Ranking the last 20 Royal Rumble matches from worst to best

#6 2005

What a dramatic ending.

This match happened at the peak of the Ruthless Aggression Era and the rivalry between Raw and Smackdown. The roster was well divided and we got various mentions of the brand divide here, with Jim Ross and Tazz on commentary. We saw a lot of up-and-comers, who had made various impacts in the WWE and the Royal Rumble so far, but they needed to take the next step. This was the case for John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Edge and Batista. These four made up a fantastic final four that built to the future. While the end would be much more memorable, the 2005 Royal Rumble match started off pretty well too. The two stars of WrestleMania 20, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit were the opening entrants to the match. It was a strong start, something Tough Enough winner Dan Puder could attest to. He got the life chopped out of him by Guerrero, Benoit and especially Hardcore Holly, before being put out of his misery and eliminated.

This Rumble saw so many excellent wrestlers make their way for decent showings, from Booker T to Chris Jericho among a couple of others. We got the setup to a marquee WrestleMania match, as Kurt Angle brutally attacked Shawn Michaels upon being eliminated from the match by him in a matter of seconds. Edge and Mysterio had excellent showings, lasting until the final four from numbers 7 and 8 respectively. Benoit himself lasted until the final six, before being thrown out by number 30 entrant Ric Flair. Flair's stablemate and massive rising star, Batista was left with United States Champion John Cena in the final two, before the drama unfolded. During a botched spot, both men fell out of the ring and hit the floor at the same time. This prompted a furious Mr McMahon to come out and blow both his quads while in the ring. The match was restarted and the Animal came out as the victor, but not without that great deal of controversy.

This match was indicative of WWE's former days as an absolute star-making machine, as none from Batista, Cena, Edge and Mysterio had won a world title at that point. They now have a combined total of 36 world championships to their collective names.

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#5 2010

A great start to a disappointing year for WWE.

2010 was a really disappointing year for WWE. The Nexus storyline looked to have some real potential but it was badly derailed by John Cena. The main event scene on Smackdown primarily focused on the likes of Jack Swagger and Kane, while the overall quality of the product was pretty low. However, the year started off brilliantly. The entire first quarter of 2010, leading into WrestleMania, was WWE close to their finest. It started at the Royal Rumble, one of the best and most unpredictable ones of all time. There were so many memorable moments over here. The opening third of this match was dominated by CM Punk, who went on a sermon between entrants. He eliminated five Superstars, including Beth Phoenix. The Glamazon, at the time of writing, is the only WWE Superstar in history to enter both the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches, unless Kharma makes a surprise appearance in the Rumble. She shockingly eliminated the Great Khali as well.

Another primary story of this Rumble was Shawn Michaels and his quest to face the Undertaker at WrestleMania 26, following their epic show-stealer at the previous 'Mania. HBK entered the match and dominated, eliminating competitors left and right. He would even eliminate best friend and tag team partner, Triple H as he perfectly illustrated the desperation he was feeling to win the Royal Rumble. Michaels lasted until the final four before he was eliminated. Upon elimination, he took his frustration out on the officials at ringside before walking off in disappointment. However, this Rumble belonged to Edge. After spending the entire second half of 2009 on the shelf with a career-threatening injury, the Rated-R Superstar returned at number 29, and with a vengeance. He won the match, last eliminating John Cena, to set up World Heavyweight Championship date at WrestleMania. Aside from these, the 2010 Rumble match was really good because the ring was hardly crowded. The action came thick and fast, eliminating the problem of congestion and confusion. In a way, it was similar to the 2002 Royal Rumble match, which also emanated from Atlanta.

At no point during the match were there ten wrestlers or more in the ring. In fact, the final four was decided even before the number 30 entrant came out. It was a refreshing change, following the overcrowded Rumble in 2009. This would be the last satisfying Rumble match for many, many years.

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#4 2004

This was the forgotten Rumble.

WrestleMania 20 was a very big deal, with the Showcase of the Immortals returning to Madison Square Garden. This made the 2004 Royal Rumble match a big deal as well. None of the 30 men who entered the Rumble match had won it before, making it all the more special. We knew the number 1 and number 30 entrants beforehand, with Chris Benoit beginning the match and Goldberg rounding out the participants. Benoit was the glue that stuck this entire match together. He started the match with Randy Orton, who had an impressive showing here. There was a bunch of realistic main event candidates here, ranging from Benoit and Kurt Angle to Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho.

One of the biggest moments of the match came when Mick Foley made his surprise return to thwart Orton, who had been torturing him. This would set up a star-making program for the Viper against Foley. Elsewhere, Kane would get eliminated after getting distracted by The Undertaker's gong, in the lead-up to the return of the Deadman at ‘Mania. In the end, it was Chris Benoit who lasted until the end and won the match. He ended a run of dominance from the Big Show, by using his legendary technical skill to eliminate the Giant. This was a great match that set up a lot of stuff for the Show of Shows in 2004, but it does not get spoken about for obvious reasons. Benoit's actions have put a dampener on everything he has done in the ring including this Royal Rumble match.

This truly was the forgotten Rumble. It is worth remembering though, especially if you can separate Benoit in the ring and in real life. His performance here may be one of the greatest in the history of the Royal Rumble.