5 WWE Superstars who won the Royal Rumble in their first attempt

#3 Brock Lesnar (WWE Royal Rumble 2003)

Brock Lesnar

One year before Chris Benoit shocked the world, Brock Lesnar established himself as the top star in WWE by winning the Royal Rumble Match. He did so less than a year into his career and after pulling double duty. Lesnar defeated The Big Show earlier on at Royal Rumble 2003 to qualify for the main event, which he won.

Entering at number 29, The Beast eliminated four Superstars en route to victory. His elimination of Matt Hardy was particularly impressive, F5-ing him out of the ring onto a prone Team Angle. Lesnar won the Royal Rumble by last eliminating The Undertaker, quite possibly his greatest ever rival.

He would go on to win the WWE Championship from Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 19, where he infamously finished the match with a heavy concussion. Anyway, this was Lesnar's only Royal Rumble Match until 2016. He would be a part of three other 30-man contests, without coming particularly close to victory even once.

Despite his victory in 2003, Brock Lesnar's most memorable Royal Rumble moment surely is the dominant run he went on in the 2020 match. He eliminated a record 13 Superstars from the match before being emphatically dumped out by Drew McIntyre.