Top 10 Royal Rumble Moments



The Royal Rumble, it is all about the numbers:

3. Single most wins by a single Superstar, The Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin (1997, 1998,& 2001) also the same amount of people have won from the number 30 spot, Triple H (2016), The Undertaker (2007) and John Cena (2008)

62. Minutes, the amount of time Rey Mysterio spent in the ring in his winning 2006 effort.

236. Minutes the most cumulative amount of time in the Royal Rumble. Held by Chris Jericho over 10 Royal Rumble appearances.

1.9. Seconds, the shortest amount of time spent in the Royal Rumble. Santino Marella "achieved" this in 2009.

27. Statistically, the best number to draw, with more men winning from this position than any other, Big John Studd (1989), Yokozuna (1993), Bret "The Hitman" Hart (1994) and Stone Cold Steve Austin (2001)

12. Eliminations in one Royal Rumble. The current record holder, Roman Reigns.

10. The amount of my favourite Royal Rumble moments. Enjoy the list...

However, just before we delve into my selections, I think I should explain why Royal Rumble 2011 isn't included. Yes, it was historic, first (and only) 40 man Royal Rumble, okay that is pretty huge which is why I have brought it up here. But, the reason I have excluded it is because it is boring and was won by one of my least favourite wrestlers of all time, Alberto Del Rio, and I can't, or won't, give him any credit, so Royal Rumble 2011, you don't make the list! Should also mention, The Greatest Royal Rumble doesn't make it either, because it was well, bullshit.
On with the show.....


10. Royal Rumble 1993





The reason this pretty unspectacular Royal Rumble match creeps on to the list is it was the first to grant the winner a title opportunity at the following WrestleMania. It came down to Randy Savage and the planet-sized Yokozuna, it was obvious that Savage wasn't winning this one, despite Gorilla Monsoons best effort to convince us otherwise. Savages elimination was also ridiculous, after hitting his elbow off the top onto the prone Zuna, the veteran Savage elected to cover the giant man and Yoko kicked out "throwing" Savage over the top rope. And the WrestleMania this led onto, possibly the worst of all time, WrestleMania IX.


9. Duel Winners - Royal Rumble 1994





I have decided to plump for the Duel winners aspect of the 1994 effort, with both Bret "Hitman" Hart, and all American Lex Luger both being declared winners. However, a couple of other things of note happened. Bret and Owen Hart lost to The Quebecers in a tag team title shot which added fuel to the fire of the Hart brothers fueding, also Undertaker lost a Casket match to Yokozuna when Yoko and roughly a million other heels ran in nicked the urn and "killed" The Undertaker. He floated off from the Titantron. Anyway, back to the pick, it is the only time two men have been declared winners, and I believe that Vinnie Mac really wanted Lex Luger but his run and been a tad disappointing to say the least, in stepped The Hitman to save the day. Mid 90's WWF was not a good place...


8. AJ Styles Debut - Royal Rumble 2016





I mean come on. this had to be here. AJ Styles the man many thought would never land in WWE, someone who is up there with the greatest champions in history, between the ropes he is literally flawless and still one of, if not the, best professional wrestlers in the world. All started at a Royal Rumble. I popped, you popped, we all popped for AJ! Still got shit music mind... What also made it great was the waiting Roman Reigns looked confused at who was coming, and that changed to nerves his facial expressions were really good. It was a great Rumble moment.


7. Winner From Number 1. Shawn Michaels - Royal Rumble 1995





In what was one of the worst Rumbles of all time, a first-time achievement occurred, Shawn Michaels having entered at number 1, won the whole thing by last eliminating the number 2 entrant 'The British Bulldog' Davey Boy Smith. This also happened in 1999, but both men took an extended break there. All in all, both of those Rumbles were bad. 


6. The Rot Continues For The Mega Powers - Royal Rumble 1989





You may notice, not much from the early Rumbles make this list. That is because they mainly meant nothing to the winner, the concept didn't really need selling and they were pretty bad. However, this moment from the 1989 Royal Rumble makes it. Continuing on from the Survivor Series (please check out top 10 Survivor Series moments, cheap plug) Savage and Hogan were still reluctant partners and were getting closer and closer to exploding. In this match Hogan "accidentally" eliminated Savage, Savage was obviously not happy about this and jumped in to confront the red and yellow berk, only that pesky Elizabeth got in between the two men and claimed things down. The next time they would tag, would be at Main Event vs Big Boss Man and Akeem where it all went tits up for the Mega Powers. This feud and final explosion is amongst the best booking in WWE/F history and was a wonderful story masterfully told. For me, it was easily Hogans best work for the company.


Some quick honourable mentions...

A lot has happened at the Royal Rumble over the years, so I am going to include some honourable mentions:
The very first Royal Rumble on PPV deserves some credit for starting this whole affair, and that took place in 1988. The first man in a Rumble match, one Bret "The Hitman" Hart, the first man to win one, only Hacksaw Jim Duggan, HOOOOOOOOOO.

Vince tears both his quads Royal Rumble 2005. Batista and John Cena botch the ending, a furious Vince McMahon storms out slides in and BOOM, both quads blow and he ends up just sitting in the ring, helpless, and probably in agony. I have never seen two men the size of the Animal and the Master of Thuganomics look so terrified, I bet they didn't want to leave the ring that night!

The Battle of Demolition, Ax vs Smash, Royal Rumble 1989. Still in kayfabe era, where heels only fought with babyfaces, even in the Rumble, this was probably the first time it lived up to its every man for himself tag line. It was entertaining for the time, anyway on with the list!




5. Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker Final Two - Royal Rumble 2007





A precursor moment that happened before two absolute belters at WrestleMania's XXV and XXVI happened here in the closing segment of the 2007 Royal Rumble. In what were 7 minutes and 33 seconds of stunning exciting action between the two veterans it is up there with any closing Rumble moments ever. The crowd were red hot for this too if you don't get time to watch anything else on this list, watch this, it is definitely worth your time.


4. "I Quit" Mankind vs The Rock - Royal Rumble 1999





This match followed on from 5th January 1999 episode of Raw, where Mick Foley, under his Mankind gimmick, won the WWE title in possibly my favourite title win ever, it was also the Raw where Tony Schiavone uttered the immortal words "Mick Foley, who used to wrestle here as Cactus Jack wins their title tonight, wow, that's going to really put butts in seats" (I am paraphrasing may not be what he actually said), well it did, and it effectively won the Monday Night Wars for the WWF. Anyway, this highly anticipated rematch at the Royal Rumble was sensational. The story and the emotion of the match were already at fever pitch, with Foley being almost Stone Cold level over at this point and The Rock easily the biggest heel in wrestling as the corporate choice as champion. Then, the violence of this match was another level. The finishing sequence alone featured The Rock blasting a handcuffed Mankind with 11 full force chair shots to the skull, with Mankind refusing to quit, he was eventually knocked down and you heard the words "I quit", it would later be revealed that Mankind was unconscious and was "screwed". The footage from this match is probably made worse from the documentary Beyond On The Mat. It shows Foley's wife and children sitting front row and all three being genuinely terrified for the well being of their husband/father, and fleeing the seating area in tears. Really is a heartbreaking moment, and goes some way to show the sacrifice Mick Foley would make to entertain the fans and hone his craft.


3. Flair Wins The Title - Royal Rumble 1992





In what was a monumental Rumble match with the WWF championship on the line, Ric Flair entered at number 3 and went to win and claim his first WWF championship. This is easily the best Rumble match of the early to mid-'90s with this one having a lot of star power involved and actually having a reason to win other than bragging rights was great. I thought Heenan was great on commentary, being blatantly biased in favour of Flair, he would be up and down all night. The ending always confused me somewhat, it came down to Hogan, Sid and Flair. Hogan being a superface was eliminated by Sid, and instead of just leaving to the back decided to have a live paddy and helped Flair pull Sid over the top rope, so Sid the heel was screwed? Anyway, it doesn't matter, what does was Flair's performance in this match, he bumped for everyone and was by a long way, a deserving winner. The promo after the match was wonderful also. Also, if you notice in the picture, there is my old friend Mr.Perfect, my very own one per list...


2. Royal Rumble 2000





This was going to be about one match, but in doing my due diligence for this article I was reminded of how much I enjoy this Royal Rumble card. Firstly we have the debuting Taz, who beats the then-unbeaten Kurt Angle. Taz who was red hot at the time from his ECW days came out to a massive ovation and this would prove to be the highlight of his WWF run, I think they could have done so much more with the Human Suplex Machine, but hey, it is what it is. We also got to see the very first Tag Team Table Match between The Hardy and The Dudley Boys, which was a great little match highlight of which saw Bubba fall off the balcony through two tables, and of course, mental Jeff jumping off the balcony and hitting the match-winning Swanton Bomb on Devon through a table. It was a nice little taster to what, once they were joined by Edge and Christian, would go onto achieve. There was an interesting angle running with Chris Jericho and Chyna at the time with them being the co-intercontinental champion, and the triple threat match with Hardcore Holly wasn't as bad as it looks on paper, it also saw Jericho become the sole champion. The tag match of New Age Outlaws vs The Acolytes was a typical affair for the time. The Rumble match itself was only Okay, it did include a killer bump from Taka Michinoku off Gangrel and The Big Boss Man, but it was a bit absent of true star power with only really The Rock, Big Show and Kane being main event players, it was won by The Rock.
Now, for the match which this entry was going to be about, Cactus Jack vs Triple H street fight for the WWF championship. This was the best street fight until Gargano and Ciampa tore the fucking house down last year. Everything was right about this match, Mankind, having been fired and reinstated by the evil McMahon-Helmsley duo, and then battered by Triple H, came out and said Mankind couldn't beat Triple H, but he knew a guy that could shedding the shirt and mask like a snake and transformed into Cactus Jack. From Foley's promo and Triple H's reaction, it was instantly sold. The match itself was a brutal affair that really took advantage of the street fight gimmick, with pallets, chairs, stairs, thumbtacks (drawing pins really but you know, American) and a Barbed Wire covered 2x4, being used, it had blood, both intentionally and accidentally, it flashed back to the I Quit match (see above) with handcuffs and chair shots, fuck, it even included a run in from the Rock. I genuinely believe that without this match, Triple H would have struggled to get over as the top guy and top heel that he became. Mick Foley, he knows how to get you over! Forget about the horrible "Miss Rumble" competition, it was indicative of the time, and while being a big contributing factor in Channel 4 deciding to drop WWF programming, more importantly, it cost it the number 1 spot on this list. See Vince, bet you are gutted now!


1. Royal Rumble 2018





Historic is a word that is tossed about WWE nowadays like it is going out of fashion, however on this night, it truly was historic. Firstly, two Royal Rumble matches were presented, one being a Women's Royal Rumble, Ronda Rousey made he debut, Women headlined, and the first time that two Japanese performers went over, and both were deserving winners. The men's Rumble match was probably the best Rumble match I have seen, it had drama the right amount of returns or shock competitors, namely Adam Cole, Andrade "Cien" Almas, Rey Mysterio and my personal favourite of the night, The Hurricane (I love that gimmick) and the final four were great, great choices, coming down to Roman Reigns, John Cena, Finn Balor, and Shinsuke Nakamura, the crowd sensed a John Cena-Roman Reigns showdown, and after Finn (who was the MVP of this match) was eliminated by John Cena the writing was on the wall, but in a complete shock to everyone Shinsuke eliminated both the superhero's much to the delight of well, everybody. The Women's Rumble was also an enjoyable affair, but if I am nitpicking, too many returns and not enough NXT talent used, I mean Lita, Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly, Michelle McCool, Vickie Guerrero, Kelly Kelly, Jacqueline, Beth Phoenix, Brie Bella and Trish Stratus all came into the ring,could have at least dropped the non-wrestlers Guerrero, Wilson and Kelly Kelly. Anyway, that didn't really dampen my enjoyment of this match and Asuka winning was a big plus, I love Asuka. This wasn't about the other matches on the card, which were average-good at best, this was about two Rumble matches. One that really changed history for the better and was the first step to proving that the WWE are finally taking women seriously. Next step, headlining WrestleMania.

Well, that's my list, hope you enjoyed it, or made you mad that I haven't included your favourite moment from Royal Rumble history. Someone will point out about a Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat moment I will have missed, I always forget about poor old Steamboat. Thanks for reading.

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