John Cena returned to win the WWE Royal Rumble this evening at Madison Square Garden, eliminating HHH to secure his spot as the challenger for whichever title he chooses (bank on the WWE Title and Randy Orton) at Wrestlemania 24 in Orlando, Florida.
 
Earlier in the evening, Orton defeated Jeff Hardy in a very good but rather disappointing match, and Cena, who was the 30th entrant,  was not even scheduled to be in the Rumble. In fact, WWE has sent out a disinformation campaign recently, with Cena even stating he was filming his new movie "12 Rounds" in New Orleans and that he  hoped to break away from the shoot just to make it to the Hall of Fame ceremony the night before Mania.
 
But it was all a ruse. This was one of those surprises within WWE that didn't leak out, as WWE officials   were very careful to make sure people didn't even know Cena was in New York for the Rumble."

Cena, HHH, and Batista were the last three competitors left in the Rumble match, which was an event that even the most loyal WWE supporters would have to admit was slightly marred by World Wrestling Entertaiment's usually-stellar production team still playing catch-up with Hi-Def technology. HHH eliminated Batista, and Cena, after several counters, eliminated HHH.
 
The challenger for the Smackdown Title will be decided next month in an Elimination Chamber match, with the sole survivor challenging Edge for that championship. The odds-on favorite? Undertaker, who will then put his Wrestlemania Undefeated Streak up against Edge's World Title in what will no doubt be a highly anticipated match at WWE's biggest event of the year.