Top 10 surprise entrants for the 2016 Royal Rumble

So for those you who know me, you probibly know Im a WWE fan. And my favorite event every year is the Royal Rumble, a 30 man match. And one of the things that makes it so cool is you literally never know whos coming out next, as WWE usually has a number of surprise entrants, be they superstars newly recovered from injury, Hall of Famers or Ex Stars returning for one night only, or even guys who have never wrestled for the company before.

This year though, the Royal Rumble is going to be alot more interesting, partly because the winner this year is going to become the WWE champion, and partly because quite honestly, WWE's roster is paper thin right now, with many of their big names out of action due to injuries.

This includes John Cena and Randy Orton, WWE's top guys for the last decade, Seth Rollins WWE's top guy of today, WCW Icon Sting, mid card staples like Cesaro and Wade Barret (who is appearing on TV but not wrestling) and Tag Team Specialists like Tyson Kidd, Konnor, Darren Young, and Sin Cara.

Basically WWE's roster has pretty much never had as many guys out for injury as they have now....so this year they are really going to have to step it up with the returns, to just even fill the 30 slots let alone have guys seen as having a chance of winning the match and the title in it.

So therefore with that in mind, I give you the Top 10 potential surprise entrants to the 2016 Royal Rumble

10) HHH

This one is so damn obvious I almost dont want to put it on the list. HHH hasnt been seen since WWE champion Roman Reigns destroyed him weeks back. and now with Reigns title on the line in the rumble, who better to try to take it from him than The Game.

Normally the winner of the Royal Rumble goes to Wrestlemaina to face the Champion. Given that the titles on the line this time, thats likely not going to happen....unless HHH wins and Reigns gets his rematch at Mania, effectively flipping the formula on its head.

9) Samoa Joe

 WWE will never admit it on air, as they wisely dont like to talk about promotions and titles they dont own, but Samoa Joe is an ROH and TNA world champion (the two closest things to rivals the WWE has had since WCW shut down). So hes got the ability and star power for the Rumble.....and as a current NXT superstar he already works for WWE and would be a familiar face to the Orlando crowd, where NXT is based.

8) RVD

Rob Van Dam is another guy who brings some serious star power to the table, and as a former WWE and ECW world champ belongs in a world title match. And seeing as how WWE has once again pulled from the ECW well with the Dudleyz/Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno vs the Wyatt's feud, the time is ripe for RVD to return.

Only real problem here is that this would be RVD's 3rd or 4th "surprise" rumble return.....with that many under his belt I dont know if hes really that surprising.

7) Sami Zayn

So Zayn was supposed to be called up to the main roster when he answered John  Cena's open challenge months ago....and then he got hurt. Well he returned a few weeks ago to NXT. But given that he was ready before, and the state of WWE's roster right now, my guess is Zayn's about to get called up again.

6) Lita

Yes I know shes a woman. But its not like thats unprecedented, 3 other women have previously entered the Royal Rumble. And Lita is one of WWE's few female talents who has shown she can convincingly mix it up with the guys. And she's a hall of famer.....that and shock value would truely help out the Royal Rumble. And unlike most Hall of Famers, Lita still relatively young (40), and therefore she can still actually wrestle.

5) Trish Stratus

You know what would be even more shocking that one woman in the Royal Rumble? how about two? widely considered (along with lita) to be the best female talent of the attitude era and a record setting 7 time women's champion (lita being next in line with 4), and also a Hall of Famer, and like Lita still young enough (40) to go, and arguably in much better shape given her new career in yoga

And come on, any fan of the attitude era would love to see this two go at it one more time.

Sadly WWE's PG era rules will probably prevent either of these woman (or any woman) from being in the Rumble, despite the fact these two have both proven repeatedly they can throw down with the boys. Still I can hope right?

4) Scott Hall

Hey yo. Another Hall of Famer, Scott Hall appears to have very recently gotten back into ring shape. He's also probably the most famous name to have worked for WWE and never competed in a Royal Rumble....so the cheer hed get from the crowd would likely be deafening. Plus he could actually serve a valuable storyline function too, by passing the torch so to speak to our next entrants.

3) Bullet Club

What the nWo was to WCW in the 1990's the Bullet Club is today......over in Japan. And WWE recently announced the signing of about half the group. In fact the Bullet Club is informally recognized as the sucessors to the nWo by that groups co-founder Kevin Nash, and one of their members (although one not signed by WWE) is Cody Hall, the son of Scott Hall

Also the former leader of the Bullet Club is Finn Balor, the current NXT champion. He and his old group could reunite in the Rumble with the rest of the group. Rumors have been flying for a while now Balor is ready to join the main roster, and seeing as how the other members coming in include former WWE talent Luke Gallows and former TNA legend, 7 time NWA/TNA/IWGP world champion AJ Styles, its not entirely unlikely this group bypasses NXT and goes straight to the main roster....furthermore working as a unit makes seem like they would have a chance to win, and either AJ styles or Finn Balor could easily step up to that role.

2) The Rock

Seems like every time the WWE gets in rating or roster trouble, they turn to the Rock. And at 43 Years old, Dwayne Johnson still has one more run left up in him.

Not the mention the storyline possibilities are amazing should Rock win the match. Rock was seen at last years royal rumble congradulating the winner....and the man Rock would take the title from should he win this time Roman Reigns.

Reigns' gimmick such as it is is one built on honor and family...his loyalty to his family is often what drives him in the storylines.

Which would make things insteresting as a member of that family is his cousin....the Rock.

So if Rock returned without telling Roman then won the match and took the title from him....well thats a heck of a storyline to drive the WWE towards their Superbowl.

1) Daniel Bryan.

So two years ago, at the height of his popularity,arguably rivaling that of Stone Cold in the attitude era Daniel Bryan injured his neck and was forced to vacate the WWE title. He returned last year at the Royal Rumble, only to be sidelined with a concussion and hasnt been seen since.

In real life hes involved in an on going dispute with WWE. They wont clear him to return to action, citing the severity of his concussion a year ago, however multiple other sports doctors have said hes fit to return.

While one has to applaud WWE for watching out for their talent, if their ever going to give in to majority medical opinion, this is it. And rumor is, he met with a WWE doctor a couple days ago to see if he could be cleared.

And hell there really would be no bigger crowd pleaser for audience than the return of Daniel Bryan....who would also instantly be seen as a favorite to win the match....although he likely wouldnt as given the injures in the past WWE likely wont put a title on him until they are sure hes ok, even if they clear him for one night.

Now obviously WWE is only going to have a handful of returns/debuts, and some of these guys (HHH, Bryan, Bullet Club)are much more likely than others (Trish, Lita) but still while I want at least one surprise I missed (cause its more fun) I hope most of the surprise returns are pulled from this list.