Jerry Lawler says Rikishi was almost a surprise entrant in Royal Rumble match this year

The Royal Rumble match, on top of being the most consistently exciting match of the year within WWE, has also become a showcase for the company to bring back a few stars as surprise entrants. None of them ever have any real shot at winning but they're always good for a nostalgia pop, if nothing else.

This year will be no different. WWE has only officially announced 11 names for the Rumble match, scheduled for this Sun., Jan. 27, 2013, at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. You can view that list by clicking here.

We can't spoil who the surprise entrants are -- lest they not be surprise entrants, of course -- but we can say who won't be there, at least if we're to believe Jerry "The King" Lawler. He told The New York Post WWE contacted one man and he simply couldn't clear his schedule:

"The Royal Rumble has become our next biggest and most fan-favorite pay-per-view. It's so unpredictable. I know for a fact, I don't know who it will be, but there's always some surprise entrants. There will be some people that you didn't have a clue they were going to be involved in the Rumble. I do know that they had contacted Rikishi but he had a prior commitment that he could not get out of. My son Brian told me that it was just a commitment he literally could not get out of even though he really wanted to [be in the Rumble]. There are going to be some great names who will be there though."

So you can choose to believe him and take Rikishi out of the mix or you can choose to believe he's working us and expect to see a fat man dancing to the ring Sunday night.

The thought of the ass face in the corner haunts.

If not Rikishi then, who would you Cagesiders like to see as surprise entrants in the Rumble match?