WWE Royal Rumble winners (2000-2009): Where are they now?

John Cena (left); Brock Lesnar (right)
John Cena (left); Brock Lesnar (right)

#3 WWE Royal Rumble 2002: Triple H

The 2002 Royal Rumble was won by Triple H, who entered the match at No. 22 and eliminated four Superstars in the match. The final four consisted of Triple H, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, and Mr. Perfect, with Triple H winning the Royal Rumble by last eliminating Angle.

Triple H went on to start a feud with the Undisputed WWF Champion Chris Jericho with Stephanie McMahon siding with Jericho. At WrestleMania X8 later that year, Triple H defeated Chris Jericho in the main event to win the Undisputed WWF Championship.

Triple H is now a Hall of Famer and works as WWE's Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy and Development as well as the senior producer of NXT. Triple H is still a part-time wrestler and appears on WWE programming occasionally.


#4 WWE Royal Rumble 2003: Brock Lesnar

One of the only few WWE Superstars to have won the Royal Rumble in their first attempt, Brock Lesnar entered the 2003 Royal Rumble match at No. 29 and eliminated four Superstars including The Undertaker in the end to win the match. Brock Lesnar went on to face and defeat Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania XIX. This was the match that saw Lesnar's infamous Shooting Star Press botch that could have ended his career or worse.

Brock Lesnar has over the years became one of the biggest attractions for WWE. Ever since his return to WWE in 2012, he has won several world titles and also became the one to end The Undertaker's undefeated WrestleMania streak in 2014.

Last year, Brock Lesnar lost the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre in the main event of WrestleMania 36, which was his final appearance for the company so far. His WWE contract reportedly expired in August 2020 and he is yet to sign a new one with the company.

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