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The Royal Rumble is perhaps the most exciting match in all of sports entertainment. A victory in the 30-man (and 30-woman) over-the-top battle royal could vastly change the life of a WWE Superstar. The 2020 Royal Rumble match will take place on 26th January and will surely prove to be as exciting as many of its predecessors.
WWE tends to surprise the fans with its decisions during the match however, the winners of the last few Royal Rumble matches were quite predictable. This year, Roman Reigns is the favorite to win the men's match and progress to the main event of WrestleMania 36.
Apart from the surprise returns and the dream face-offs, the biggest moment is the stand-off when only two Superstars remain in the match. While one of them becomes immortal by winning the match, the other unfortunately is not remembered by many fans.
In this article, we will have a look at 5 Superstars who have been a runner-up in the Royal Rumble match more than once in their careers.
#5 John Cena
One of the most decorated WWE Superstars of all time, John Cena has made it to the final two of the Royal Rumble match four times. The 16-time WWE Champion won the bout in 2008 and 2013, however he was the last one to be eliminated in the 2005 and 2010 Royal Rumble matches.
Talking about the 2005 match first, this was the first time Cena lasted until the final moment. He entered the match at number 25 and was looking forward to winning the after eliminating Kane and Viscera. However, when the competition came down to Cena and the 29th entrant, Batista, The Champ could not succeed. After a controversial "first" finish that saw both men eliminated at the same time, the match was restarted and Batista tossed Cena over the top rope. Big Dave went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 21.
Five years later, the leader of the Cenation found himself in the same situation. He entered the match at number 19, eliminated Kofi Kingston, Shelton Benjamin, Yoshi Tatsu, and Batista before a career arch nemesis, the returning Edge, sent him out of the ring to take home the victory. Unlike Batista, Edge could not win his World Heavyweight Championship match against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 26.
#4 Triple H
Another multi-time winner on this list is The King of Kings, Triple H. He won the Royal Rumble in two very far-apart years, 2002 and 2016. However, there have also been two instances where The Cerebral Assassin could not cross the finish line. Surprisingly, he finished second in two consecutive Royal Rumble bouts.
The first of the two instances came in 2008 when entered the match at number 29. He was the odds-on favorite, that is, until John Cena made a massively unexpected return at number 30 and changed the whole landscape of WWE. Since no one expected Cena to show up until much later in the year, his music hitting when the countdown to number 30 ended was an amazing moment. Many people would be hard-pressed to even remember that Triple H was the man in the ring when Cena made his return.
Although Cena failed to win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania that year (in a match Triple H was also involved in) the fans always remember the 2008 Royal Rumble match for his glorious comeback.
The next year, The Game reached the final two of the 30-man match once again. He entered the match early, at number 7, and established his dominance by eliminating John Morrison, Vladimir Kozlov, Ted DiBiase, The Miz, Cody Rhodes, and The Brian Kendrick from the match.
In the final moments of the match, Triple H found himself in the ring with his former Evolution teammate Randy Orton, who earned himself a WWE Championship shot by tossing Triple H from the ring. Triple H got the last laugh, however, as he would win the WWE Championship a few weeks later and successfully defend against Orton at WrestleMania XXV.
#3 Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels became the second Superstar in WWE history to win two consecutive Royal Rumble matches when he outlasted 29 other men in 1995 and 1996. The Showstopper could not defeat Diesel to win the WWF Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 11, but after winning the Rumble the next year, he defeated Bret Hart in an outstanding 60+ minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania 12 and claimed his first WWF Title.
While The Heartbreak Kid has won two Royal Rumble matches, there have been two occasions where he finished at the runner-up position. The first instance came in 1994, the year before Michaels' back-to-back victories. Bret Hart and Lex Luger had emerged as the co-winners of the 94 Rumble match after a controverisal outcome, which made Michaels was the last man to be eliminated, even though he wasn't one of the final two men in the match.
The second time Michaels finished second in the Royal Rumble was in the year 2007. The Undertaker was the final entrant and successfully tossed Michaels, the 23rd man to come down the aisle, out of the ring to punch his ticket to WrestleMania 23. Despite losing the match, HBK still ended up in the main event of WrestleMania that year, in a losing effort against John Cena with the WWE Championship on the line. The Undertaker won his match, defeating Batista earlier on the show to become World Heavyweight Champion.
#2 Big Show
Unlike the other four men on this list, Big Show has never been the winner of the annual mega-battle royal. He was eliminated last in the 2000 and 2004 editions.
The World’s Largest Athlete has always been a special attraction in the Royal Rumble because of his physical appearance. He is always portrayed as a giant who cannot be eliminated from the match, and usually it takes a group of Superstars uniting in order to remove him.
In the year 2000, Big Show stood face-to-face with The Rock -- the final two men left in the match. In a controversial finish, The Rock was officially declared the winner, therefore Big Show was the runner-up. Video footage later indicated that The Rock’s feet had touched the floor first and Big Show had actually won the match, but since the referee's decision was final, Big Show is not recognized as the winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble. In the end, both Superstars received a title shot at WWF Champion Triple H at WrestleMania 2000. Mick Foley was added to the match later on, finalizing the first and only fatal four-way match for the WWF Title in WrestleMania history.
Four years later, Big Show entered the Royal Rumble match at number 24. He eliminated 4 men, but he was unable to outlast first entrant, a much smaller man with greater stamina, and was eliminated thanks to determination and a little help by a mixture of leverage and gravity.
#1 Roman Reigns
The youngest Superstar present on this list, Roman Reigns, is the only man in WWE history to take the runner-up position in three Royal Rumble matches.
In 2014, The Big Dog broke Kane’s longstanding record of 11 eliminations in a single Royal Rumble match by sending 12 Superstars over the top rope. He went toe to toe with Batista in the final moments, but The Animal would get the better of him to take home his second victory in the Royal Rumble.
Reigns won the Royal Rumble in 2015 but failed to defeat Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship that year at WrestleMania 31. In 2016 he was forced to defend his WWE Championship in the Rumble match. He was eliminated second-to-last, and his Shield brother Dean Ambrose, was the final man to go, securing the victory, and the WWE Championship, for Triple H.
In 2017, Roman made it to the final two, but Randy Orton hit him with an RKO out of nowhere and sent him out of the ring to win the match. Twelve months later, Shinsuke Nakamura repeated the same thing (without the RKO, of course) as he punched his ticket to WrestleMania 34 by eliminating Reigns last.
The former Shield member is the favorite to win Royal Rumble 2020. Hence, fans can expect him to maintain his stellar record in the 30-man match.
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