Ranking the last 20 Royal Rumble matches from worst to best

#12 2018 (Women's)

This debut made the entire match and event feel much bigger.

Last year, WWE put on the first ever all-women's Royal Rumble match. There was a lot of scepticism on how the match would play out, especially when it was placed in the main event slot of the January supershow. It turned out to be a more than adequate history maker. A fun showcase of the past and present of the WWE's female roster, this match delivered in probably the best possible way. Despite having Stephanie McMahon as a commentator, the action was consistently great. There was a blend of the current women's division along with regular surprise entrants from past legends and Divas. We saw the likes of Molly Holly, Michelle McCool, Jacqueline and Beth Phoenix among others, including the two biggest stars in WWE's female past, Lita and Trish Stratus. There was also a glimpse into the future with appearances from NXT Superstars, Kairi Sane and Ember Moon. Along with these, even Vickie Guerrero made her return, screeching her signature "Excuse me" much to the delight of the wonderful Philly crowd.

Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, two of WWE's four horsewomen, started off the Rumble, a fitting way to begin the first ever match of its kind. The crowd was massively into all the dozen surprises, all well spaced out between full-time performers. There were loads of cool moments, from rivalries renewed to dream matches being teased. Old NXT rivals Asuka and Ember Moon went at it, while the final entrant Trish Stratus faced off against Mickie James, one of the best moments of the entire night, before having a great confrontation with Sasha Banks. The Legit Boss had a fantastic showing, lasting from the start until the final four and eliminating a bunch of participants, including best friend Bayley. The end saw the returning Bella Twins team up against the undefeated Asuka. The Empress would stand tall after last eliminating Nikki Bella. As she was being made to choose her WrestleMania opponent, Joan Jett's 'Bad Reputation' played on the speakers, signalling the astronomical arrival of Ronda Rousey to WWE. She made her debut after the 30-woman match, repeatedly pointing to the WrestleMania sign and seemingly stealing some of the thunder from the main event match.

A worthy celebration of the women in WWE followed by an Earth-shattering debut make this a Rumble to remember. It was a solid first ever all-female match, but the quality of such a match can only improve from here.

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#11 2009

This was Randy's Rumble.

This was such a middle of the road Royal Rumble. It was not a bad match, but nothing particularly spectacular happened here. 2009 may have seen the most people share the ring in Royal Rumble history, with the match being really crowded at most times. As a result, there were many Superstars who enjoyed impressive runs here. From unlikely names like Mike Knox and Finlay to household main eventers like Rey Mysterio and Chris Jericho, the early birds of the 2009 Rumble match were more successful. In fact, each of the final four competitors was in the first half of entrants in this match. Randy Orton won the match, a predictable but fairly good outcome nevertheless.

He was joined by his Legacy stablemates Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes shortly after entering at number 8, with both his proteges staying till the end with him. Rhodes even eliminated his brother Goldust. One moment that this Rumble is famous for is Santino Marella's quick elimination. The Milan Miracle was thrown out of the match a second after he entered, breaking the Warlord's previous record of 2 seconds. We also saw a surprise return from Rob Van Dam, who made his way and wowed the audience among the dense crowd in the ring. The final four consisted of the aforementioned trio of second generation Superstars, Legacy and entrant number 7 Triple H. The Game put up a great fight, eliminating Dibiase and Rhodes, before an opportunistic Orton struck from behind to secure his place in the main event of WrestleMania 25.

The Viper would face Triple H at the Show Of Shows, continuing the theme of the story of Orton tormenting the McMahon family. It was a more than worthy primary story to a perfectly adequate Royal Rumble match.

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#10 2003

A whole rush of stars made their Royal Rumble debuts here.

The Ruthless Aggression Era began in the wake of the original brand split in mid-2002. A whole new crop of stars came into prominence, particularly on Smackdown. It was on full show at the 2003 edition of the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Kurt Angle successfully defended his WWE Championship against former tag team partner Chris Benoit, in a classic match that will be remembered as one of the best world title matches in the history of this event. The rest of the famously called 'Smackdown Six' were all in the Rumble. Rey Mysterio, Edge, Chavo Guerrero and Eddie Guerrero all had decent showings, proving that the future was here to stay.

We also saw impressive Royal Rumble debuts for future Hall Of Famers Batista and John Cena, with the former lasting until the final four. However, the star of the match was Chris Jericho, who lasted longer than anybody from the number 2 spot. He even eliminated Shawn Michaels at the start of the match following a distraction from Christian. The match was won by another new star, Brock Lesnar, who performed double duty on the night following his impressive victory over the Big Show in the opener. The Beast last eliminated The Undertaker, who made his surprise return at number 30. With the barrage of new talent in this Rumble, it certainly built towards the future.

These were exciting times for WWE, with so many future main event stars coming through the ranks here. Lesnar wasn't even on the WWE main roster for a year when he won the Rumble, certainly a bold but telling move made by the company at the time.