One of the most greatest matches in WWE history is none other than the Royal Rumble match. This only happens once a year and guarantees the winner a one-way ticket to the WrestleMania main event and a World Championship opportunity.

This year the event will go down from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it's one of the most highly-anticipated Rumbles of all time. Several names are being rumored and speculated to be making returns in the match - including current SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan.

While we wait for tomorrow's (Sun. January 28, 2018) Royal Rumble to kick off, lets take a look back at some of the most shocking returns at the Royal Rumble to ever occur in WWE history.

So with that being said, here is our list of five most shocking WWE returns in Royal Rumble history:

5. Mick Foley returns to confront Randy Orton

Mick Foley is a former WWE champion who is one of the biggest fan favorites of all time. He has had legendary feuds with the likes of The Rock, The Undertaker, Vince McMahon, and so many more.

In 2004 Foley made his return to work with one of the company's hottest young stars at the time, Randy Orton. At the 22004 Royal Rumble he returned as Cactus Jack to eliminate Orton and himself with a Cactus Jack clothesline.

Foley was received by the crowd with a huge pop and fans went absolutely nuts for the former WWE Champ's return.

4. The return of "Rated-R"

Back in July of 2009 Edge suffered an unfortunate torn achilles injury that force him out-of-action fr what was expected to be up to a year. Just six months later, however, "The Rated-R Superstar" made his surprise return at the Royal Rumble.

Edge entered as the 29th entrant into the match and the fans, not expecting Edge back for another six months, went absolutely nuts. He would go on to eliminate Chris Jericho and John Cena to win the match.

He was one of the main events at WrestleMania that year where he defeated Chris Jericho to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

3. Triple H dethrones Roman Reigns

2016 featured the first-ever Royal Rumble where the WWE World Heavyweight Champion needed to defend his title within the match.

At the time that champion was Roman Reigns, who had an ongoing feud with The Authority; including Stephanie McMahon, Vince McMahon, and Triple H. He entered at number 30 and eliminated Reigns from the match, guaranteeing a new champion.

Triple H last eliminated Dean Ambrose to win the WWE World Heavyweight Title and the 2016 Royal Rumble match. He went on to drop the title back to Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 32.

2. AJ Styles makes his WWE debut

AJ Styles is arguably the biggest name in professional wrestling to have established himself outside of WWE. "The Phenomenal One" made a name for himself over in IMPACT Wrestling and working with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), as well as Ring Of Honor (ROH).

In 2016 rumors circulated that Styles could possibly be signing with WWE, and the company did its best to keep those under wraps. Finally he made his WWE debut at the Royal Rumble, entering at number 3 to go head-to-head with Roman Reigns.

Styles lasted well into the Rumble before being eliminated by Kevin Owens, lasting just under 30 minutes in the match. He would go on to win the WWE Title from Dean Ambrose several months later.

1. John Cena returns and punches his ticket to WrestleMania

At a time where John Cena was the hottest in his career that he'd ever be, he suffered an unfortunate torn pectoral muscle during a match with Mr. Kennedy in October of 2007. An initial timetable of seven months to a year was given for his recovery.

In an unprecedented three months later Cena was able to return to the ring as the surprise 30th entrant in the 2008 Royal Rumble match. Fans went crazy as they didn't expect Cena to be back so soon.

He would eliminate Triple H to win the Rumble and punch his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 24, where he'd win the WWE Title in a Triple Threat match against then-champion Randy Orton and Triple H.

What are your thoughts on our list of top five most shocking returns in the history of the WWE? Did we leave any off that you would've liked to see? And who do you think doesn't deserve to be on this list? Have YOUR say in the comments section below, and the fourth episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here!

Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-money-in-the-bank-fallout

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