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The WWE Royal Rumble is one of the most anticipated and exciting events in all of professional wrestling. Fans will always tune in to watch the Rumble because of its entertainment factor. This year, even though the WWE Universe will not be in attendance, people will still be watching through their screens and it holds the same importance as any other Royal Rumble.
Picking the winner for the WWE Royal Rumble can be extremely tricky because that Superstar will be main eventing WrestleMania, which is a big responsibility. Moreover, a Royal Rumble match is mostly remembered for who won it and what followed. Sometimes, these matches can work wonderfully. However, there are times when WWE picks the wrong Superstar to win the marquee match and it fails to create an impact.
In the last five years, we have seen five different WWE men's Royal Rumble winners (not counting the Greatest Royal Rumble) who have gone on to challenge for a World Championship. Some were received and booked quite well, while others, not so much. While judging the winners we'll have to take a look at how it was won, how the Superstar benefited from it, and what came out of the win.
So, without further ado, let's rank the winners of the WWE men's Royal Rumble from the last five years.
#5 Randy Orton (WWE Royal Rumble 2017)
Randy Orton is one of the veterans on the WWE Roster. He has been around for a long time and has been part of some major storylines over the last few years. However, an odd one was him joining the Wyatt Family for a while in late 2016 and early 2017. During that period Orton won the Royal Rumble.
This was an odd decision on WWE's part given that there were other narratives much more entertaining such as Goldberg versus Brock Lesnar and Jericho with Owens. The weeks that followed also were also a result of inconsistent booking where Orton first relinquished his title shot but then turned face and still challenged Bray Wyatt.
The most important factor in this whole scenario was the match at WWE WrestleMania 33 which fans could not get behind. The match was not worthy of a spot on the WrestleMania card. It would have been more interesting if Luke Harper was thrown into the mix as he was much more of a fan favorite than Orton and Wyatt at that point.
Even though Orton wasn't the worst Royal Rumble winner of all time, he still landed the last spot on this list, unfortunately.
#4 Triple H (WWE Royal Rumble 2016)
The 2016 WWE Royal Rumble stands out from the rest because of a slight change in its stipulation. The WWE Championship was on the line in the match as a disadvantage for Roman Reigns who was forced to enter at No.1 by The Authority. Reigns had a strong showing but to the surprise of many Triple H ended up winning the Rumble and the WWE Championship.
So why is it so low on the list? Well, for starters, there was a much better option for WWE in Dean Ambrose. Ambrose would have been the right winner for the match because he was the underdog and was yet to win a WWE Championship at that time.
Furthermore, Triple H just prolonged his feud with Roman Reigns that should have been wrapped up a long time back. The Cerebral Assassin was able to get another WrestleMania Main Event under his belt. However, the fans were not happy with this.
Nonetheless, it was a pleasant surprise for many fans to see Triple H win instead of Roman Reigns.
#3 Seth Rollins (WWE Royal Rumble 2019)
At the start of 2019, Seth Rollins was WWE's top babyface. He was the perfect Superstar to push and his Royal Rumble win was the best choice that year.
Rollins went on to adopt the "Beastslayer" persona and defeat Brock Lesnar at WWE WrestleMania 35 after a really good feud. Rollins had his special moment on that night after he got to swing the WWE Universal Championship like a madman on top of the stage.
Now, the reason Rollins' win isn't placed higher up on the list is that the Rumble is mostly home to some of the monumental final spots and winners over the years. At the start of 2019, no Superstar in the men's division had that very strong support from the crowd.
Moreover, Rollins' win was overshadowed by Becky Lynch's remarkable victory earlier in the night and her journey to WrestleMania. To be fair, Becky's run was the main thing on RAW and it put the whole Brock and Rollins rivalry in the backseat. Nonetheless, it was still a very memorable win for The Messiah.
#2 Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Royal Rumble 2018)
Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the best wrestlers in the world when he came to WWE. He had spent a fair amount of time in NXT before he made his debut on the main roster. Fans were head over heels for the King of Strong Style who had gained quite a bit of following heading into the WWE Royal Rumble.
Nakamura entered the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble match as the 14th entrant and went on to last over 44 minutes before eliminating Roman Reigns last to win the bout.
Nakamura didn't waste any time in announcing that he wanted to face AJ Styles which was a dream match for the WWE Universe.
The Japanese Syperstar just felt like the perfect winner because it showed thatr the WWE creative was invested in him.
What followed was a feud structured around the idea of a dream match with Styles which the two had previously accomplished in Japan. It wouldn't have been a problem but unfortunately their match at WrestleMania under-delivered. Fans had great expectations from the match but it was nowhere near the dream match status and Nakamura even turned heel after losing the match.
There was a series of matches that took place after that between the two but they never reached the potential they could. Nonetheless, Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the best WWE Royal Rumble winners of the 2010s. He was high on momentum and he was the first Japanese wrestler to win the Royal Rumble (Yokozuna wasn't Japanese).
It felt like a fresh breath of air after seeing already built stars winning the Royal Rumble for almost the last ten years. This revitalized the role of the WWE Royal Rumble in building new Superstars.
#1 Drew McIntyre (WWE Royal Rumble 2020)
The WWE 2020 Men's Royal Rumble was a masterpiece. The match was well booked, had the most memorable spots, featured Edge's in-ring return and most importantly, it had the perfect winner.
The moment Drew McIntyre entered the Rumble and locked eyes with Brock Lesnar, fans knew that they were about to witness something special. The Scotsman ascended to the true heights of being a star when he Claymored the Beast Incarnate out of the match. McIntyre then went on to win the entire thing.
The events that took place after the Rumble solidified his position in the main event picture. McIntyre started a feud with Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship and defeated the Beast Incarnate at WrestleMania 36 to win his first World title in WWE.
His win was poetic in nature. McIntyre had accomplished what he set out to do almost ten years ago.
The win represented all his struggles and the hard work he had to put in on the independent circuit before returning to WWE.
Drew McIntyre is still the WWE Champion at this moment and his reigns seem to be going strong. Almost a year later, this Sunday at the Royal Rumble, Drew McIntyre is set to defend his WWE Championship against Goldberg.
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