There are plenty of ways to succeed in WWE, as the checklist of accomplishments includes achievements such as wrestling in a main event of WrestleMania, winning any number of Championships, becoming Mr Money in the Bank and so on. One of those, in particular, that many fans consider a staple, is to win at least one Royal Rumble match.
Unfortunately, in a field of 30 men, only one person can win each year, and after having 30 of these matches, there have been numerous two-time winners (or in one case, a three-time winner in Stone Cold Steve Austin).
Because of that, many of the greats have never been able to pull off this gargantuan task, despite being noteworthy enough that it would have been entirely within the realm of possibility for them to be chosen as the sole survivor.
For the purposes of this article, we'll be looking back on only the current and active roster members who have been shafted when it comes to Royal Rumble victories.
Plenty of fantastic Superstars from various eras weren't able to conquer this feat, but to name all of those who have retired (Ted DiBiase, Razor Ramon, etc) along with those who have passed on (Mr Perfect, Roddy Piper, etc) and those who aren't even in WWE anymore (CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, etc) would be a nearly endless list.
The same applies to younger main event talent who have only recently been added to the roster and can’t be expected to win on their first try.
However, there is still a surprisingly large amount of WWE's 2017 roster who have reached a level in the hierarchy of importance, where it's somewhat surprising they don't have a Royal Rumble win to their names.
In no particular order, let's take a look at some of those wrestlers who should have been given this honour by now.
#1 Big Show
Every year, WWE makes a huge deal about how size is one of the most advantageous traits in a Royal Rumble winner, but oddly enough, the biggest dog in the fight isn't normally the winner. Just ask Big Show, who has been in over half of the Royal Rumbles in history, yet never won a single time, despite being the biggest hurdle to get over more often than not.
The World's Largest Athlete has the size, speed and strength to replicate Andre the Giant's battle royal success, but WWE has never gone with the obvious booking decision to just have him win like he most likely would if this weren't scripted.
Instead, he's used as a boss level of sorts, where someone else has to struggle to get him over the top rope. This is either by someone who is also going to lose the match but also needs to be booked strong, or it's by the eventual winner who overcomes all the odds like Chris Benoit in 2004.
Big Show was in the final four on four separate occasions (2000, 2004, 2012 and 2015)—putting him in the second-highest tier for that statistic. Two of those times, he was the runner-up, which must be even more frustrating.
While Big Show looks to be in the best shape of his career right now, it's obvious that time is going to catch up to him sooner rather than later and he won't be around for another decade to be able to get back into a spot where WWE values him enough to give him a Royal Rumble win.
#2 Mark Henry
The World's Strongest Man should have a distinct advantage over everyone else in the competition due to his sheer strength and size, but Mark Henry doesn't seem to perform all that admirably in the Royal Rumble matches, all things considered.
Not once has Henry even been in the final four, let alone fighting it out as one of the last two in the ring. After ten appearances and a career that has lasted 20 years, one would think he'd have a better track record.
Instead, Henry seems to be a sacrificial lamb of sorts, playing out the role of an obstacle that appears to be in the way more than it really is. Rather than always being eliminated by a group of men or at least another behemoth like Brock Lesnar or The Undertaker, he's even been dumped out by folks like R-Truth.
This is very similar to the way WWE used to book Mabel/Viscera/Big Daddy V, where his entrance and the idea of him being an imposing bringer of destruction was more of an empty threat than an actual promise of victory.
His appearance in this year's Royal Rumble match was better than Big Show's, as he got one elimination to his name, but he still didn't last an incredibly long amount of time, placing with the fourth shortest length just above James Ellsworth, Enzo Amore and Big Show.
While he definitely doesn't appear to be on a career trajectory uprising to make us think he'll ever get a decent shot at winning, Henry is nevertheless a legend and a future Hall of Famer.
#3 Kane
If someone were to ask you who the most dominant man in Royal Rumble history was, without a doubt, Kane has to come into the discussion. For over a dozen years, he had the record for most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble and if you count his appearances as Isaac Yankem and Fake Diesel, he also has the record for most cumulative eliminations.
That's not all, either. He's also responsible for taking out Santino Marella with the quickest elimination in history and he's made the most amount of appearances in Royal Rumble matches with 21.
Still, the five-time final four participant, one-time runner-up (2001) and Big Red Elimination Machine has never been able to earn himself a title shot at WrestleMania through this method.
As a bit of a consolation prize, Kane was able to win the Battle Royale at WrestleMania 24 to earn a shot at the ECW Championship, which he won in mere seconds from Chavo Guerrero, but this obviously does not count as being anything comparable to a true Royal Rumble win.
Like Big Show and Mark Henry, Kane is reaching the twilight of his career and has been pushed aside for younger talent, so his time is likely up. There's time for WWE to give him one last big push before he retires, and sadly, he didn't even make an appearance at this year's event.
Now that Roman Reigns has beaten his record for most eliminations, it seems as though he'll have to settle for the other records still in his name. Even if Kane is never declared a winner, those accolades are incredible and he will forever be etched into WWE history as one of the men synonymous with the Royal Rumble gimmick.
#4 The Miz
For somebody who has had his fair share of haters and critics throughout his career, The Miz continues to add new achievements to his name year after year. He's held the Money in the Bank briefcase, every Championship the company has to offer, save for the newly created Universal title (which he can’t even compete for being on SD Live) and Cruiserweight Championship (because he's ineligible).
This Grand Slam Champion has already main-evented WrestleMania for the WWE Championship several years ago, which may be the death knell for his chances to ever do it again. That singular run is to this day, the only world title reign he's ever been given, so he's not come close since then.
Of course, since the reintroduction of the brand split, The Miz has been on fire. These past few months have seen a resurgence in his character and an intensity that was lacking for quite some time. With a second world title back in the mix and his stock rising, he could work himself back into good graces to be in contention.
2017 was not his year as there were too many other chess pieces in play for him to be factored in at such a high ranking, but if this trend of improvement continues, 2018 could be the year he finally crosses this off his list.
#5 Dolph Ziggler
The Showoff is one of the most perpetually underbooked performers in modern WWE history. For all of the great appearances he's made, he's always overlooked when it comes to the performers WWE's creative team put in the finals.
The only time he was able to crack the final four was in 2013 when he lasted all the way from the first entry point before being taken out of the equation by Sheamus. This is quite sad, considering how he's a former World Champion who can be trusted to go out every night to put on a great show.
This year, Ziggler's character went into the Royal Rumble with a bitter attitude and a determined mind frame to grab the brass ring and take what is rightfully his, but alas, he came up short yet again. Every time he builds up enough steam to be in the running, there are bigger fish to fry who push him further down the ladder so he's unable to really make any headway.
Whenever WWE has to pick between Ziggler and folks like Strowman, Goldberg, Lesnar and the other herculean beasts, there's no question what direction they'll go. As a big fan of Ziggler, I want to hold out some hope that he'll eventually get a Royal Rumble win. As a realist, I wouldn't expect to see it ever happen at this point.
#6 Dean Ambrose
The Lunatic Fringe was the runner-up for the 2016 Royal Rumble, but he was merely a pawn being used to further the storyline between Roman Reigns and Triple H. This is why he also was booked in his title match at Roadblock, which of course, he lost.
It seems as though WWE gets quite hesitant to put the ball in his hands around the beginning of the year and continues to build him up throughout the summer and fall months only to halt that momentum and push him in a different direction.
Last year, he sidestepped the world title and lost to Brock Lesnar instead. This year, it seems as though he's going to be responsible for the Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania rather than anything with the WWE Championship or Universal Championship.
He's still very much a highly valued member of the roster, though, this is clear. WWE knows how popular Dean Ambrose is, even if they aren't willing to fully capitalise on it when the Royal Rumble comes along.
His career is still in good enough standing, though, that if he is able to keep his work ethic up and not rub anybody the wrong way, he should be a top contender for the next few years to come. It's hard to imagine that he won't be able to win at least one of those times, right?
#7 Seth Rollins
There is still more than enough time for Seth Rollins to win the Royal Rumble as he's one of the most important players in WWE nowadays.
His first Royal Rumble appearance was in 2014 where he lasted from the second entrance spot to just shy of the final four. The following year, he was unsuccessful in winning the Royal Rumble but circumvented this by getting into the title match at WrestleMania with the Money in the Bank contract, walking out with the Championship.
In 2016, Rollins wasn't able to compete due to injury and this year oddly enough, WWE chose to go in a direction where he not only didn't win this year's match but he didn't even compete or show up on the pay-per-view at all!
After having been at the very top of the company or at least having hovered around that spot for several years, the fact that Rollins has missed out on two of his potential four Royal Rumble matches is perplexing.
If this track record keeps up, maybe Rollins actually won't end up ever winning this match as he might not get another chance to compete in it during a time frame where he'd be prioritised enough to be chosen over whoever WWE would like to see face the other world Champion at the time.
Remember, you can outlast 28 of those men and come up in second place, but if that one other person is who WWE prefers to be the official winner, you still lose and don't get this on your resume, even if you wrestle for a world title at WrestleMania.
Just ask Daniel Bryan, Chris Jericho and plenty of others who have been bitten by that curse.
#8 Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho has accomplished virtually everything possible in his WWE career at this point in the game. Barring the things he isn't eligible for like the Cruiserweight Championship, he's only missing a King of the Ring crown, a Money in the Bank briefcase, the new Universal Championship and a Royal Rumble victory.
This year should have been his year to cross that off the list, as a match against Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship would please so many fans and certainly deliver in terms of both the promos leading up to WrestleMania, as well as the in-ring work during the match itself.
Sadly, both this year and in 2012 when Sheamus was victorious, Jericho came up short. WWE has always been very fond of Sheamus and probably thought it was a better idea to go with a younger guy than a more established one, but in the years since, the script has been flipped and now, those who don't necessarily need the win get it.
Why he wasn't chosen to be the 2017 winner over Orton remains to be seen, but this was his best chance ever and it has slipped by once more.
#9 Goldberg
While Goldberg is fresh and exciting to the WWE Universe at the moment and was even heading into this year's Royal Rumble as one of the potential favourites, it makes perfect sense why Goldberg has never won a title shot at WrestleMania in this fashion (or any, for that matter).
First off, the overwhelming majority of his career was spent not in WWE itself, but in WCW, where the Royal Rumble match doesn't even exist. Anybody who was under that company's banner in January of any year failed to be eligible to win the Royal Rumble no matter how successful they were.
The one and only time Goldberg was around and could have become victorious, he was eliminated by Kurt Angle with a little help from Brock Lesnar. All three are now back in the company, which is funny, meaning many things are coming full circle back to 2004 but in a slightly different way.
This year, Goldberg had a somewhat impressive performance despite only being in the match for under four minutes, but he at least eliminated Lesnar to make them even in that regard.
If all those years missing from WWE could be changed to active roster time, it's almost a certainty that Goldberg would have won at least a single Royal Rumble due to how he's been consistently booked as unstoppable for the entirety of his career, but now that he's on the verge of retirement, it will never happen.
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