Nia Jax, Roxanne Perez Among Surprise Entrants In The WWE Women's Royal Rumble

The WWE Royal Rumble has always been known as the event that is home to several surprises, and that didn't change this year. The 2023 women's Royal Rumble match saw several returns, debuts, and surprises, among them most notably the return of the powerhouse and former Women's Champion Nia Jax at #30. She was then eliminated by the 11 remaining competitors to a "goodbye" chant from the San Antonio crowd. 

Along with Jax's return, WWE fans were also treated to several NXT talent appearing, among that list being NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez at #8, Zoey Stark at #13, and Indi Hartwell at #26. 

The returns continued as Natalya entered at #11 and Piper Niven aka the former Doudrop appeared at #18. The funniest of the surprises came at #20 as Chelsea Green made her return to WWE and was eliminated in five seconds, becoming the quickest female exit in the history of the match. 

The most unique of surprises was the entrance of Michelle McCool into the match, who was ringside earlier in the night and entered from that same area at #25. Fans in attendance were also pleasantly surprised by the return of Asuka, who debuted her murder clown gimmick known as Kana, for the first time in a WWE ring. 

Asuka was in the final three, before being eliminated by the eventual winner Rhea Ripley. The Judgment Day member entered the match at #1, breaking the record for the longest time spent in the women's Rumble match.