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The 2018 Royal Rumble event is in the books, and boy oh boy was it interesting. From shocking debuts to dozens of old faces coming up for air for the first time in years, this year’s Rumble pay per view was arguably the most memorable of the last decade.
The women’s match being the main event had a lot to do with that, and so did the appearance of Ronda Rousey, but let’s not forget just how good the guys did this year too. It was easily their best incarnation of the match since at least 2010, with lots of people looking good and with there being a fun winner for the first time in what feels like forever.
It really does feel like we’re in for a special road to WrestleMania this year and while there’s almost certainly going to be a few speed bumps, five guys, in particular, made sure that they put their names in the headlines after lasting for as long as they did in Philly.
With that being said, here are the five longest runs in the men’s Royal Rumble.
#5) Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas – 28:20
What a way to introduce yourself to the main roster.
Not too long ago Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas was desperately trying to remain relevant alongside many other top stars down in NXT, and now, he’s one of the most entertaining acts in all of WWE. With Zelina Vega by his side, this guy has completely reinvigorated his career, and the scary thing is that he’s still in his late 20s.
Following a tremendous performance at Takeover, he popped up during the Rumble and managed to last almost half an hour in what many are considering to be one of the most entertaining Rumbles of all time. With that kind of feather in his cap so early on in his WWE tenure, don’t be surprised to see Almas continue to climb the ladder at an extremely fast rate.
#4) John Cena – 28:33
Big Match John may not be around on a weekly basis anymore, but you can’t deny that he’s still one of the best guys when it comes to competing in high profile bouts. Case and point – even when he and Reigns were getting booed out of the building last night he still managed to grind out a series of impressive sequences, which eventually led to him lasting for 28 minutes in the match.
Many fans were probably hoping to see some kind of interaction with The Undertaker, but there’s still plenty of time for that to happen. John was on good form last night and hopefully, he’ll be sticking around for longer now that we’re on the road to WrestleMania, but even if he doesn’t, we’re satisfied with what we got to see in Philadelphia.
#3) Rusev – 30:27
From the second Rusev stepped foot in front of the Philly crowd, you just knew that they were going to try and use him to hijack the show. The Bulgarian Brute is one of the most over guys on the roster and that’s all because of his own hard work, and now, it seems as if WWE is finally starting to recognise him for what he truly is – a one of a kind talent.
Rusev has been given the chance to shine on SmackDown Live as more of a comedy character, but now, it’s time to slip in some of the monster heel greatness that we all know and love him for.
There was a time when he was considered to be a future world champion, and we want to get back to a point where that’s a real possibility again.
#2) Shinsuke Nakamura – 44:25
Shinsuke Nakamura is heading to New Orleans as the winner of the 2018 Royal Rumble match, and he’ll be facing AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.
We really don’t need to say all too much apart from that, because that one sentence speaks volumes. Nakamura has had an incredibly average start to life on the main roster and that’s no secret, but thankfully, last night went a long way to helping him feel like a main event star once again.
Nakamura entered the Rumble quite early on and managed to stay in the game until the very end, with his ending sequence alongside Roman Reigns being the best that we’ve seen since Chris Jericho and Sheamus in 2012.
#1) Finn Balor – 57:30
If you want to witness the definition of a star-making performance, then we highly suggest you go back and watch Finn Balor in last night’s Royal Rumble match.
The Demon King was able to prove to the world why he’s one of the best in-ring performers in WWE right now, with his 57 minutes being just 5 shy of the all-time record set by Rey Mysterio over a decade ago.
Balor means business and if he isn’t positioned as a credible threat to the Universal Championship moving forward, then we legitimately don’t know what WWE is doing anymore. It’s not like he needs to win the title right now, but his rise to the top is going to be special and this kind of Rumble showcase is exactly what he needed to get back on track.
