5 greatest Royal Rumble moments

Onward we march, as we venture closer and closer to the Greatest Royal Rumble event hosted by Saudi Arabia. Regarded as one of the most important wrestling events of the year, it’s clear why the Royal Rumble has so much hype behind it.

Since its inception, the general wrestling audience has witnessed several great moments. Each of these moments helped the actual Royal Rumble match feel much more important.

In honour of this prestigious wrestling event, I would like to list my top five moments in the Royal Rumble match.

#5 Chyna enters the Rumble, 1999

Even though Chyna's story was something of a wrestling tragedy in the later days of her life, in the late 90's, she was one of the hottest stars in the pro wrestling business. With her strong features and muscular form, she was not shy about mixing it up with her male counterparts.

It was because of these factors that Chyna became the first female Royal Rumble participant in 1999. Even though she only lasted all of 35 seconds, she had a Mark Henry elimination to boast of.

This wasn’t the only year she competed, either, as she took part in the 2000 Royal Rumble the year after. She had similar success, with only one elimination (Chris Jericho) during her 37-second stint.

Nonetheless, Chyna’s involvement showed that the Royal Rumble was not a gender-specific match.

#4 The three faces of Foley

Mick Foley's ability to play several characters was profounding. During the course of his career, Foley portrayed three unique personalities: the deranged Mankind, the hip and happenin’ Dude Love and the pain-dealing outlaw Cactus Jack.

The Hardcore Legend took these characters to another level in the 1998 Royal Rumble match, by entering as every single one of them. To say that Foley is a method actor would be a gross understatement.

After he got eliminated as Cactus Jack, who was the first entrant, he would later come back as Mankind at the number 16 spot. That’s when fans started to pick up on Foley’s strategy, which made the 28th spot entry of Dude Love much more interesting.

#3 The stalemate

In 1994, Lex Luger was as patriotic as they came, wearing star-spangled trunks and possessing a hearty American attitude. Bret Hart, on the other hand, carved a niche for himself as the workhorse of the WWE, gaining appreciation from fans and critics around the world.

Both men, Hart in particular, became fan favourites and their double elimination at the 1994 Royal Rumble was easily one of the landmark moments of the event. The spot with two final contenders hitting the floor at the same time was executed for the first time and it would not be replicated until more than a decade later in 2005, when John Cena and Batista end up eliminating each other, though this was actually an accident.

I believe that a moment like this deserves recognition for its history-making value. However, if you were to tell me that Luger and Hart deserved to be co-winners, I would respectfully disagree. Even when the referees started arguing about who the winner was, it was clear that the crowd in Providence, Rhode Island was rooting for The Hitman.

#2 The Straight Edge sermon

Enter c — Punk attempting to convince Khali to join the SES

It’s hard to pinpoint when exactly CM Punk became exasperated with the WWE. However, one thing is clear - 2010 was a strong year, character-wise, for the Chicago-bred Superstar.

This was further defined by his performance in that year’s Royal Rumble. It’s good enough that he had a strong showing, as he eliminated promising stars like Zack Ryder and surprising contenders such as Beth Phoenix.

However, between the eliminations, he cut a sermon on the crowd, telling them how he would win the match, and even attempted to convince a few of his Rumble opponents to join the Straight Edge Society.

A promo being cut during the Rumble wasn’t done before, at least not to this degree. Punk showed true bravado by not only speaking about his dominance, but by backing it up. He allowed himself to be entertaining in all senses of the word, which is all that one asks for from a WWE Superstar.

While it took a couple of years for Punk to reach a higher plateau and become a main event-level star in the company, his journey to that point was a great watch.

#1 Ric Flair steals the show, 1992

The 1992 Royal Rumble was unique. The winner would not be a number one contender to the World Title, but, for the first time, the winner would walk away with the WWF Championship itself.

The stakes were high, meaning everyone was going to step up their game. Who would be rewarded with the vacant title? The ever-popular Hulk Hogan? Would The Undertaker reclaim his lost Championship? Maybe a wild card like Kerry Von Erich could be the last man standing? How about someone who first came into the company with a world title belt of his own?

That’s right. After coming into the match as the third entrant and lasting almost an hour, Ric Flair walked away with the WWE's most prestigious title. Of course, one could argue that the win was a fluke, as Flair had a bit of help eliminating Sid Justice from none other than Hogan.

Regardless, when the stakes of a Royal Rumble are this high, it’s hard to deny this moment’s importance.