Cody Rhodes made his long-awaited return once again to a WWE ring but this time to win the men’s, Royal Rumble.
As the last entrant into the match at No. 30, Rhodes and Gunther (who made it to the end as the No. 1 entrant) provided the fireworks in an incredibly entertaining final two setting up the American Nightmare to headline WrestleMania.
And despite the loss, Gunther once again shined in a huge spot potentially setting himself up for a future World Title shot sometime down the line.
Regarding the surprises, Booker T, Logan Paul, and Edge each made their returns with Booker T giving the crowd a spin-a-Rooney before being eliminated by Gunther in under a minute. Edge’s return also came with Beth Phoenix and a new program with Judgement Day while Logan Paul and Ricochet gave the Royal Rumble crowd one of the most amazing spots in a WWE PPV you’ll ever see.
Speaking of Paul, his return and elimination of Seth Rollins possibly sets up one of the more intriguing matches at WrestleMania. Regarding other storylines, Bobby Lashley’s elimination of Brock Lesnar in less than three minutes puts the two heavyweights on a collision course for one of the more anticipated feuds in recent memory.