Only a few men have won multiple times in the annual Royal Rumble match – Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Triple H and John Cena. As prestigious as that list is, only Austin accomplished the feat of winning the Rumble three times in his career.
Austin’s victories came in 1997, 1998 and 2001, putting him alongside Hogan and Michaels as the only men to win consecutive Rumbles. Among the various records surrounding the WWE and specifically the Rumble, it would seem that Austin’s would be safe, especially considering the nature of WWE booking these days. Still, here are five men who could match the Texas Rattlesnake for Rumble supremacy.
John Cena
Cena’s name should stand out among the group of two-time winners, as he is the only truly active wrestler with multiple wins. And with “The Face That Runs the Place” currently sitting just one title reign short of Ric Flair’s 16 world championships, rumors were circulating that Cena might pick up a third Rumble win this year.
That would seem to no longer be in the works for 2017, with Cena set to face AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at the event instead. Still, no one could rule out Cena adding a future Rumble victory to his 2008 and 2013 wins, especially as a way to set up a record-breaking title run.
Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins has accomplished quite a lot in his roughly four years on the WWE’s main roster. He’s technically a two-time world champion, also held the United States title and was once a tag team champion with the Shield. He also won the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2014.
While Rollins hasn’t added a Rumble victory to that resume – he’s only competed in one Rumble match actually – there’s plenty of time. The 30-year-old is also one of the top stars in the company and has shown the ability to shine as both a heel and a face, so it’s easy to see Rumble wins in his future.
Braun Strowman
The WWE creative team loves to build hype around the big men leading up to the Royal Rumble match, and no big man has been hotter in the ring than Braun Strowman. The Raw superstar has broken off from the Wyatt family and has been booked as an absolute monster in recent months.
Strowman is surprisingly already 33 years old, so if he’s going to pick up three victories, he better start soon. That said, he would have to be on anyone’s short list to win the match this year, and that would put him well down the road to catching Stone Cold.
Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin came on to the main roster in a big way with a victory in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32. After that, he was in the mid-card doldrums for several months before really stepping up as a major heel for the SmackDown brand.
A former NFL lineman, Corbin has the build to be a force in any match where strength and brawling is an asset, and he’s already got the experience of winning on the big stage. “The Lone Wolf” would be a strong candidate to become the man to beat every year in the Rumble.
Roman Reigns
Everyone had to know Reigns would make an appearance on this list. He joins Cena, Randy Orton and Sheamus as the only full-time in-ring performers to have won the Rumble before, and he’s by far the youngest of the group at 31 years old.
On top of that, Reigns is poised to be in the main-event picture for years because the front office and Vince McMahon himself have tapped him as a potential face of the company. He already holds the record for most Rumble eliminations with 12 in 2014, and no one should be shocked if he manages to add to his 2015 victory to chase that record as well.
