WWE: 5 Surprise Royal Rumble Entrants

January is the start of peak season in WWE. The Road to Wrestlemania begins with the Royal Rumble taking place at Chase Field in Arizona, the home of the MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks. The Royal Rumble is a marquee event that always has a lot of buzz. And the match itself is known for its surprise entrants. So here are our five surprise Royal Rumble entrants.

No. 5: Melina

Melina has been pretty vocal about her desire to return to the WWE, at least for one more run. And while there were many struggles during her first tenure, she was a popular character to hate. Adding in Melina to the women’s Royal Rumble match would bring about a nice pop. But also as she has been active recently wrestling in Australia, an extended in-ring return wouldn’t be completely unwarranted.

No. 4: Carlito

With the proclaimation of the McMahon Clan of new faces and matchups, Carlito Colon could be one of those faces. Carlito is the cousin of Primo and Epico and the Colons have not been used properly. With a reintroduction of Carlito, the Colons could find themselves at the forefront of the revamped tag team division.

Hearing “I spit in the face of people who don’t want to be cool” air through the sound system would draw a huge pop. Carlito was one of the top mid-card acts during his first run with WWE. Adding the Carlos Colon heir would build up the mid-card and tag divisions in WWE.

No. 3 AJ Lee

Now this seems very far fetched but stranger things have happened. AJ Lee returning to the WWE now would give the WWE a need boost in every aspect of the product. As the women’s division is the hottest commodity that World Wrestling Entertainment possesses adding in another accomplished and beloved women to the top-tier ranks would increase it even more.

That being said with all of the legal issues WWE pressed against AJ’s real-life husband CM Punk, it remains unlikely that Lee returns to WWE. At least unlikely anytime soon, which is when the WWE would best capitalize on her addition.

No. 2: Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho has once again reinvented himself in the world of pro wrestling, this time in New Japan Pro Wrestling. But while unknown exactly, one can assume his time with NJPW is coming to a close. Jericho has many endevours that could keep him away from WWE. But a one-off type appearance back in WWE for a Royal Rumble match would work. Especially coming off the back of a Wrestle Kingdom 13 match with Tetsuya Naito. Jericho is always a guy that can pop a crowd. But with his renewed character and edge that he’s had in NJPW, it would be another demension for the “Alpha” of pro wrestling to venture down on his legendary wrestling career.

No. 1: Ivelisse

And the number one surprise entrant I would love to see would be Ivelisse. While another unlikely addition to the women’s division in WWE, Ivelisse is undoubtedly my favorite women’s wrestler of all time. And one of my 5 top favorite wrestlers (period) regardless of gender. The normal gender rules, however, don’t faze Ivelisse as she repeated goes toe-to-toe with men and gets the best of them most of the time.

The WWE severely dropped the ball when it came to Ivelisse; they had literal gold in her “anti-divas” persona. But as they say, one man’s loss is another man’s gain. And when it comes to Ivelisse her work outside of the WWE has been a gain for anyone who is a fan of pro wrestling. If WWE were to bring back La Sicaria and give her the right kind of build, Ivelisse would have an absolute money feud with everyone from Ronda Rousey to Becky Lynch to Charlotte Flair to Sasha Banks to Shayna Baszler to literally anyone, she is that talented. Not to mention her tag team partner Mercedes Martinez has popped up in NXT a few times. But whether or not Ivelisse wants to make that move, however, that is the question.