Edge, Chris Jericho and the Most Shocking WWE Royal Rumble Entrants Since 2010

Over the last 10 years, the Royal Rumble matches have become as much about the surprises, twists and turns as much as who won or lost the contests.

The returns, the debuts and everything within have come to define the men's and women's contests and make them the most exciting and unpredictable bouts in professional wrestling.

Sunday, WWE hits its streaming network airwaves for the 2021 edition of the Royal Rumble, an event that will feel unlike any before due to the lack of fans but will still lean on the unexpected to create buzz for the start of the Road to WrestleMania.

In preparation for the latest slew of shocks, relive the last decade of Rumble surprises with this countdown of the 10 best since 2010. 

After four years away from WWE, Rey Mysterio returned in the best shape of his career in the 2018 men's Royal Rumble match.

Unlike 2014, when he was booed out of the arena by fans who had hoped the No. 30 spot in the match would go to Daniel Bryan, The Master of the 619 was given a hero's welcome as he hit the ring.

His time in the match was relatively short, but there was no denying Mysterio had announced he was back and ready for what is likely to be the closing chapter of his WWE career.

He has done that and then some, opening the door for son Dominik to follow in his footsteps.

The 2011 men's Royal Rumble match featured the largest field in history with 40 Superstars battling for the right to challenge for a world title at WrestleMania 27.

While John Cena, Randy Orton and other industry giants competed in the match, it was another former world champion who shocked the audience and earned one of the biggest reactions of the night.

For the first time in 15 years, Diesel entered the Rumble. While he lasted just under three minutes, the former WWE champion proved there was still love and affection for him.

Furthermore, the reaction he received opened the door for Kevin Nash to return later in the year and deliver a jack-knife powerbomb that would rob CM Punk of the WWE Championship at SummerSlam and jump-start a rivalry with Triple H.

The first-ever women's Royal Rumble match featured its fair share of surprise entrants in 2018, but none received the reaction that Trish Stratus got.

The seven-time women's champion hit the ring and squared off with longtime foe Mickie James, then came face-to-face with Sasha Banks in a tease of a dream match we are still waiting to see.

Stratus' run was limited but she did record three eliminations and created moments within the match that helped make that first women's Rumble match the unqualified success that it was.

The strong reaction certainly affected the company's willingness to bring Stratus back a year later at SummerSlam in Toronto, where she wrestled what would be her retirement match against Charlotte Flair. That contest, a genuine Match of the Year candidate, further cemented her status as one of the greatest and most iconic female performers in wrestling history.

The 2012 Royal Rumble was so devoid of genuine star power that WWE had to turn to its commentary team of Michael Cole, Booker T and Jerry "The King" Lawler to fill three spots.

However, the arrival of Kharma at No. 21 proved to be a much cooler moment.

The former Awesome Kong obliterated Dolph Ziggler, eliminated Hunico and scared Cole right into Booker and Lawler for his dismissal from the match—all in just one minute of ring time.

It was one of the few significant achievements for a woman who should have accomplished far more than she did in McMahonland.

Infuriated by her failure to win the women's Royal Rumble match earlier in the night, Nia Jax stunned the WWE Universe by entering the men's event at No. 30 and fearlessly laying into anyone in her path.

She did so by attacking R-Truth and costing him an opportunity to enter the bout. From there, she eliminated Mustafa Ali before eating a superkick from Dolph Ziggler, a 619 from Rey Mysterio and an RKO from Randy Orton en route to her own departure from the bout.

In just over three minutes of ring time, she etched her name in the history books. She became the first wrestler to compete in both the women's and men's Rumble matches and score eliminations in both.

It is a feat that is unlikely to be duplicated anytime soon, which makes her entry that much more memorable.

We knew Becky Lynch would headline WrestleMania 35 based on how red-hot she was entering 2019. She was the most popular star in all of professional wrestling at the time.

What we didn't know is that she would enter a Royal Rumble match she was not scheduled to compete in.

The Man lost to SmackDown women's champion Asuka in the night's opening match, but after Nia Jax assaulted Lana and left her unable to compete, Lynch seized her opportunity to take over the vacated spot.

The Lass Kicker stomped toward the ring and unleashed hell, kicking ass amid a thunderous ovation from fans. She eliminated Jax and Charlotte Flair to cash her ticket to WrestleMania and a historic win in that show's main event, making her entry in the Rumble a significant one in her journey to the top of the industry.

Beth Phoenix made a bit of history in 2010 when she became the first woman since Chyna in 1999 to enter the men's Royal Rumble match.

Confronting The Great Khali, she appealed to Punjabi Playboy's love of the opposite sex and planted a big kiss on him that allowed The Glamazon to maneuver him over the top rope for one of that match's most memorable eliminations.

From there, she teed off on CM Punk, rocking him with a big clothesline before falling prey to the Go To Sleep for her own dismissal from the match.

Phoenix added to her Hall of Fame credentials and proved again that a woman was capable of making a splash in the annual 30-man Battle Royal.

Dolph Ziggler entered the 2013 Royal Rumble match at No. 1 and stood in the center of the ring, waiting for the man he would spar with to start the match.

Pyro erupted from the stage, "Break the Walls Down!" exploded over the speakers, and Chris Jericho made a wholly unexpected return to WWE.

The pop was absurd—one of the loudest in the 33-year history of the match.

Jericho would go on to turn in one of his finest performances, lasting over 47 minutes before being eliminated by Ziggler.

There are some who will argue Jericho's entrance in that match was the best, and biggest, surprise of the last decade, but that is debatable. What isn't is the fact that it set a precedent for the power of surprise returns in the Rumble matches.

The most significant surprise in recent Royal Rumble history is the debut of AJ Styles at No. 3 in 2016.

The Phenomenal One arrived to a thunderous ovation, with the sheer surprise of him walking through the curtain and hitting the ring to spar with Roman Reigns creating an electric atmosphere that WWE desperately needed at that time.

Styles' debut sparked genuine excitement among fans that helped them forget Reigns was in the middle of what would be a failed superhero babyface push. 

The former IWGP and TNA world champion fit right in, battling some of the top stars in WWE for nearly 30 minutes before his elimination. The crowd's disappointment upon his departure indicated that the fans had accepted him immediately.

Styles has gone on to excel as a main event Superstar, with two WWE titles, an Intercontinental Championship run and three United States championships to his name.

More importantly, he has become one of the pillars of WWE in the five years since his arrival, and the undisputed success of his Rumble debut has a lot to do with it.

Edge very easily could have made this list twice.

In 2010, he returned from injury to win the Royal Rumble, eliciting a huge reaction when he hit the ring and tossed Chris Jericho and then John Cena out to win the contest.

It was his entry in the men's match a full decade later, though, that cements his status as the greatest surprise of the last 10 years.

After a neck injury forced him to retire in 2011, there was no reason to believe Edge would set foot inside a squared circle again. That is why the fans inside Houston's Minute Maid Park exploded when "You Think You Know" sounded over the PA system to herald his arrival.

The emotion, excitement and  raucous reaction made the moment incredibly special. It generated a reaction that immediately told the performer the audience had not forgotten about him and confirmed WWE's decision to bring the Hall of Famer back was the right call.

The only downside? Edge did not get the opportunity to pay off his monumental return in grand fashion at WrestleMania 36, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the event into the Performance Center. 

Still, there is no taking away the magic of the moment at the Rumble. It was a stellar performance and a shocking comeback that created a buzz like no other. 

It is so indelibly etched in the memory of the WWE Universe that it is the clear choice for No. 1 on this list.