WWE: 7 Surprise Entrants We'd Love to See in the 2022 Royal Rumble Matches

Walter

Few wrestlers are as imposing as Walter, and recent rumors suggest that he is going to be stateside more often and be a bigger part of NXT 2.0. Why not then take advantage of that and highlight the future Raw or SmackDown superstar in the Rumble match?

Walter will immediately command attention from both the audience and those in the ring, and seeing him match up, even for a brief time, with stars like Big E, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, Sheamus, and more will be amazing. It would be even better if Lashley or Lesnar were in the match, but there are still plenty of spots left to reveal, so maybe we'll get another power house to throwdown with him.

Raquel Gonzalez

While WWE is less likely to pull from NXT this year, it would be hard to imagine there being two Rumble matches and no NXT stars in the mix. If we're going to only bring a few over, hopefully, they include Raquel Gonzalez. Gonzalez seems Raw or SmackDown bound sooner or later, and she could make a powerful impression in the Rumble.

Not only is Rhea Ripley in the match to play off of (the two were opponents and in a tag team together at one point in NXT), but maybe we even get a small stand-off with Charlotte Flair to tease things to come. She would also have a bevy of styles in the ring to play off of, so here's hoping it happens.

Rob Van Dam

Rob Van Dam hasn't been in a WWE ring in quite some time, though he remains a favorite of the WWE Universe, and he is still actively wrestling, so you never know where he might pop up. That means he could end up showing up as a surprise entrant in the Men's Royal Rumble, and if he does, many will be hoping he sticks around for at least a small run.

RVD was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame recently, adding even more fuel to the return fire, but he addressed his status with both WE and AEW in a new interview with inside The Ropes.

Van Dam said "I'm not sure if you said WWE or AEW, but the answer be the same on either one. Nobody. I'm not talking to anybody that's significant. I'm still doin' some shots I'm still wrestling, you know, but it's indie stuff now, and usually, it's people overseas that can they can afford RVD's rate over the regular running indies."

Bayley

Now, I know Bayley is currently injured, and she could very well miss the Rumble because of it. However, she has been recovering at a steady pace from her ACL injury, and the last time she gave an update she said she was doing great in her recovery. Sooooo, I'm hoping we get a big surprise mid-way through the match, with Bayley's music hitting and the crowd going absolutely insane as a result.

Bayley has been out since last year, and before that happened she was having another stellar run in the company. Many have hoped that she can return to shake things up in either Raw or SmackDown later this year, so hopefully that all begins with the Rumble.

X-Pac

Much of D-Generation X isn't likely to appear in the Royal Rumble, as they are either in backstage producer roles (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), in AEW (Billy Gunn), or recently released (Road Dogg). There is one member who could still show up though, and that. is the recently medically cleared X-Pac, aka Sean Waltman. Waltman recently revealed on WWE's The Bump that he was cleared to return to the ring, and with a mention of the Rumble, it's hard to imagine he doesn't show up.

Waltman said "I just got the green light to get back in the ring. I'm just gonna get into better and better shape. I'll be ring ready (at the) beginning of next year, in case my phone rings."

Seems like a lock to me, but we'll see.

Tommaso Ciampa

Tommaso Ciampa is synonymous with NXT, but he recently started wrestling some dark matches before Raw and SmackDown after losing the NXT Championship to Bron Breakker. That was seen as a passing of the baton, and so it makes sense that Ciampa might jump over to Raw or SmackDown, and if he's headed there anyway, why not get him some momentum and a big pop in the Rumble match.

That said, just because you start to wrestle dark matches before Raw or SmackDown doesn't mean you're moving to those brands right away, or in some cases ever. Jonah (then Bronson Reed) was wrestling dark matches and then was eventually released, while Odyssey Jones and Dakota Kai also wrestled dark matches but never moved from NXT to the other brands.

Others though have, so maybe we'll see the Blackheart running down the ramp in a few weeks.

Rok-C

WWE's last major surprise signing debut at the Rumble was a certain AJ Styles, and while Rok-C isn't as big of a household name yet as Styles, she is already a major star and a former Champion at just 20 years old. Rok-C also had a tryout for WWE already, and while she will make a debut in MLW next week, there's a chance she ends up signing with WWE full-time. If she does, the Rumble would be one amazing place to make her debut.

Give her a strong showing in the match and she immediately gets some momentum, and the fans who watch wrestling outside of WWE will definitely pop when they see her running down the ramp. She also recently lost her Ring of Honor Championship and received a sendoff from her hometown promotion, New Texas Pro Wrestling, and the latter only typically happens when someone is signing with another major company.

Maybe she'll start her career in WWE in just a few weeks, though whether she heads to Raw, SmackDown, or NXT remains to be seen.