Ranking Every Royal Rumble Ever
What’s the greatest event from top to bottom?
For more than 30 years, WWE has kicked off the road to WrestleMania with its second biggest show of the year. Sometimes, it flopped, but most of the time it’s a fun extravaganza that intrigues even non-wrestling fans. Without further ado, here’s to ranking every Royal Rumble ever …let the binging begin!
34. 1999
The dirt worst of the Attitude Era: a boring undercard, an I Quit match with gratuitous violence that’s disturbing to watch in hindsight, a Rumble bereft of star power and a “shocking” winner in Mr. McMahon.
33. 2014
This was the beginning of WWE crowds hijacking shows, and who can blame them? Pittsburgh wanted Daniel Bryan in the Royal Rumble, especially after he carried Bray Wyatt to the best match of his career in the opener. Unfortunately, that was Bryan’s last appearance for the night. The crowd clung to Roman Reigns as a last hope, but Batista returned from Hollywood to eliminate the “Big Dog.”
32. 2015
Oh, how the tide turned just one year later. Philadelphia loathed Reigns’ inevitable victory, shitting on everything involving him, including an endorsement from The Rock. The incredible triple threat between Brock Lesnar, John Cena and Seth Rollins was this show’s saving grace.
31. 1998
An atrocious show with a roster so weak that people worked twice. In fact, Mick Foley came out thrice! You’d have to be an NFL referee to not see Stone Cold winning, but bah gawd, the crowd loved it. At least Undertaker and Shawn Michaels delivered in the main event, even though HBK suffered a nearly career-ending injury in the process.
30. 2021
Any WWE show in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic is going to bore me because fans are essential to pro wrestling. The Thunderdome just couldn’t replace what the reactions to Bianca Belair and Edge winning would have been. This low ranking is no fault of the performers, just the circumstances out of their control.
29. 1988
A successful experiment, the inaugural Royal Rumble included only 20 participants. Perhaps less is more because there weren’t many dull spots and the crowd was fascinated by the novelty of it all. A two-out-of-three-falls women’s tag team match stole the show, though, followed by one of the first WWE contract signings – Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant ahead of their WrestleMania III rematch.
28. 1989
Improving the previous year’s formula, this time the Royal Rumble featured the standard 30 participants and emphasized “every man for himself.” It was a red hot battle royal until a sluggish ending with Big John Studd emerging from the mothballs to win. The undercard was weaker than the year prior, but Haku vs. Harley Race was intriguing and who can forget the pose down between Rick Rude and Ultimate Warrior?
27. 1993
Talk about eventful! For the first time, the winner of the Royal Rumble was guaranteed a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. Although the Rumble was decent with plenty of likely candidates, the ending remains ridiculous with Randy Savage attempting to pin Yokozuna. Aside from The Rockers finally colliding, the rest of the show was fairly pedestrian, except, of course, for the unveiling of Narcissus!
26. 2013
It’s not that this Royal Rumble sucked, it was just too predictable. Everybody knew that WWE was running back Cena vs. The Rock, but there was hope that CM Punk would be involved somehow. Unfortunately, his historic reign came to an end in the main event as The Great One added to his legacy.
25. 2011
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. WWE learned the hard way by pushing a 40-man Royal Rumble that was pure gluttony. The opener – Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler – saves this show from the trash heap.
24. 2006
Rey Mysterio milking Eddie Guerrero’s death still doesn’t sit right. The ultimate underdog won a below-average Royal Rumble. (You know it’s not expected to be good when it doesn’t close the show.) Elsewhere, John Cena curbed Edge’s momentum, winning the WWE Championship back after three weeks and not even Kurt Angle could carry Mark Henry to a respectable main event. At least Undertaker returned again.
23. 1996
You can let a lousy pay-per-view slide as long as the Royal Rumble is strong. Case in point, the ’96 undercard opens with Ahmed Johnson beating Jeff Jarrett by DQ, The Smoking Gunns retaining over The Bodydonnas and Goldust winning the Intercontinental Championship from Razor Ramon in an abomination. Undertaker and Bret Hart closed the show, but it wasn’t anything special. Thankfully, the Rumble featured Vader’s debut, a myriad of random cameos and Shawn Michaels winning back to back, eliminating Diesel for the honor.
22. 2020
Skip everything except for the men’s Royal Rumble. After 30 years, WWE finally switched up the format by having Brock Lesnar dominate the first half of entrants, occupying the ring by himself most of the time. However, the biggest story of the night was the shocking return of Edge, who came out of retirement after nearly a decade to almost win the damn thing.
21. 2019
Running five hours long, it was impossible for the crowd to care toward the end. (Seth Rollins winning sure didn’t help.) But if you go back and select certain matches to enjoy, there’s plenty to choose from. Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor was fun, Sasha Banks carried Ronda Rousey to her best match since her in-ring debut and Asuka and Becky opened the show in red hot fashion.
20. 2017
The Royal Rumble was a monumental disappointment, considering that this was the first time Goldberg, Brock Lesnar and Undertaker were all involved at the same time. Randy Orton winning his second drew a lukewarm reaction because he certainly wasn’t riding a wave of momentum at the time. However, John Cena dethroning AJ Styles to win his 16th world title in an epic showdown was well worth the price of admission.
19. 2009
Randy Orton’s first Royal Rumble win was a ho-hum affair with the ring too full most of the match. That’s not why people bought this shindig, though. Edge successfully defended against Jeff Hardy after we finally found out who had been sabotaging the “Charismatic Enigma” for the past few weeks. SPOILER ALERT: It was a WAHNDERFUL surprise!
18. 1997
As Jim Cornette says, WWE booked a venue that needed a wrestling show rather than the other way around. Still, the Alamodome was treated to a decent Rumble, especially with the controversial ending. Plus, Shawn Michaels slayed Sid to win back the WWE Championship and send his hometown crowd home happy.
17. 1995
While 1995 is considered the nadir of WWE’s history, the year kicked off in exciting fashion. The fastest Rumble ever was fun and different, Hart and Diesel was wacky, there was a good Tag Team Title match and NFL legend Lawrence Taylor made headlines.
16. 2012
Instead of focusing on heavy hitters, this Royal Rumble was filled with surprises and comedy acts to keep the crowd entertained. The commentary team all participated, as did original winner “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Kharma and blasts from the past like Road Dogg and Mick Foley. Everything on the undercard is forgettable except a hidden gem between CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler.
15. 2018
This show will be remembered for two historic events: the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble and the official WWE debut of Ronda Rousey. While the latter came across weak, the former exceeded all expectations with plenty of nostalgia nods and the perfect winner – the undefeated Asuka. And who can forget Shinsuka Nakamura winning the men’s version? Well, everyone.
14. 2005
While Triple H destroying Randy Orton was soul-crushing, the rest of this event is pure fire. The Royal Rumble is stacked with big names and even the weird finish came off well, despite McMahon tearing both quads. Let’s not forget what this show is really remembered for: “Tomko, give me a beat.”
13. 2016
With a top 10 Royal Rumble as the main event, featuring the WWE debut of AJ Styles AND a new WWE Champion, this show had all the buzz. There also wasn’t a bad match on the card, which started off hot with a Last Man Standing between Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens.
12. 1994
A historic evening for a number of reasons: Owen betraying his big brother, Undertaker ascending to the heavens and for the only time in Royal Rumble history, two winners were declared. Thanks to his monstrous performance, Diesel also began his push up the card.
11. 2003
It’s a one-match show, but when that match is the greatest in Royal Rumble history, you can’t complain. Furthermore, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit had heavy lifting after Triple H and Scott Steiner stunk the joint up. As for the Rumble match, it was okay but predictable with Brock Lesnar poised to regain the WWE Championship.
10. 2004
One of my fondest childhood memories is leaving the Wachovia Center and Chris Benoit cutting my dad off on I-95. Yes, that’s right, the same night the “Rabid Wolverine” went the distance, he also ignited road rage within my father. It was only the second funniest thing that night after Hardcore Holly challenged for the WWE Championship.
9. 2007
A decade after Hell in a Cell and the casket match, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker reignited their war in the final 10 minutes of the Royal Rumble. Although it was HBK’s backyard of San Antonio, the crowd was satisfied with either legend earning a title shot at WrestleMania (and both did). The undercard featured the hellacious Last Man Standing match between John Cena and Umaga, which earned SuperCena some much-needed street cred.
8. 2000
The Royal Rumble was the shits, but the undercard was great. Tazz debuted in the opener, choking out Kurt Angle. Then, there was the first tag team tables match between the Dudleyz and the Hardyz. Finally, Cactus Jack and Triple H went to war in a classic street fight.
7. 1990
Nothing special on the undercard, but this is one of the greatest Royal Rumbles ever. Ted DiBiase, Jake Roberts, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Dusty Rhodes and Andre the Giant were some of the first 11 participants. And then there’s the epic confrontation between Hogan and Warrior.
6. 1991
Aside from the actual Royal Rumble, this show has everything. The Rockers and the Orient Express tore the house down in the opener. Dusty Rhodes wrestled his final WWE match for 15 years. Virgil finally snapped on the “Million Dollar Man” and most importantly, Sgt. Slaughter dethroned Ultimate Warrior for the WWE Championship.
5. 2002
Nostalgia was running wild, as Mr. Perfect, Goldust, Godfather and Val Venis all returned in the Royal Rumble. Plus, Ric Flair competed for the first time since the final episode of Nitro, defeating Mr. McMahon in a bloody street fight. Chris Jericho and The Rock capped it off with an awesome Undisputed Championship match.
4. 2010
This features the rare combo of an amazing Royal Rumble and an excellent World Heavyweight Championship match. It’s a shame that Rey Mysterio and Undertaker barely faced each other because they had tremendous chemistry following the David vs. Goliath formula. And then the Rumble had Shawn Michaels’ saga of trying to gain a rematch with Undertaker, CM Punk preaching to the masses, the return of Edge and more!
3. 2008
When you end the night with the greatest Royal Rumble moment, you know this will rank high. Chock full of surprises, including the previous year’s final two (Undertaker and Shawn Michaels) kicking off the match, this Royal Rumble was thrilling. Plus, the undercard features two really good championship bouts with Randy Orton defeating Jeff Hardy and Edge successfully defending against the mysteriously hated Rey Mysterio.
2. 1992
You’re probably surprised that this doesn’t top the list. Although it features the greatest Royal Rumble ever, including Bobby Heenan’s finest hour on commentary, the undercard is lacking except for Roddy Piper winning his first championship in WWE.
1. 2001
I wore out the VCR with this one.
This is as close to perfect as you can get. Aside from Chyna’s bizarre injury, every match delivered and had high stakes. The Dudleyz struck gold in a solid opener against rivals Edge & Christian. Chris Jericho beat rival Chris Benoit for the Intercontinental Championship in a brutal ladder match. Although neither man was necessarily a crowd favorite, Triple H and Kurt Angle put on quite the roller coaster.
And then there’s the Royal Rumble. Kane breaking the record for most eliminations, Honky Tonk Man dusting off his guitar, Big Show returning to wreak havoc, Stone Cold winning for a record-setting third time. What else could you ask for?
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