5 Royal Rumble winners who put their title opportunity at stake

We are less than two days away from the 2019 edition of Royal Rumble. The atmosphere for welcoming the first PPV of 2019 is ecstatic. A lot of speculation about the winner has been up in the air for the past few weeks, and a lot of superstars from the likes of The Rock to the likes of Seth Rollins are in the fans' discussions. After all, the winner of the Royal Rumble match could head on to challenge the champion of his or her choosing at Wrestlemania.

Most Royal Rumble winners tend to play it safe by just having a few matches between the Rumble and Wrestlemania. However, some superstars took the extra step to put their "title opportunity" at stake - to give themselves and the WWE Universe a feel of an adrenaline rush. In this list, we will take a look at a few superstars who put their title opportunity at stake.

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#5 Roman Reigns

Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns had a brilliant match at Fastlane.

Roman Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble to a chorus of boos from the WWE Universe. The backlash was so hard that the "Cancel WWE Network" was trending on twitter for a few weeks. Daniel Bryan's unceremonious elimination was the catalyst for this negative crowd reaction.

However, in the coming weeks, the Authority persuaded Reigns to defend his Wrestlemania title shot at Fastlane. To the fans' surprise, Daniel Bryan won the qualification match against Seth Rollin to earn that spot. Fans expected Bryan to defeat Reigns and fight for the title he never lost against Brock Lesnar.

Reigns and Bryan had a brilliant match. Reigns even kicked out of Bryan's running knee - a finisher that was never kicked out before in WWE. In the end, Reigns speared Bryan to retain his opportunity to challenge Lesnar at Wrestlemania.

#4 Randy Orton

Orton had to defend his opportunity against AJ Styles.

Randy Orton won the 2017 Royal Rumble as the part of the Wyatt Family. While John Cena was the WWE Champion at that time, it was apparent we would be getting another Cena vs Orton clash. However, at Elimination Chamber 2017, Bray Wyatt won the WWE Championship from Cena.

Thus, due to a conflict of interest, Orton decided not to pursue the WWE championship. This action forced the SmackDown LIVE commissioner Shane McMahon to conduct a Battle Royale to determine the number 1 contender to Wyatt's title. Luke Harper and AJ Styles tied in that match and Styles defeated Harper in the tiebreaker.

However, at the same time, Orton decided to change his mind and turned on Bray Wyatt. He challenged Wyatt for the WWE title at Wrestlemania 33. However, due to Styles already winning the contender's match, Orton had to win against Styles to become the number 1 contender.

Orton defeated Styles to advance to Wrestlemania as the number 1 contender to the WWE championship.

#3 Triple H

Kurt Angle vs Triple H at No Way Out 2002.

At Vengence 2001, Chris Jericho became the first ever Superstar to hold both WWE and WCW championship at the same time after defeating both Stone Cold and The Rock in the same night. Thus the opportunity to challenge the only top champion of WWE at Wrestlemania became coveted.

Triple H won the 2002 Royal Rumble after eliminating Kurt Angle. However, Angle demanded a match against Triple H for the game's Wrestlemania title opportunity. At No Way Out 2002, Triple H faced off with Kurt Angle to determine the number 1 contender for the Undisputed Championship at Wrestlemania, with Stephanie McMahon as the special guest referee.

Triple H's wife, however, had other plans and was biased towards Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle managed to win the match after aligning with Stephanie to earn himself the Undisputed championship match at Wrestlemania. However, on the next episode of RAW, Triple H defeated Kurt Angle to reclaim his title opportunity.

#2 John Cena

CM Punk performed the Piledriver on John Cena in 2013.

After holding the WWE championship for 434 days, a modern-day record, CM Punk lost to The Rock at the 2013 edition of Royal Rumble. On the same night, John Cena won the 2013 Royal Rumble match to earn himself a championship match at Wrestlemania 29.

After losing his WWE title, Punk invoked his rematch clause at Elimination Chamber 2013. In the main event, The great one successfully defended his WWE championship against Punk.

Furious at this, Punk attacked Cena and declared himself as the number 1 contender. Thus, Cena defended his title opportunity on an episode of RAW. Unlike most of the other entries on this list, this match was an absolute barn burner. Both Punk and Cena brought out big moves. Punk even did a Piledriver on Cena. Cena won the match and remained the number 1 contender.

#1 Rey Mysterio

Randy Orton defeated Rey Mysterio at No Way Out 2002.

Shortly after the passing of WWE legend Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio vowed to win the 2006 edition of Royal Rumble as a tribute to the Latino Heat. After drawing number 2 in the Rumble, Mysterio overcame all the odds to win the Rumble after finally eliminating Randy Orton to challenge Kurt Angle for the World Heavyweight Championship.

However, Randy Orton was unhappy at this and challenged Mysterio for a match at No Way Out 2006, with Mysterio's title shot on the line. Orton won the match after rolling up Mysterio by using the ropes for leverage - a clear underhand tactic.

Even though Mysterio lost the match, the Smackdown General Manager Theodore Long was not impressed by Orton's methods to win the match and awarded Mysterio a direct opportunity - making the Wrestlemania match a triple threat between the Champion Kurt Angle, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio.