By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Former WWE and World Hvt. champion Edge made his WWE return as the surprise #29 entrant in the Royal Rumble before eliminating John Cena to win the Rumble.

When Edge returned at #29, he immediately went after Chris Jericho and eliminated him to resume their program from summer 2009 when Jericho and Edge were Unified tag champions. Edge vs. Jericho was an expected match at WrestleMania 26, but Edge's guaranteed title victory could throw off the anticipated WM26 line-up.

The Final Four were Edge, Cena, Batista, and Shawn Michaels, who was the overall star of the Rumble after entering #18 and picking up six eliminations.

Michaels also received the most focus after his elimination (via Batista) after WWE built up Michaels on TV as the favorite to win and earn a World Title match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26.

Michaels superkicked referee Charles Robinson after his elimination and sold a nervous breakdown without his guaranteed re-match against Taker. Earlier in the Rumble, Michaels eliminated Triple H, who was the 17th wrestler to be eliminated.

-- CALDWELL'S COMPLETE PPV REPORT

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

-- Beth Phoenix entered the Royal Rumble #6 and proceeded to eliminate Great Khali in a comedy spot. Phoenix then clotheslined C.M. Punk, who was the early start of the Rumble, before Punk hit the G2S and eliminated Phoenix.

-- C.M. Punk was the star of the first-half of the Rumble, as he eliminated five total wrestlers and cut promos for his "Straight Edge Society" group when he was left alone in the ring.

-- R-Truth immediately eliminated Mark Henry and Big Show when he entered the match at #25. Truth was in the Final Six before Kofi Kingston eliminated him.

-- Matt Hardy entered #17 and he was quickly eliminated by Kane. Other quick eliminations included Zack Ryder via C.M. Punk, The Miz via MVP, and Shelton Benjamin and Yoshi Tatsu via John Cena.

ORDER OF ENTRY
1 -- Dolph Ziggler
2 -- Evan Bourne
3 -- C.M. Punk
4 -- JTG
5 -- Great Khali
6 -- Beth Phoenix
7 -- Zack Ryder
8 -- Triple H
9 -- Drew McIntyre
10 -- Ted DiBiase
11 -- John Morrison
12 -- Kane
13 -- Cody Rhodes
14 -- MVP
15 -- Carlito
16 -- The Miz
17 -- Matt Hardy
18 -- Shawn Michaels
19 -- John Cena
20 -- Shelton Benjamin
21 -- Yoshi Tatsu
22 -- Big Show
23 -- Mark Henry
24 -- Chris Masters
25 -- R-Truth
26 -- Jack Swagger
27 -- Kofi Kingston
28 -- Chris Jericho
29 -- Edge
30 -- Batista

ORDER OF ELIMINATION
1 -- Bourne via Punk
2 -- Ziggler via Punk
3 -- JTG via Punk
4 -- Khali by Beth Phoenix
5 -- Phoenix via Punk
6 -- Ryder via Punk
7 -- Punk via Hunter
8 -- Miz via MVP
9 -- MVP via self-elimination with Miz
10 -- Matt Hardy via Kane
11 -- Kane via Hunter
12 -- Carlito via HBK
13 -- Rhodes via HBK
14 -- DiBiase via HBK
15 -- Morrison via HBK
16 -- McIntyre via HBK and Hunter
17 -- Hunter via HBK
18 -- Benjamin via Cena
19 -- Yoshi via Cena
20 -- Masters via Show
21 -- Henry via Truth
22 -- Show via Truth
23 -- Swagger via Kofi
24 -- Truth via Kofi
25 -- Kofi via Cena
26 -- Jericho via Edge
27 -- HBK via Batista
28 -- Batista via Cena
29 -- Cena via Edge

MOST ELIMINATIONS
Shawn Michaels (6)
C.M. Punk (5)
John Cena (4)
Triple H (3)
Edge (2)
Kofi Kingston (2)
R-Truth (2)

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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