The 28th Royal Rumble is about to take place soon. This pay-per-view event is considered to be a fan-favorite and is considered the second best WWE event every year after WrestleMania. Every year there is a huge buzz when the Rumble approaches as the match is always exciting courtesy the nature of eliminations we see in it.In its 27 year old history, so many records were set and broken with some iconic wins to date. Currently, Stone Cold Steve Austin holds the most number of Rumble victories with 3, followed by Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Shawn Michaels and Batista winning twice. Apart from this we have also seen some underdogs win the match and headline Wrestlemania which is the ultimate objective for every single Superstar. It is tough to list the 10 Best Royal Rumble matches ever, but here we go:
#10 Royal Rumble 2005
The 2005 Royal Rumble witnessed some interesting scenes, with both Raw and SmackDown managers at the ringside dividing their superstars. Eight wrestlers uniting to eliminate Hassan, Vince McMahon tearing his quadriceps muscles and Batista and John Cena both falling from the top rope at the same time and landing outside the ring were the highlights of the event.
Eventually, they both were declared as winners by the referees of their respective brands. Referees from Raw declared Batista as the winner while SmackDown Referees declared John Cena as the winner. A confused chairman then made the right decision to restart the match between those two and in the end, Batista won the event for the first time in his career. He even went on to face his former Evolution team mate Triple H at WrestleMania to win the World Heavyweight Championship!
#9 Royal Rumble 1996
The 1996 event marked Shawn Michaels dominance in WWE who won the Royal Rumble for the second consecutive time. This was the second time a player achieved this feat after Hulk Hogan, who won back-to-back events back in 90 and 91. HBK eliminated 8 contestants after entering the arena at No.18. He eliminated the former nWo member Kevin Nash, or Diesel who was the last man standing in the ring in the end.
This event also marked the debut of Vader in WWE. He had 4 eliminations to his name and Diesel had 5. Vader was eventually eliminated by Michaels, who went on to win the WWF title against Bret Hart at WrestleMania.
#8 Royal Rumble 2000
The 2000 Royal Rumble saw The Rock controversially winning the event by eliminating Big Show after a tough match. He entered as the 24th contestant and won the event. This event will be remembered for the Kaientai (Funaki and Taka Michinoku) who repeatedly entered the ring and attacked the contestants. Taka was later injured with a concussion after landing awkwardly in the mat. This event also showed Rikishi’s dominance who eliminated 7 contestants and was later eliminated by 6 people.
The final four saw The Rock, Kane, Big Show and X-Pac fighting each other, with X-Pac eliminating Kane, who was later eliminated by Big Show. The Brahma Bull won it eventually and speculation was that Rock landed on his feet before throwing out Big Show, and it led to a four-way elimination match for the title, which was won by Triple H at WrestleMania.
#7 Royal Rumble 2006
The 2006 Rumble was one of the most memorable and emotional Royal Rumbles ever as the underdog Rey Mysterio won it and dedicated the win to his Late friend and beloved wrestler Eddie Guerrero. Mysterio started as the second entrant along with Triple H and managed to eliminate 6 people from the ring.
He also set the record for the longest time spent in the ring in a single Rumble match breaking the record set by the Late Chris Benoit in 2004. Finally, it came down to four people, Triple H, Mysterio, Rob Van Dam and Randy Orton, but Mr.619 managed to eliminate all three and won the event. He even went on to win his first World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 22.
#6 Royal Rumble 2002
The 2002 Royal Rumble saw Triple H’s comeback, Stone Cold Steve Austin’s dominance, Maven eliminating The Undertaker and more. Taker was favourite to win the event, he came in as the 8th entrant and quickly eliminated 7 people in the span of 7 minutes in the ring. While trying to warn the Hardy brothers, Maven executed a perfect Dropkick on Taker to eliminate him, but The Phenom went back into the ring and took his vengeance.
This event also showcased Austin’s dominance who lasted over 26 minutes and was tied with most eliminations (7) in the match. But it was The Game who stole the show on his comeback and dominated the whole time he was in the ring. He eliminated Kurt Angle as the last man standing to win the event.
#5 Royal Rumble 2003
The Royal Rumble 2003 will be remembered for the feud between Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels, which later led to one of the classic WrestleMania matches of all time. This event also marked the arrival of ‘The Beast’ Brock Lesnar in WWE, who won the match against Big Show earlier to enter into this main event.
The fans were excited and thrilled throughout the event, as the final four standing in the ring were Kane, Undertaker, Batista and Lesnar. The Phenom eliminated both the Animal and the Big Red Monster before losing at the hands of the Beast. However, Y2J was considered by everyone as the best wrestler in this event, as he 6 eliminations to his name. Had Michaels not interfered, Jericho might have won the whole thing!
#4 Royal Rumble 2001
The 2001 Royal Rumble match was one of the hardcore Rumble matches till date. The match had everything for the fans. Stone Cold Steve Austin’s third record breaking Rumble victory, Kane’s record 11 eliminations, Triple H and Stone Cold’s feud and more.
The Big Red Monster’s performance in this Rumble is still considered to be one of the best moments till date. His record 11 eliminations was broken by Roman Reigns in last year’s pay-per-view, where he made 12 eliminations. The highlight of the show was Kane hitting Honky Tonk Man with his own guitar.
Stone Cold was attacked by Triple H on his way to the entrance, who hit him very hard. Still The Texas Rattlesnake powered his way back to the ring, dominated the match and finally won by eliminating Kane. The blood seeping out of his head became one of the iconic images of the Royal Rumble.
#3 Royal Rumble 1992
1992 Royal Rumble is still remembered as one of the best and historic Rumble of all time. It featured a star-studded cast which made the fans wonder who is going to win the title. And yes, this is the first time in WWF/WWE history that the last man standing would win the WWF Championship title. The title was announced vacant after Hulk Hogan and Undertaker both controversially won their matches at the Survivor Series and at the title rematch.
This 1992 Royal Rumble features more than 11 WWE Hall of Famers and these great talents made this one hell of a classic Rumble. Hulk Hogan was the fan favorite to win the title, but Ric Flair won it after eliminating British Bulldog, Texas Tornado, Big Boss Man, Randy Savage and Sid Justice in the process.
#2 Royal Rumble 2007
The 2007 Royal Rumble event is one of the best and saw the number 30 entrant (The Undertaker) winning the event for the first time in Royal Rumble history. The Phenom won by eliminating Shawn Michaels in the end, before eliminating Montel Vontavious Porter and The Great Khali. The last match between HBK and Taker was for 10 long minutes.
This event saw Great Khali eliminating 7 persons single-handedly, Viscera being eliminated by 8 men, setting the record for most wrestlers involved in an elimination. But the interesting moment was when King Booker got eliminated by Kane, but he came back into the ring and performed his signature move Scissors Kick on the Big Red Machine and went on to eliminate him. The last 10 minutes saw both Undertaker and HBK fighting one-on-one until the Phenom threw him over the top rope.
#1 Royal Rumble 2004
A special Royal Rumble for The Crippler, who won this main event for the first time in his career and set the record for the longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble event. He was the second person to win the Rumble starting as the first entrant after Shawn Michaels. Eventually, the record set by Benoit was broken by Rey Mysterio later in 2006.
He started as the first entrant along with Randy Orton and managed to eliminate Bradshaw, Mark Henry, Rhyno, Matt Morgan, A-Train and Big Show in the process. The match had everything, from Undertaker’s music distracting and eliminating Kane, Randy Orton and Mick Foley’s brawl, then Foley eliminating both himself and Orton, and more than five wrestlers trying to eliminate Big Show and failing in the process.
But the interesting moment was Goldberg’s inclusion in this event, as he came in as the last entrant. This is the only Royal Rumble he has ever appeared in his career. He speared everyone at sight and the best spear of the night was for Nunzio. He was attacked by Lesnar and eliminated by Kurt Angle after managing only 5 minutes in the ring.
Benoit went on to win his first WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania XX after his triumph in this Rumble.
A WWE Hall of Famer called out AEW fans HERE
