8 Most Successful Last Man Standing Winners in WWE

As AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura get ready to battle it out one more (and possibly final) time at Money in the Bank 2018, Shinsuke Nakamura has chosen the Last Man Standing stipulation, giving this match all the elements of delivering another absolute classic, potentially even exceeding the magic they created in the Tokyo Dome.

It’ll be Shinsuke Nakamura’s first ever match of this kind in his career, whilst Styles has already been in a handful of these matches in TNA with mixed results.

Since its official inception on February 14, 1999, at the appropriately named St Valentines Day Massacre pay-per-view (or unofficial inception in WWE on December 15, 1996, which I'll explain a little later), there has been a total of 40 Last Man Standing matches.

The rules are simple: you have to beat your opponent up so badly that they will not be able to stand up after a count of ten. As history suggests with the Last Man Standing matches, most wrestlers use the lack of rules to their advantage, with their use of weapons and taking wherever the fight may end up.

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However, it takes a certain type of wrestler to score a victory over an opponent, so which wrestlers have been the most successful and needed to do whatever it takes to win this type of match?

Note - For the purpose of this article, this list only includes wrestlers who have been in more than one match, otherwise MVP, Sheamus, Dean Ambrose and Asuka would also be included this list all with one victory each.

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#8 Randy Orton (W2 – D1 – L1 – 50% Win Ratio)

The Viper knows what it takes to win in these matches.

Randy Orton has probably accomplished everything that's necessary on the WWE main roster.

Some of his accomplishments include being a grand slam champion, winning the Royal Rumble and headlining WrestleMania, so it's hardly a shock that Orton has won more Last Man Standing matches than he has lost.

Normally, someone that’s only won 50% of their matches wouldn’t really be classified as triumphant. But considering one ended in a no contest, this technically means that Randy Orton has only lost one of his four matches.

On that note alone this is why the Viper makes the cut. Three of his matches may have been against the Cerebral Assassin Triple H, with the end result being different every time but an additional win against CM Punk at Extreme Rules 2011 has put Orton in the winning column.

Most Memorable Match: No Mercy 2007 against Triple H

#7 John Cena (W3 – D1 - L2 – 50% Win Ratio)

Cena has had six different opponents in this match

With the exception of one wrestler, John Cena has been in more Last Man Standing matches in WWE than anyone else.

His catchphrase ‘Never Give Up’ couldn’t apply more to this type of match, which reflects on his results.

Moreover, if you take into account that both of Cena’s losses have come from outside interference (Big Show in Backlash 2009, and The Miz and R-Truth in Vengeance 2011), this shows that ‘Big Match John’ has yet to lose cleanly in this match over six appearances, and his win-loss ratio could be different.

Most Memorable Match: Backlash 2009 against Edge

#5 (Tied) Chris Jericho (W2 – D0 - L1 – 66% Win Ratio)

Jericho is one of the most innovative wrestlers in this match.

The inventor of the Money in the Bank ladder match, Chris Jericho has been in many different types of matches, including a few Last Man Standing matches.

In fact, he has the distinction of being the first wrestler that’s been in this particular match twice.

Jericho is no stranger to using weapons and has proved in all three of his matches that he’s willing to use anything in his disposal, regardless if it’s steel chairs, tables, or in one case a stack of 16 barrels on his opponent to seal a victory.

Most Memorable Match: Fully Loaded 2000 against Triple H

#5 (Tied) Roman Reigns (W2 – D0 - L1 – 66% Win Ratio)

Roman Reigns can be ruthless like anyone else

Whether you love him or hate him, Roman Reigns also comes in at joint number five. Despite all three of Roman’s Last Man Standing matches being against wrestlers that are significantly bigger than him, his results have confirmed that he's not afraid of a slugfest.

With the exception of one anomaly in his most recent match, we’d probably see his name a little higher up the list. That being said, Reigns still has more ticks in the wins column than the losses column.

Most Memorable Match: Raw - August 7th 2017 against Braun Strowman

#4 Alberto Del Rio (W3 – D0 - L1 – 75% Win Ratio)

Del Rio boasts a 3 and 1 record.

From June 2011 to April 2013, only three Last Man Standing matches took place in WWE and Alberto Del Rio has featured in all of them.

What makes this more impressive is that he won all of them including two wins against the Big Show in the span of a few weeks.

Despite the majority of his victories have come from some additional help, the record books will say that Del Rio is one of the most successful wrestlers in the Last Man Standing match.

Most Memorable Match: Smackdown - January 11th 2013 against Big Show

#3 Undertaker (W3 – D1 – L0 – 75% Win Ratio)

Undertaker has never lost in a Last Man Standing match.

The Undertaker has been part of a number of ‘firsts’ in WWE. In the first ever Hell in a Cell match, he fought Shawn Michaels. In the first ever Inferno match, he shared the honours with Kane. It is no different with the Last Man Standing match, except his opponent was the Batista.

(For those debating this was in fact an ‘Armageddon Rules’ match, asides from the unnecessary original three count before the ten count – all the other rules are the same, so on that note, I am going to count this).

Batista is the only wrestler that has stopped Undertaker from having a perfect score, and it took a spear off the stage with equipment then falling on both wrestlers for The Undertaker not being able to answer the 10 count, which Batista also couldn’t answer.

Most Memorable Match - Backlash 2007 against Batista

#1 (Tied) Edge (W3 – D0 – L0 – 100% Win Ratio)

Edge has won all of his Last Man Standing matches.

Considering the fact that Edge was part of the first-ever Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, placing him in a match that has next to no rules where competitors are able to use any weapon at their disposal is a match that naturally suits him.

Labeled as the Ultimate Opportunist, it should be no surprise that Edge has got a clean sweep in this type of match, including one match where he used a brick on his opponent to get the 10 count.

Most Memorable Match: Backlash 2009 against John Cena

#1 (Tied) Braun Strowman (W3 – D0 – L0 – 100% Win Ratio)

Will anyone be able to stop Strowman in this type of match?

Most big and strong wrestlers are often described in an overzealous manner by commentators, declared as formidable and dominant yet still losing more regularly than they are portrayed – Kane, Big Show and Mark Henry are good examples to look at.

This doesn’t apply to Braun Strowman, a wrestler who very rarely loses cleanly. This also applies to his Last Man Standing appearances, with Sami Zayn, Reigns, and Kane all falling victim to ‘get these hands’.

If you also take into account that he has only been a singles competitor since 2016, there’s no reason to think Strowman wouldn’t add even more victims to his tally, and considering the brutality he has shown in these matches, it would take something or someone very special to beat him.

Most Memorable Match: Raw - August 7th 2017 against Roman Reigns

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Which of these matches were among your favourite Last Man Standing matches? Sound off in the comments section below!