6. Bubba Ray Dudley – What does it mean for John Cena when Bubba Ray Dudley had a better night than Cena did? Was the Philadelphia crowd just glad to see an old ECW throwback whose been out of the WWE for a decade? Who knows? But the entire Wells Fargo Center came unglued when the Tag Team legend and member of the Dudley Boyz showed up at #3 in the Royal Rumble match, promptly eliminating both The Miz and R-Truth on a night that was really all about winning one for ECW.
5. Roman Reigns – Well he won… in arguably the most forced rise to the top since Batista did just last year. That’s two years in a row that the WWE fanbase has booed the winner of the Royal Rumble, leaving plenty of room to imagine WWE modifying the circumstances of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania XXXI to perhaps include Cena, Daniel Bryan, or maybe even The Rock. Regardless, Reigns once again showed off his incredible penchant for getting eliminations, taking down Goldust, Stardust, Big Show, Kane, and Rusev while teaming up with Dean Ambrose to take out Titus O’Neil to tie for a Rumble-high six eliminations on the night. It’s the second straight year Reigns has led or shared the lead for the most eliminations in the Royal Rumble. Kudos.
4. Rusev – As expected, the Hero of the Russian Federation made a huge impact in the Royal Rumble, single-handedly eliminating six superstars including Diamond Dallas Page (as predicted), Fandango, Adam Rose, Kofi Kingston (second straight time), Damien Mizdow and Big E. The United States Champion clocked in at a Rumble 2nd-best 35:17, but most surprising of all was the overwhelmingly positive reception he received. Despite being billed as a heel for a year now, Rusev may soon find himself on the ascent into the loving arms of WWE face-hood.
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