In this piece, PWP Nation’s John “JCD” Dimiceli ranks every single Royal Rumble match win.
With the Royal Rumble around the corner, let’s take a look at all of the Rumble wins with respect to what they meant at the time to WWE and what the winner got out of it. Despite stars who have won the Royal Rumble match multiple times, we are going to rank each win, not just the winner.
Let’s begin:
29. Big John Studd – 1989
Studd’s win led to was a special referee spot at Wrestlemania and a departure from the company shortly after.
27. Hulk Hogan – 1990
26. John Cena – 2013
There was no need for Cena to win the Rumble, because to me there was no need for John Cena vs. The Rock at WrestleMania 29 to be for the title. This is more of a personal feeling than a business feeling to be fair.
25. Randy Orton – 2009
The Rumble win that was supposed to lead to the 25th WrestleMania should of been huge. Instead the feud was lackluster and the match was a dud. Orton would win the title at Backlash ’09.
24. Rey Mysterio – 2006
Eddie Guerrero’s passing is the only reason this happened. Rey would capture the title at WrestleMania in a triple threat match with Kurt Angle and Randy Orton, but this win was only due to Eddie. He would drop the title to Booker T that summer.
23. The Rock – 2000
Between “controversy” with the Big Show, and 3 different WrestleMania main events, Rocky’s 2000 win was quite disappointing. He would actually lose the shot to Big Show at No Way Out, only to regain it a few weeks later on Raw. WrestleMania went from Triple H vs. The Rock, to Triple H vs. The Big Show, to Triple H vs. Big Show vs. Rock, to finally Triple H vs. Big Show vs. The Rock vs. Mick Foley. The Rock would finally win the title at Backlash, and trade it off with Triple H that spring. By the time it was all said and done, his Rumble win was pointless.
22. Vince McMahon – 1999
Besides being overly obvious, Vince would lose the title shot to Stone Cold Steve Austin.
21. Hulk Hogan – 1991
Again, with nothing on the line, however the match did cement Hogan as the #1 contender to face Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania 7.
20. Shawn Michaels – 1995
Sure HBK won from the #1 position, but the pool of talent was lackluster and the match barely went 35 minutes. HBK would fail to take the title from Diesel at WrestleMania 11, but he would not be down for long.
19. Shawn Michaels – 1996
Again being overly predictable, HBK would win and defeat Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12 in the Iron Man Match.
18. Bret Hart/Lex Luger – 1994
The only time there were co-winners. Bret would end up winning the title at WrestleMania 10 from Yokozuna, while Luger would end up jobbing to Tatanka by SummerSlam.
17. John Cena – 2008
The surprise factor was beyond off the charts (I was there). But the payoff fell so flat. Instead of getting the shot at WrestleMania, Cena took the shot at No Way Out and did not win the title. Cena would end up getting pinned at WrestleMania in a triple threat match.
16. Steve Austin – 1997
Austin won the Rumble in controversial fashion. His title shot would happen at In Your House Fatal 4 Way. He would not win the title, but at WrestleMania 13 Austin became the mega star he is today.
15. Brock Lesnar – 2003
After needing to qualify earlier in the show, Lesnar would win the Rumble and win the title at WrestleMania 19 from Kurt Angle.
14. Sheamus – 2012
Definitely a surprise. Sheamus won the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania and was a big part of the start of Daniel Bryan’s Yes Movement. After feuds with Bryan, & Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus would drop the title to Big Show in the fall.
13. Roman Reigns – 2015
Controversial to say the least. Would defend his shot vs. Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. Then faced Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, only to take the pin when Seth Rollins cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase.
12. Stone Cold Steve Austin – 2001
A major part of Austin’s comeback. Austin would win the title and turn heel. The heel turn was a big part of the Alliance. Again the Rumble win seemed like a distant memory.
11. Triple H – 2016
The first time the WWE title was defended in the Rumble match. HHH was a surprise entrant and would win the title from Roman Reigns only to drop the title back to Reigns at WrestleMania 32.
10. Alberto Del Rio – 2011
Del Rio wins the only 40 man Rumble to date. However he didn’t do much with the win.
9. Hacksaw Jim Duggan – 1988
The first ever winner. It was only a 20 man Rumble, but still being the first winner ever is an important accomplishment.
8. Edge – 2010
Would he be back? He won’t be back. He is back! Edge in somewhat of a surprise, returned after a nasty knee injury, to win the Rumble. The “HBK wanting to face Undertaker” storyline overshadowed the win. Edge however wouldn’t do much with the win as he would fall short against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania.
7. Chris Benoit – 2004
Entered at #1 and went the entire way. Would main event and win the World Title at WrestleMania 20. Benoit had a decent run until losing the title to Randy Orton at SummerSlam.
6. Undertaker – 2007
An amazing finishing sequence with HBK, gave the Deadman his first and only Rumble win to date. Injuries would ruin his run with the title.
5. Triple H – 2002
The beautiful day comeback started with the Rumble win. He would defeat Chris Jericho at WrestleMania X8 for the Undisputed Championship.
4. Batista – 2005
A wild Rumble finish that included a double elimination with John Cena. Batista would win and go on to defeat Triple H at WrestleMania 21. The win launched Batista as a main event star.
3. Yokozuna – 1993
A surprise win. This was the first year the main event of WrestleMania was on the line. Yoko would use the Royal Rumble as a spring board to dominate 1993.
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin – 1998
The official start of the Austin era. Capped off with a World Title win at WrestleMania 14.
1. Ric Flair – 1992
Quite possibly the greatest Rumble ever. Flair would go over an hour to win the vacant WWF Title.
There you have it. All 29 wins ranked. Where will this years winner fall? Agree? Disagree? Let us know.
John “JCD” Dimiceli
@JCD1219NY