDown. However, with Belair on SmackDown, it seems like Raw would be the best fit for her. This would open the door for a rematch between Ripley and Flair at WrestleMania 37. If the company decides to move in this direction, I hope that Rhea Ripley picks up the victory this time around.
2. Carlito
Fans were disappointed with the recent Raw Legend’s Night when travel issues stopped some televised superstars from appearing. One of the highest anticipated stars that weren’t able to appear was former Intercontinental and United States Champion Carlito. However, after he wasn’t able to appear, some people began to speculate a bigger plan for Carlito’s return. A very “royal” plan for a return at that.
When Carlito’s iconic music played at number eight, the world started talking. People on Twitter and other social media platforms were all talking about Carlito. People were shocked at the incredible physique of the former champion. After being released in 2010, fans wondered if they would ever see Carlito back in the company. Now, we hope that it was more than just a one-time appearance.
Carlito is only twenty days away from his 42nd birthday and has many miles still in him. We saw MVP return last year and he hasn’t looked back since. He has built one of the biggest stables in recent years. Carlito could be utilized in a similar role to help the younger stars of the company. However he is used, let’s just get more Carlito because that… that would be cool.