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The Royal Rumble pay-per-view still holds immense significance in the WWE landscape. While things have changed gradually in recent years with the addition of the WWE Network, these special events are still the most significant shows in all of WWE programming. PPV's are where storylines are developed, rivalries are settled and championships are won and lost, though we have seen it happen on Raw and SmackDown too.
PPV wins can propel superstars up the ranks or cement them as top stars within the company and, as such, are incredibly good indicators of how highly a talent is rated within the company. To get a better perception of just who this is, here is a compiled list of the 10 superstars who had the most pay-per-view wins in 2018.
#10 Brock Lesnar
While heavily criticized for his lack of appearance in the WWE, Brock Lesnar did manage to accumulate 5 victories over the course of 2018. His dominant booking leads to him making this list despite his low number of total matches competed in. Lesnar's early winning stint came at the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania 34 and The Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
In his matches, respectively, he defeated Braun Strowman and Kane in a triple threat match and then racked up consecutive singles match victories of Roman Reigns. Lesnar then disappeared from WWE programming, dropped his belt to Roman Reigns at SummerSlam and then shockingly returned at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
After Reigns was unfortunately forced to vacate the title, Lesnar regained his title with a win over Strowman at Crown Jewel and then defeated Daniel Bryan in a champion versus champion match at Survivor Series. With Lesnar poised to compete at the 2019 Royal Rumble and presumably WrestleMania thereafter, it remains to be seen whether the beast incarnate will be able to rack up as many pay-per-view wins in 2019.
TOTAL PPV WINS: 5
#9 Roman Reigns
Roman Reigns has faced plenty of criticism over the years, with many fans complaining about the wealth of victories he has been booked to win. However, in 2018 Reigns accumulated plenty of losses to go along with his 5 wins and finally seems to have won over many of his doubters.
Reigns' first pay-per-view win of 2018 came at Elimination Chamber where the Samoan outlasted 6 other men, last eliminating Braun Strowman to book his place at WrestleMania. After a number of losses to Lesnar, Reigns would pick up wins over Samoa Joe at Backlash, Jinder Mahal at Money in the Bank before finally winning the Universal Championship over Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam.
Reigns finally pay-per-view win of the year came at Super Show-Down where he and the rest of The Shield defeated the team of Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.
Total PPV wins: 5
#8 Carmella
At the start of 2018, it might have seemed improbable that Carmella would find herself on this list, equalling the win totals of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Yet, off the back of a title run that received a mixed reception, that is exactly where she finds herself.
Few will remember Carmella's first win of 2018 which came in a tag team match alongside Natalya against Becky Lynch and Naomi at Fastlane. After successfully cashing in her Money in the Bank contract against Charlotte Flair on SmackDown, Carmella racked up successful title defences on pay-per-view against Flair at Backlash and Asuka at both Money in the Bank and Extreme Rules.
Since then, Carmella has joined forces with R-Truth and their victory in the final of the Mixed Match Challenge at TLC elevated her PPV wins.
Total PPV wins: 5
#7 Daniel Bryan
At the start of 2018, Daniel Bryan was retired and his rise to the position he is in today seemed unthinkable. However, as soon as it was revealed Bryan had been cleared to compete in the WWE once again one had to consider the possibility that he would climb the ranks once again given the amount of talent he possesses.
Bryan returned to in-ring action with a tag team victory alongside Shane McMahon over Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. He then went on to rack up consecutive wins at Backlash and Money in the Bank in a forgettable program with Big Cass.
Bryan then defeated The Miz at Super Show-Down to become No.1 contender for the WWE Championship and then, after winning the title, successfully defended the belt against AJ Styles at TLC. Still in the early stages of his title reign, it would not be a surprise to see him place even higher on this list next year.
Total PPV wins: 5
#6 Bobby Lashley
While most feel Lashley's run since his post-WrestleMania return to the WWE has been underwhelming, it has to be said that he has racked up an impressive number of wins in that time. Lashley's first pay-per-view win of the year came at Backlash in a tag team match where he and Braun Strowman defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
He would then go on to pick up singles wins against Sami Zayn at Money in the Bank and Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules. After a brief quiet period, Lashley would pick up another tag team victory, this time teaming with John Cena to defeat Elias and Kevin Owens at Super Show-Down.
And finally, he was one of the 3 survivors from the victorious Raw Survivor Series team. With Leo Rush now by his side, it remains to be seen whether or not Lashley will be able to rejuvenate his career or descend further into the mid-card.
Total PPV wins: 5
#5 Shinsuke Nakamura
Nakamura's 2018 started with some much potential and then seemed to gradually deteriorate from then on out. Nakamura won the 2018 Royal Rumble and then defeated Rusev at Fastlane before ultimately falling to Styles at WrestleMania.
Nakamura would then win the United States Championship from Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules and successfully defend the title over Hardy at SummerSlam Rusev at Crown Jewel. Nakamura has, however, since then continued his slide down the ranks as he dropped his United States Championship to Rusev on the SmackDown Live episode that aired on Christmas Day.
Having started off 2018 as such a hot commodity and ended it so poorly it will be interesting to see whether or not Nakamura will be able to turn around his WWE career in 2019. Perhaps a move over to the Raw brand could be what he needs to reverse his fortunes.
Total PPV wins: 5
#4 Braun Strowman
Strowman continued his monstrous form throughout 2018 and has managed to preserve his place right at the top of the pile on Raw despite failing to claim the Universal Championship. Strowman's first pay-per-view win of 2018 came at WrestleMania where he and Nicholas defeated The Bar to win the Raw tag team championships.
He then outlasted 49 men at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn alongside Bobby Lashley at Backlash and then won the Money in the Bank ladder match before successfully defending his briefcase against Kevin Owens at SummerSlam.
After picking up a few losses, Strowman has ended the year strong with a winning appearance in the traditional 5-on-5 elimination match at Survivor Series and a victory, with a little help from his friends, over Baron Corbin at TLC, boosting his total all the way up to 7.
Total PPV wins: 7
#3 Seth Rollins
Rollins has been consistently strong throughout 2018 and now finds himself in a position where many are tipping him to rise back into the main event scene he dominated for so long. Rollins first pay-per-view of 2018 came in a triple threat match at WrestleMania where he defeated both The Miz and Finn Balor to win the Intercontinental Championship.
Rollins then followed this up with successful title defences at Greatest Royal Rumble in a fatal four-way match and then overcame The Miz at Backlash and Elias at Money in the Bank. At SummerSlam, Rollins would win the title once again after beating Dolph Ziggler.
Rollins then was part of the successful Shield team who defeated Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre at Super Show-Down and picked up 1 win in the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel. Lastly, Rollins defeated Shinsuke Nakamura at Survivor Series in a champion versus champion match.
Total PPV wins: 8
#2 Ronda Rousey
Few could have predicted just how successful Rousey's WWE run would be at the start of 2018 when she was yet to have a match. Since then, however, Rousey has consistently delivered one strong showing after another to the point where no WWE superstar has more pay-per-view wins than her.
Rousey debuted in a winning effort at WrestleMania, defeating Triple H and Stephanie McMahon whilst teaming with Kurt Angle. Rousey technically won her Money in the Bank match against Nia Jax by disqualification when an interfering Alexa Bliss got involved and cashed in her Money in the Bank contract to win the Raw Women's Championship.
Rousey would then defeat Bliss for the title at SummerSlam and defend the belt against her at Hell in a Cell. Next, Rousey was victorious as part of a 6-woman tag defeating The Riott Squad with the help of the Bella twins. To finish the year Rousey defeated Nikki Bella at WWE Evolution, won via disqualification of Charlotte Flair at Survivor Series and, lastly, defeated Via Jax at TLC.
Total PPV wins: 8
#1 AJ Styles
The Phenomenal One's run with the WWE Championship spanned almost the entirety of 2018 before his eventual loss to Daniel Bryan. This dominant run with the belt should make it no surprise that Styles tops the list for most pay-per-view wins in 2018.
Styles defeated both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a handicap match to kick off his 2018 at the Royal Rumble. He then defended his title in a six-pack challenge at Fastlane, defeated Shinsuke Nakamura twice at WrestleMania and Money in the Bank and beat Rusev at Extreme Rules.
Styles then beat Samoa Joe three different times at Hell in a Cell, Super Show-Down and Crown Jewel before dropping the title to Bryan on SmackDown Live. While it will be incredibly difficult for Styles to replicate his exploits this year in 2019, it would feel to rule out a superstar as talented as the phenomenal one.
Total PPV wins: 8
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