Royal Rumble Returns, Dolph Ziggler, Sting and More from the Surprise Mailbag

Brock Lesnar and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship are back to make pay-per-view matter again.

January's Royal Rumble should be a step up in quality from the WWE TLC pay-per-view, which suffered from a quick three-week turnaround following Survivor Series. For now, there's very little doubt regarding the favorite to win the Royal Rumble. And if Roman Reigns remains the clear-cut favorite to win, this puts the pressure on surprise entrances to deliver.

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@ThisIsNasty Who do you think will return at this year's Royal Rumble?

— Akshai Kumar (@kumar_akshai) December 18, 2014"

One of the biggest draws of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view each year is the element of surprise. Nostalgia is like catnip to pro wrestling fans, and the Royal Rumble offers plenty of it. Not only is the Rumble a Big Four pay-per-view, it's also the one pay-per-view of the year where "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan can still be in the main event.

Emanating from Philadelphia, expect at least one ECW original to turn up in the fray. Tommy Dreamer should be a lock if he's available. Rob Van Dam, who recently returned at the Slammy Awards, is also a surprise candidate. While these returns would make for generous pops from a traditionally hot Philadelphia crowd, they'll be nothing more than extreme comfort food liable to be eliminated following a cameo.

Randy Orton is one potentially returning WWE Superstar with an outside shot at winning. As of this writing, Reigns is the only WWE Superstar advertised for the Royal Rumble, which is fitting, as this is shaping up to be a one-man show with Reigns the prohibitive favorite. Orton should be making his return as a rejuvenated antihero any day now and would at least make the field more competitive and slightly unpredictable.

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@ThisIsNasty Bro do you think we will see Sting at the Rumble? I'm going since I live right near philly. I grew up on WCW. #stingersplash

— Joe (@Pupdogs) December 17, 2014"

The chances of Sting appearing at the Royal Rumble are highly unlikely. The chances of seeing him appear in the Royal Rumble are even more slim. I have a feeling we won't see Sting until Triple H and/or The Authority resurfaces. With The Authority out of power, he has very little reason to show up.

One scenario that can bring about his return is if the apparent alliance between Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Seth Rollins and J&J Security stacks the decks against John Cena. But with Triple H vs. Sting seemingly penciled in for WrestleMania 31, his involvement in this match would not directly further this storyline.

Sting's next few appearances need to be meaningful enough to sell WrestleMania tickets. WWE has made it a point to rechristen him the Vigilante Sting. He'll only make the most out of that nickname by opposing WWE's most powerful corporate entity.

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@ThisIsNasty do you think that @HEELZiggler push will escalate him into the Heavyweight Champion scene or will he become a dominant ICchamp

— Tance (@TanceJr) December 17, 2014"

Dolph Ziggler's long-suffering fans were once again teased with the possibility of him being elevated to the main event. Ziggler seemed to have arrived after rallying to beat Team Authority at Survivor Series, but the following month, he was competing in the second TLC match for the Intercontinental Championship. Seeing him capture the secondary title in his hometown felt like a major accomplishment.

This doesn't bode well for his window as a main event star, which is quickly closing—if it hasn't closed already.

Ziggler and Cena really seemed to be developing a new-age Mega Powers alliance, but it just seems as if Ziggler is destined to be an upper midcard performer content with stealing the show rather than headlining it.

WWE is in a transitional period where NXT stars championed by Triple H's regime are slowly but surely filling up roster spots. The veteran Ziggler's only hope to make some serious noise in the main event is an groundswell of defiant support similar to The Yes Movement.

But with so many false starts for Ziggler, fans seem to be happy with his role as a workhorse Intercontinental Champion.

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