5 superstars with standout performances in men's Royal Rumble 2018 match

30 men enter the Royal Rumble, but only one man can claim victory—unless it's 1994, but that doesn't count.

Despite this, there are always at least a few other wrestlers who manage to put on a good enough and impressive showing even though they weren't able to be the last man standing.

This could be due to all sorts of different things from the quality of their in-ring skills to the feats they accomplish during the match with eliminations, duration and more.

Now that the 2018 Royal Rumble is in the bag, let's take a look at five of the Superstars who were able to steal the spotlight in their own way.

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#5 Heath Slater

Who would have thought Heath Slater would be on this list?

It sounds ridiculous to put someone who lasted less than a minute, but while he has none of the accolades the rest of this list can attest to, that doesn't mean he didn't leave his mark.

Regardless of his loss, it's actually his overall terrible performance itself that made him stand out since he was a major focal point for the beginning of the match with every entrant attacking him in some fashion during the entrances.

Just for irony's sake and a bit of karma, perhaps, Heath Slater managed to turn this around and score the quickest elimination of the night when he took Sheamus out of the match in what appears to be a mere two seconds, although a backstage video had Slater claiming it was 0.8 seconds.

That is nearly a new record and it could have just as easily been given to a bigger name like John Cena or Randy Orton, but it was the guy everybody picked on who pulled out that achievement and managed to be entertaining in getting beaten down just the same.

#4 Rey Mysterio

Rey Mysterio hits a classic 619 on The Miz

When you consider injuries, suspensions and time spent no longer an employee of WWE at all, the better part of the past 8 years has been largely missing Rey Mysterio.

While he was still in WWE, his legacy was being tarnished with constant breaks, a failing body that was out of shape, and more than likely a disinterest in sticking around, which prompted his exit and other ventures elsewhere.

Out of nowhere in the 2018 Royal Rumble, his music hit—and, for the record, wasn't met with boos like in 2014 when he was the #30 entrant.

Just like that, it seemed like everyone had been transported back in time to the Rey Mysterio of old, who was suddenly in better physical condition than we had seen in years and gave off a vibe that this was special and fun again.

He only managed to eliminate one person (Adam Cole) and add roughly nine and a half minutes to his cumulative Royal Rumble total, his big win is mostly due to his status as a legend and this being a major improvement from what we had gotten used to seeing years ago.

#3 Roman Reigns

Did you really expect Roman Reigns to not be listed here somewhere?

Like it or not, it was inevitable that Roman Reigns would find his way on this list because he's perhaps the absolute biggest priority on the entire WWE roster and nothing is going to change that anytime soon.

The Big Dog came up short of another Royal Rumble victory, but not by all that much, seeing as how he was the final elimination before Shinsuke Nakamura's victory.

Along with this, Reigns was one of the two men who tied for having the most eliminations throughout the match with 4: The Miz, Seth Rollins, Titus O'Neil and Randy Orton.

It's arguable that had it not been for the Philadelphia crowd so adamantly rejecting Reigns in 2015, WWE might have gone ahead and had him win this match, too, but thankfully thought otherwise and avoided a riot as a repeat would have certainly sparked some severe hatred from the audience.

Reigns fans shouldn't fret, though. The Elimination Chamber is just around the corner and it has his name written all over it.

#2 Finn Balor

Before the chaos of the Royal Rumble, Finn Balor took his time to soak in the atmosphere

There are those who feel like Finn Balor has been largely ignored since returning from his injury, as he hasn't been a primary main event talent, has yet to win another title, and can't seem to stick to a solid enough feud for a long enough time.

Some of that criticism toward WWE misusing him is definitely invalid now with his performance in the 2018 Royal Rumble match, as he started from the #2 spot and became the Iron Man of this year's event.

In his nearly one full hour performance, he was able to amass 4 eliminations, taking out Baron Corbin extremely early on, followed by Aiden English, Dolph Ziggler and Rey Mysterio.

As mentioned with Roman Reigns, this was the record for this year's most eliminations, and it would help get Balor to the point where he would be one of the final four of the entire match.

This was a particularly impressive showing for someone who was considered not over enough to justify putting in a Universal Championship match, wasn't it?

#1 Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura secures his spot at WrestleMania 34 with a Royal Rumble victory

Of course, when push comes to shove, it's the winner of the match who really puts on the most impressive performance, as that's what truly matters.

For the first time in several years, Shinsuke Nakamura was able to do something that previous Royal Rumble winners couldn't do: get cheered in his victory.

While Roman Reigns caused uproars and there was a certain flatness to Randy Orton's victory last year, Nakamura was welcomed with open arms by the crowd in Philadelphia.

This win grants him a title opportunity against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34, and it was certainly earned when looking at his stats.

While the most eliminations were accumulated by Finn Balor and Roman Reigns at 4 a piece, Nakamura wasn't far off with his 3 eliminations of Sami Zayn, John Cena and Reigns himself.

Also, he had the second-longest time, clocking in at 44 minutes and 25 seconds, which was a full 14 minutes above the third-highest ranked, Rusev.

Most importantly of all, Nakamura simply won the match, and you can't get better than that.