In preparation for this year's event, I went back and watched every Royal Rumble since its inception in 1989. Some of the earlier ones were pretty bad, but for the most part the Royal Rumble delivers as one the best events of the year. I have reviewed and ranked them all, and will give you crash course in Rumble history. There will be spoilers, which should be okay, unless you have plans for your own Royal Rumble Marathon – which I’m sure you don’t. Hopefully, this will help get you psyched for this year’s Rumble and get you up to date on the history of my favorite Pay Per View. I have them ranked from worst to first and will give a chronological history of past winners at the end.
24.) Royal Rumble I (1988) - Hamilton, Ontario
It’s not a coincidence that I have the first four Rumbles ranked as being the worst. They weren’t on par with the modern era and they didn’t get nearly the same build up. That being said, the first Rumble has to be considered the worst. For one, it wasn't even on Pay Per View - it was free on the USA Network and was not heavily promoted. The undercard only had two matches, and one of them was a women's tag match. Instead, we got painfully boring segments like an Andre the Giant/Hulk Hogan contract signing and the 'Dino Bravo Weightlifting Challenge'. The Rumble match was boring as well, with Hacksaw Jim Duggan outlasting 19 other jabronies to become the first Royal Rumble winner.
Rating: 32/100
23.) Royal Rumble II (1989) - Houston, Texas
A total crap undercard featuring King Haku vs Harley Race and a 'Super Posedown' between Rick Rude and the Ultimate Warrior. The Rumble match had some good moments - like Jake 'The Snake' Roberts unleashing his boa in the middle of the ring, and Andre the Giant getting so freaked out he eliminates himself. But the end was disappointing, with Big John Studd (who?) being the last man standing.
Rating: 46/100
22.) Royal Rumble III (1990) - Orlando, Florida
This had potential to be great, but the booking was just horrendous. The undercard was nothing special, with no title matches and the highlight being Big Bossman vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan. I was convinced Macho Man was going to win the Rumble, but Hulk Hogan ended up with the win - which made absolutely no sense. Usually the winner of the Rumble gets a title shot, but Hogan had the belt going into the match. So, instead of building up a #1 contender to fight Hogan at Wrestlemania, they let Hogan get the win while being champ. This is why people hate Hogan so much; he would refuse to put anyone over even when it was the obvious thing to do. Never again has the WWE champ won the Royal Rumble match. WTF.
Rating: 63/100
21.) Royal Rumble IV (1991) - Miami, Florida
This opened with a solid tag team match featuring the Rockers vs Orient Express. Later we got a world title match, with the Ultimate Warrior defending against Sargent Slaughter. This was a big deal as this was the first Royal Rumble to feature a world title matchup (from '91 on, every Rumble has a title match, which makes Rumbles 1-3 especially weak). Anyways, Slaughter won the title after Macho Man came in and beat down Warrior mid match. This set the stage for Macho Man vs Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 7, which I consider one of the greatest matches of all time.
The Rumble itself was good, but the result was sooooo predictable - at least at the end. The last six wrestlers remaining were Haku, Brian Knobbs, Earthquake, Warlord and Hulk Hogan. Hmmmmmm, wonder who's gonna win here? Stupid Hogan wins his second consecutive Rumble.
Rating: 72/100
20.) Royal Rumble XVIII (2006) – American Airlines Arena, Miami
I hated the booking for this event, as the Rumble match went on third to last for the only time in history. WTF? Why is the Rumble in the middle of the card? I guess it’s because they knew it would be disappointing. The undercard was pointless, with a cruiserweight invitational and a match between JBL and The Boogeyman.
The Rumble went next, and it was mediocre at best. Decent star power with HHH, Ric Flair, Rey Mysterio, Big Show, Kane, Chris Benoit, RVD - but I absolutely hated the end. Rey Mysterio was the number two entrant and got the win by outlasting everyone, including Triple H and Randy Orton at the end. Rey is 5’6” and 175 pounds and should have been destroyed at the start – but instead he went 60+ minutes. It’s shit like this that makes it hard to defend “fake” wrestling to non-fans.
The WWE Championship match was John Cena vs Edge. This was hard to get excited for, as I’ve seen these two fight about a dozen times on Pay Per View. This was one of their first matchups, but it was certainly nothing special. Edge gets the win.
The main event for the night was Mark Henry challenging for Kurt Angle’s World Heavyweight Championship. Again, nothing special and certainly a subpar match (at least for Angle). Nothing here was really entertaining, and it was easily the worst Rumble of the decade.
Rating: 74/100
19.) Royal Rumble XII (1999) - Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim
One classic match was not enough to save this from being a dud. The undercard was very forgettable, featuring short matches from Road Dogg vs Bossman, Ken Shamrock vs Billy Gunn and Gangrel vs Xpac.
The title match was one of the best we've ever seen at the Rumble: The Rock vs Mankind in an 'I Quit' match. This was pretty one sided, with Rock kicking Mankind's ass all over the arena. At one point Rock throws Mankind onto the arena's electrical system from the second floor balcony, temporarily taking out all the lights. Rock then goes on to smash Mankind over the head with a chair FIFTEEN times. We eventually hear Mankind say 'I quit', but would later learn that it was Shane McMahon playing an interview clip from earlier of Mankind saying 'I quit' over the arena's speakers. Mankind was really knocked out cold, laying in a pool of blood - but he never actually said 'I quit'. Awesome match, even though it was painful to watch at the end. With all the focus today on concussions, you will never again see a WWE match with this many violent chair shots.
The buildup for the Rumble match was huge, with Vince offering $100K to whoever could prevent Stone Cold from winning. Austin drew #1 and Vince drew #2, so they started the match one on one. Vince lured Austin outside the of ring and backstage - where he had his cronies ambush him. Austin makes it back to the ring about 45 minutes later, as he was never thrown over the top rope - but neither was Vince. Austin ends up outlasting everyone and thinks that he has the win - until Vince sneaks into the ring and eliminates him. Vince wins! A lot of people hated this as it didn’t build up a Wrestlemania match (Vince forfeited the title shot), but it did intensify the Austin vs McMahon feud – which some people consider the best storyline of all time.
Rating: 79/100
18.) Royal Rumble VIII (1995) - USF Sun Dome, Tampa
Opening match was Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett. I was really psyched for this, and it turned out to be a very good match. I was just upset by the end as stupid Jeff Jarrett won. The title match featured Bret Hart challenging Diesel (Kevin Nash). I tend to despise Nash's work, as his matches are boring and feature a very limited move set. But this was different, twenty solid minutes of brawling mixed with technical moves. Unfortunately, Shawn Michaels and Owen Hart interfered and it ended in a DQ. But even with the bad ending, I rank this as one of the best matches of Nash's career, and one of the best title matches in Rumble history.
The Rumble match itself was disappointing. The roster was really thin at this point as Macho Man, Ric Flair, Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Sid and Yokozuna had all recently left the WWE. They didn't have anyone pulling double duty, so Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, Undertaker and Diesel weren't in the Rumble either as they had wrestled earlier in the night.
That made this the most predictable and jabronie filled Rumble match of all time. Shawn Michaels drew #1 and plowed through 29 jobbers without even breaking a sweat. Seriously though, look at the laundry list of losers in this match: Jimmy Del Rey, Steven Dunn, Kwang, Mo, Dick Murdoch, Mantaur, Sione, Duke Drose, Tom Pritchard, Henry Godwin, Adam Bomb, Timothy Well, Jacob Blu, etc... Are you serious, bro? I've never even heard of these guys before. I was happy with the result, but when you consider that Shawn was the ONLY wrestler in the match to ever hold the WWE Championship, the competition was just too weak to hold this in a high regard.
Rating: 81/100
17.) Royal Rumble XXIII (2009) - Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
Opened with Jack Swagger vs Matt Hardy, which was okay. Then we had John Cena vs JBL, which was pretty bad. Things got a little better in a hardcore match between Edge and Jeff Hardy, but overall the undercard was disappointing.
The Rumble match started off hot with Rey Mysterio and John Morrison as the first two entrants. Things got a little slow mid match, but the ending was very good. It came down to Undetaker, Triple H and Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase). Pretty good storyline as Legacy worked together the entire match to help Randy Orton get the win. Kind of an average Rumble, but it was very predictable, and the crappy undercard keeps this in the bottom tier.
Rating: 81/100
16.) Royal Rumble XIX (2007) – AT&T Center, San Antonio
Great opening match was the Hardy Boyz vs Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro, with the Hardyz getting the win. We then had two very weak title matches in Batista vs Mr. Kennedy and John Cena vs Umaga. The number one contenders were Umaga and Mr. Kennedy?!? Meh. Obviously, Cena and Batista retain their belts. On a side note, I consider this the period (‘05-’08) to be one of the worst in the last twenty years. The main event scene was dominated by Edge, Cena, Batista, Orton and Triple H and just about any combination of these five bores me – as every possible matchup has been done to death.
The Rumble match certainly saved this from being a dud. It was very unpredictable with Ric Flair, Edge, Undertaker, Kane, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam all being serious contenders. The very end came down to Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. This was awesome, and they brawled one on one for over five minutes. They hit their finishing moves on each other and eventually Taker got the win. Wow! Great match and I was happy to see The Deadman get the victory.
Rating: 82/100
15.) Royal Rumble IX (1996) - Selland Arena, Fresno
The undercard featured Razor Ramon defending his Intercontinental Title against Goldust. I thought Razor would win for sure, but Goldust won the title when the 1-2-3 Kid (X Pac) interfered. WTF. Razor really got jobbed out before he left for WCW.
For one of just a few times in history, the Rumble didn't go on last. I guess it was to add hype to the title match featuring Bret Hart and the Undertaker. Anyways, the Rumble match was great this year. We had a lot of serious contenders including Diesel, Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, Vader, Steve Austin (before he was Stone Cold) and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (before he was HHH). For the second year in a row, Shawn wins the Rumble - but this time the talent involved and the match itself was much better.
In the main event, we saw Undertaker challenging for Bret Hart's WWE Title. Pretty good match with lots of brawling back and forth, and eventually Taker hit Bret with a tombstone piledriver. Right as Taker was about to win the title, Diesel comes in and breaks up the pin, causing a DQ. This pissed me off. If you're going to do a DQ, why, why, why would you make this the main event over the Rumble match? If it was going to be an awesome match, I would understand, but this was just okay as these two had far better matches (Summerslam '97, One Night Only '97, etc).
Rating: 83/100
14.) Royal Rumble XXIII (2010) – Phillips Arena, Atlanta
The undercard was weak but the Rumble match was great. We started off with Christian vs Ezekiel Jackson and The Miz vs MVP – but of which were just okay. The first title match was Sheamus vs Randy Orton. Sheamus was champ here, and got the win with a huge boot to the face. The World Heavyweight Title was Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio, again okay match but nothing too memorable.
The Rumble match was awesome. It was faced paced throughout and was totally unpredictable. Classic stuff with CM Punk clearing the ring two different times; then grabbing the mic and cutting a promo mid match. The final four came down to Edge, Cena, Batista and Shawn Michaels. Edge got the cheap win (he came in as a surprise at #29), but it was great as no one expected him to even be in the match.
Rating: 83/100
13.) Royal Rumble VI (1993) - Arco Arena, Sacramento
This was a very good all-around Rumble. The undercard featured two title matches, the first of which was Shawn Michaels defending his I.C. belt against his former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty. This was right after Shawn turned heel and smashed Jannetty's head through a window - so there was plenty of hate between the two. Shawn got the win with sweet chin music, and it was really good - but wasn't on par with the greatness we would see from Michaels in years to come.
The world title matchup featured Razor Ramon challenging for Bret Hart's WWF Championship. Again, this was a good match but certainly not great. Bret retained, as Razor (Scott Hall) would go on to be (in my opinion) the best wrestler in WWE/WCW history to have never won a world title.
The Rumble match here was average at best even though it was very unpredictable. Ric Flair, Macho Man and the Undertaker were favorites going into the match, but Yokozuna gets the cheap win after coming in at number 27.
Rating: 85/100
12.) Royal Rumble XVIII (2005) – Save Mart Center, Fresno
This started off with a dream match, Edge vs Shawn Michaels. It was very good, but still not as good as it could have been. Edge gets the victory. The WWE Championship was a triple threat match between JBL/Big Show/Kurt Angle. Again, pretty good match but nothing special. JBL retained his title, as this was part of his yearlong championship reign filled with “cheap” victories.
The World Heavyweight Championship was Randy Orton challenging HHH. I was not very psyched for this match going in, and it was even more boring than I thought it would be. HHH gets the win with a pedigree…These two would go on to fight in several other big matches, including Wrestlemania 25, and they are all painfully boring to me.
The Rumble match saved this from being a big disappointment. It had the most world champions of any Rumble match with 13; Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Chris Benoit, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, John Cena, Kane, Batista, Ric Flair, Christian and Rey Mysetrio – wow!! It came down to John Cena and Batsita, and they eliminated each other simultaneously, resulting in tie. Vince McMahon vowed after ’94 that we would never see a tie again, and he kept his word. He restarted the match and Batista got the win.
Rating: 85/100
11.) Royal Rumble XVI (2003) – Fleet Center, Boston
Great opening match with Brock Lesnar facing the Big Show. There was a stipulation where the winner would gain a spot in the Rumble match. Brock hit Show with all kinds of crazy offense including a ton of suplexes and eventually hit the F-5 (are you kidding!?!) for the win.
This was the first Rumble after they split undisputed title, so from here on we got two world title matches. First we saw Scott Steiner challenging for HHH’s World Heavyweight Championship. This was awful and was one of the worst title matches I’ve ever seen. Steiner literally did the same damn suplex over and over for the entire match. The crowd started booing after the first five minutes – it was that bad. Probably the only match I can ever remember where one wrestler does the same move 20+ times. At least they didn’t let Steiner win the belt.
The WWE Title match was Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit. This was the easily the match of the night. It was a perfect mix of technical wrestling and brawling while being intense and fast paced throughout. Definitely check this out if possible. Kurt Angle would retain and go on to defend his title against the Rumble winner at Wrestlemania 19…
The Rumble match was very good, but predictable. For me, it’s a lot more enjoyable when the winner isn’t the obvious favorite or someone who comes in at the very end. This was unfortunately both, as Brock Lesnar came in at number 29 and destroyed everyone in his path. Still, it was awesome to see Brock win and it set up one of my favorite all time Wrestlemania matches, Lesnar vs Angle.
Rating: 86/100
10.) Royal Rumble VII (1994) - Civic Center, Providence
The undercard featured Bret Hart and Owen Hart challenging the Quebecers for the Tag Team Championships. The Hart's lose and end up breaking up as a team, which lead to their epic match at Wrestlemania X. Owen blames Bret for the loss in the post match invertview. Owen wasn't very smooth on the mic, here is his hilariously bad speech verbatim; "Bret, you're too damn selfish. And that's why you're sittin' there with a bad leg, and that's why I kicked your leg out of your leg". Huh? Do a Google search for 'I kicked your leg out of your leg' and you'll get a good laugh.
The world title match saw Undertaker challenging Yokozuna in a casket match. You'd think Taker would win for sure, but the match was no DQ and Mr. Fuji (Yokozuna's manager) hired ten different superstars to come to ringside and beat down Undertaker mid match. Yokozona then rolled Taker into the casket for the super cheap win.
What happened next was pretty ridiculous. The casket started smoking and they played it up like (storyline-wise) Yokozuna had 'killed' the Undertaker. The arena then went dark and Taker was suddenly 'levitating' at the top of the entrance ramp, and then he disappeared. I was entertained, but some critics hated how cheesy it was. Undertaker would go on to stay 'dead' until resurrecting at Summerslam seven months later.
The Rumble match was also unique, as we saw a tie for the only time in history. Lex Luger and Bret Hart eliminated each other simultaneously, and were both given title matches against Yokozuna at Wrestlemania x. Very solid all-around Rumble, which I probably rank higher than most because of its unpredictability.
Rating: 87/100
9.) Royal Rumble XX (2008) – Madison Square Garden, NYC
Great event as is always this case at Madison Square Garden. Things got started with Ric Flair vs MVP. Flair was fighting under a stipulation that he would retire the next time a lost, which added a sense of urgency and got the crowd fired up. Flair got the win and would remain undefeated until losing to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24.
Next up was Chris Jericho vs JBL. I usually can’t stand JBL’s matches and his finishing move is the dumbest I’ve ever seen (the “clothesline from hell”), but this was very good. The World Heavyweight Title was Rey Mysterio challenging Edge. This was sweet and it exceeded my expectations. Then we had Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton for the WWE title. Orton retains win an RKO, but has to beat the living hell out of Jeff to get the pin.
John Cena won the Rumble match by coming in as a surprise entrant at number 30. He was supposed to be out another four or five months after surgery, and NO ONE expected him to show up. I’m not a big Cena fan, but this was awesome and the crowd at The Garden went absolutely nuts when Cena’s music started playing. This was also the only time an unannounced entrant won the rumble. This wasn’t an all-time classic, but every match was good and it just barely makes the top 10.
Rating: 87/100
8.) Royal Rumble XXIV (2011) – TD Garden, Boston
I loved the format here as they literally cut out all the filler to make room for a 40 man Rumble (instead of the usual 30). There were no pointless singles matches or no tag team matches, just two world title matches and the Rumble – three matches in total in they were all great.
The first was Dolph Ziggler challenging Edge for the WWE Championship. This was a solid match as these two have similar styles. Edge was suffering from a serious back injury, and he would retire a few months later. So, there weren’t any insane spots, but still a very good match with Edge retaining his title.
The WWE Title match was Randy Orton challenging for Miz’s WWE Championship. Another very good match, my only complaint is that Miz always looked vulnerable as champ, never having clean title defenses. CM Punk helps out here, nailing Orton with a chair to give Miz the easy win.
The 40 man rumble was awesome. Tons of starpower here along with being unpredictable get this a top 10 spot. John Morrison had one of this sickest spots I’ve ever seen, where he gets thrown over the top rope and lands of the guard rail. His feet never touch the floor, and he somehow leaps from the guardrail back into the ring. Wow! Alberto Del Rio got the win in the end and would go on to have a terrible run as WWE Champion. History will not be kind to kind to Del Rio, and he will be remembered alongside pointless winners such as Jim Duggan and Big John Studd. Still, this was an awesome PPV and it just barely misses out on the top five.
Rating: 90/100
7.) Royal Rumble X (1997) - Alamodome, San Antonio
The undercard here was pretty weak. Disappointing opening match from HHH vs Goldust and ditto for Undertaker vs Vader. Farooq vs Ahmed Johnson was really bad - but you'd expect that. We then saw my vote for the dumbest Rumble match of all time; a six man tag team match featuring some midget wrestlers I've never heard of (and won't even bother listing).
The Rumble match made up for the crappy undercard. For the first time in history, everyone from the undercard was pulling double duty including six all-time greats; Bret Hart, Stone Cold, Undertaker, HHH, Mankind, and the Rock - wow! We also had British Bulldog, Jake the Snake, Owen Hart and the fake Diesel/Razor Ramon. Stone Cold gets the win; kicking ass like we've never seen before with a record ten eliminations.
The main event was also great; Shawn Michaels challenged Sid for the WWE Title. Shawn had the flu (in real life) but still won the title after hitting Sid with sweet chin music. Even though the first half was pretty boring, the last two matches were great and earn this a top 10 ranking.
Rating: 91/100
6.) Royal Rumble XIV (2001) - New Orelans Arena, New Orleans
Started off hot with a tag team match between Edge and Christian vs The Dudley Boyz. We then saw Chris Benoit defend his I.C. Title against Chris Jericho in a ladder match. This stole the show - and is considered among the best all time ladder matches. Jericho won the title (yeah baby!), and this was certainly the match of the night.
The WWE Title match was HHH challenging Kurt Angle. This had potential to be great, but it was totally boring. There was way too much outside interference from Vince McMahon, Stephanie, Stone Cold and Trish Stratus. This felt more like a bad episode of Raw than a big time Pay Per View. Kurt Angle retains his title. Meh.
But the Rumble match delivered and gave us two records that may never be broken. Kane had the best performance of the night with a record 11 eliminations, and Stone Cold went on to win his record third Rumble. This cemented Austin’s legacy as an all-time great, and he would go on to win the Title from The Rock at Wrestlemania XVII.
Rating: 91/100
5.) Royal Rumble V (1992) - Knickerbacker Arena, New York
Whoooooo!! This was pure greatness at the Rumble. In 1992, the title was vacated and for the only time in history, the WWE Title was to be awarded to the winner of the Rumble match. The undercard was pretty much crap, but the hype for the main event was huge as we were guaranteed a new champion. AWESOME backstage promos for this one! Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Undertaker, Macho Man and Hogan all cut sweet promos backstage promos before the match gets started. Ric Flair draws #3 and goes the distance for 60+ minutes, outlasting everyone to become the new champ.
His backstage interview afterward is priceless: "I'm gonna tell you all with a tear in my eye, THIS is the greatest moment in my life. When you walk around this world and tell everyone you're number one, the only way to stay number one - is to BE number one! And this is the only title in the wrestling world that makes you number one! When you're the King of the WWF, you rule the world! This is the greatest moment of my life; I wanna jump, I wanna party. But I gotta tell ya like this. To the Hulk Hogans, the Macho Mans, the Pipers and the Sids: Now it's Ric Flair, and you can all pay homage to the man! Whooooooo!!!!"
Rating: 93/100
4.) Royal Rumble XVII (2004) – Wachovia Center, Philadelphia
Opened up with Brock Lesnar vs Harcore Holly for the WWE Championship. WTF? Why the hell is Hardcore Holly the number one contender? There are literally 20+ wrestlers on the roster I’d rather see fight Brock than Hardcore Holly. At least it was short as Brock destroys Holly in about six minutes.
The second title match was a classic, with Shawn Michaels challenging for HHH’s World Heavyweight Championship. This was a last man standing match, meaning the winner would have to knock out his opponent. Shawn was bleeding profusely from the first five minutes, and there were a couple of great spots, but it ended in a draw. Shawn hit HHH with Sweet Chin Music, but then both failed to respond to the ref’s ten count. This pissed off a lot of people, but it did set up an awesome triple threat match against the Rumble winner at Wrestlemania XX.
The Rumble came down to Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Chris Benoit, Goldberg. This was great because it felt like any of these guys had a chance. Benoit won, and would go on to win the title at Wrestlemania. I hate Benoit for what he did three years later, but in 2004, he was an absolute beast and it was great to see him get the win.
Rating: 93/100
3.) Royal Rumble XI (1998) - San Jose Arena, San Jose
Average undercard here with the Rock successfully defending his Intercontinental Championship against Ken Shamrock being the highlight. The rest of the earlier matches were crap including Goldust vs Vader and an atrocious six man tag featuring midget wrestlers. WTF.
But the Rumble match delivered. The highlight for me was Mick Foley coming in and getting eliminated under his three different personas; Cactus Jack, Mankind and eventually Dude Love. The final two came down to the Rock and Stone Cold, with Austin getting the stunner for the win. Mike Tyson was rooting for Austin from a luxury box and they interviewed him after the match. He said that he loves "Cold Stone" and that he made a lot of money betting on him to win the Rumble. LOL. Who is taking Iron Mike's bets on pro wrestling? And who in their right mind would bet against Austin?
Great main event here. Undertaker challenges for Shawn Michaels' WWE title in a casket match. These two have fought in several big time PPV matches and they always steal the show. It looked like Taker was going to get the win, until DX came in and interfered on Shawn's behalf. Suddenly, the lights go out and Kane shows up, destroying DX and clearing the ring. Kane is seemingly there helping Undertaker, but he turns heel and throws Taker in the casket giving Michaels the win. Kane and Paul Bearer then roll the casket towards the entrance ramp, douse it with gasoline and light it on fire. For the second time in history, the Undertaker is 'killed' at the Royal Rumble.
Rating: 93/100
2.) Royal Rumble XV (2002) - Phillips Arena, Atlanta
This was the first Rumble after Vince bought WCW, so the talent pool was at an all-time high. Good opening tag match with The Dudleys vs Tazz/Spike followed by Edge vs William Regal for the I.C. Title. Then we had a street fight between Vince McMahon and Ric Flair. Whoooo!!! Great match with plenty of violent spots. Flair gets the win - despite Vince looking absolutely huge in comparison.
Next, we had The Rock challenging Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Title. This was a dream match for me, and Jericho retained without any outside interference. YES! This the best of times for Jericho-holics - as Jericho was the first ever Undisputed Champion (owning both the WWF and WCW world titles) and had successful defenses against The Rock and Stone Cold before main eventing Wrestlemania 18.
The Rumble match was sweet - especially if you consider the deep talent pool. Using world champions (future or past) as the measuring stick, this was one of the most talent loaded Rumbles of all time. The match featured 12 world champs (counting WCW reigns) including The Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, Bradshaw (J.B.L.), Christian, Diamond Dallas Paige, Stone Cold, HHH, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Rob Van Dam and Booker T. Wow! The final two came down to HHH and Stone Cold, with HHH getting the win. I'm not a big HHH fan, but it was probably the right call as Austin had already won three Rumbles. On a side note, Austin's second place finish still adds to his legacy - he competed in five Rumbles, won three and placed second in the other two.
Rating: 94/100
1.) Royal Rumble XIII (2000) - Madison Square Garden, NYC
The WWE always goes all out for shows at MSG, and this was one of the all-time greats. Every match was awesome and it includes what most fans consider the Rumble's best world title match, HHH vs Cactus Jack.
The opening match was the undefeated Kurt Angle vs Tazz. It was only about 3 minutes, but it was a series of violent back and forth suplexes. Next, we got an insane tag team tables match between the Hardyz and the Dudley Boyz. Jeff Hardy does a flip from the second level balcony to put one of the Dudleys through two tables. Wow! We then finish up the undercard with Chris Jericho winning the Intercontinental Title in a triple threat match against Hardcore Holly and Chyna.
The title match was a street fight between Cactus Jack and HHH. This was beyond brutal, and saw plenty of chair shots and beatings with a barbed wire bat. By the end, HHH is drowning in his own blood, but he got the win after hitting the pedigree on Cactus Jack into a pile of thumbtacks.
The Ruble match was great even though it was somewhat predictable. Contenders included Chris Jericho, Kane, Big Show, Edge, Jeff Hardy and The Rock. In the end, it came down to The Rock and Big Show, and the Rock got the win in the end. This wasn’t the best Rumble match of all time (Ric Flair winning in ’92), but this was the best all-around Royal Rumble event.
Rating: 95/100
Chronological Winners:
1988 – Big John Studd
1989 – Hacksaw Jim Duggan
1990 – Hulk Hogan
1991 – Hulk Hogan
1992 – Ric Flair
1993 - Yokozuna
1994 – Lex Luger/Bret Hart
1995 – Shawn Michaels
1996 – Shawn Michaels
1997 – Stone Cold
1998 – Stone Cold
1999 – Vince McMahon
2000 – The Rock
2001 – Stone Cold
2002 – Triple H
2003 – Brock Lesnar
2004 – Chris Benoit
2005 – Batista
2006 – Rey Mysterio
2007 – Undertaker
2008 – John Cena
2009 – Randy Orton
2010 – Edge
2011 – Alberto Del Rio
The WWE Championship match was John Cena vs Edge. This was hard to get excited for, as I’ve seen these two fight about a dozen times on Pay Per View. This was one of their first matchups, but it was certainly nothing special. Edge gets the win.
The main event for the night was Mark Henry challenging for Kurt Angle’s World Heavyweight Championship. Again, nothing special and certainly a subpar match (at least for Angle). Nothing here was really entertaining, and it was easily the worst Rumble of the decade.
Rating: 74/100
One classic match was not enough to save this from being a dud. The undercard was very forgettable, featuring short matches from Road Dogg vs Bossman, Ken Shamrock vs Billy Gunn and Gangrel vs Xpac.
The title match was one of the best we've ever seen at the Rumble: The Rock vs Mankind in an 'I Quit' match. This was pretty one sided, with Rock kicking Mankind's ass all over the arena. At one point Rock throws Mankind onto the arena's electrical system from the second floor balcony, temporarily taking out all the lights. Rock then goes on to smash Mankind over the head with a chair FIFTEEN times. We eventually hear Mankind say 'I quit', but would later learn that it was Shane McMahon playing an interview clip from earlier of Mankind saying 'I quit' over the arena's speakers. Mankind was really knocked out cold, laying in a pool of blood - but he never actually said 'I quit'. Awesome match, even though it was painful to watch at the end. With all the focus today on concussions, you will never again see a WWE match with this many violent chair shots.
The buildup for the Rumble match was huge, with Vince offering $100K to whoever could prevent Stone Cold from winning. Austin drew #1 and Vince drew #2, so they started the match one on one. Vince lured Austin outside the of ring and backstage - where he had his cronies ambush him. Austin makes it back to the ring about 45 minutes later, as he was never thrown over the top rope - but neither was Vince. Austin ends up outlasting everyone and thinks that he has the win - until Vince sneaks into the ring and eliminates him. Vince wins! A lot of people hated this as it didn’t build up a Wrestlemania match (Vince forfeited the title shot), but it did intensify the Austin vs McMahon feud – which some people consider the best storyline of all time.
Rating: 79/100
18.) Royal Rumble VIII (1995) - USF Sun Dome, Tampa
Opening match was Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett. I was really psyched for this, and it turned out to be a very good match. I was just upset by the end as stupid Jeff Jarrett won. The title match featured Bret Hart challenging Diesel (Kevin Nash). I tend to despise Nash's work, as his matches are boring and feature a very limited move set. But this was different, twenty solid minutes of brawling mixed with technical moves. Unfortunately, Shawn Michaels and Owen Hart interfered and it ended in a DQ. But even with the bad ending, I rank this as one of the best matches of Nash's career, and one of the best title matches in Rumble history.
The Rumble match itself was disappointing. The roster was really thin at this point as Macho Man, Ric Flair, Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Sid and Yokozuna had all recently left the WWE. They didn't have anyone pulling double duty, so Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, Undertaker and Diesel weren't in the Rumble either as they had wrestled earlier in the night.
That made this the most predictable and jabronie filled Rumble match of all time. Shawn Michaels drew #1 and plowed through 29 jobbers without even breaking a sweat. Seriously though, look at the laundry list of losers in this match: Jimmy Del Rey, Steven Dunn, Kwang, Mo, Dick Murdoch, Mantaur, Sione, Duke Drose, Tom Pritchard, Henry Godwin, Adam Bomb, Timothy Well, Jacob Blu, etc... Are you serious, bro? I've never even heard of these guys before. I was happy with the result, but when you consider that Shawn was the ONLY wrestler in the match to ever hold the WWE Championship, the competition was just too weak to hold this in a high regard.
Rating: 81/100
17.) Royal Rumble XXIII (2009) - Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
Opened with Jack Swagger vs Matt Hardy, which was okay. Then we had John Cena vs JBL, which was pretty bad. Things got a little better in a hardcore match between Edge and Jeff Hardy, but overall the undercard was disappointing.
The Rumble match started off hot with Rey Mysterio and John Morrison as the first two entrants. Things got a little slow mid match, but the ending was very good. It came down to Undetaker, Triple H and Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase). Pretty good storyline as Legacy worked together the entire match to help Randy Orton get the win. Kind of an average Rumble, but it was very predictable, and the crappy undercard keeps this in the bottom tier.
Rating: 81/100
16.) Royal Rumble XIX (2007) – AT&T Center, San Antonio
Great opening match was the Hardy Boyz vs Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro, with the Hardyz getting the win. We then had two very weak title matches in Batista vs Mr. Kennedy and John Cena vs Umaga. The number one contenders were Umaga and Mr. Kennedy?!? Meh. Obviously, Cena and Batista retain their belts. On a side note, I consider this the period (‘05-’08) to be one of the worst in the last twenty years. The main event scene was dominated by Edge, Cena, Batista, Orton and Triple H and just about any combination of these five bores me – as every possible matchup has been done to death.
The Rumble match certainly saved this from being a dud. It was very unpredictable with Ric Flair, Edge, Undertaker, Kane, CM Punk, Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit, Randy Orton and Rob Van Dam all being serious contenders. The very end came down to Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. This was awesome, and they brawled one on one for over five minutes. They hit their finishing moves on each other and eventually Taker got the win. Wow! Great match and I was happy to see The Deadman get the victory.
Rating: 82/100
15.) Royal Rumble IX (1996) - Selland Arena, Fresno
The undercard featured Razor Ramon defending his Intercontinental Title against Goldust. I thought Razor would win for sure, but Goldust won the title when the 1-2-3 Kid (X Pac) interfered. WTF. Razor really got jobbed out before he left for WCW.
For one of just a few times in history, the Rumble didn't go on last. I guess it was to add hype to the title match featuring Bret Hart and the Undertaker. Anyways, the Rumble match was great this year. We had a lot of serious contenders including Diesel, Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels, British Bulldog, Vader, Steve Austin (before he was Stone Cold) and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (before he was HHH). For the second year in a row, Shawn wins the Rumble - but this time the talent involved and the match itself was much better.
In the main event, we saw Undertaker challenging for Bret Hart's WWE Title. Pretty good match with lots of brawling back and forth, and eventually Taker hit Bret with a tombstone piledriver. Right as Taker was about to win the title, Diesel comes in and breaks up the pin, causing a DQ. This pissed me off. If you're going to do a DQ, why, why, why would you make this the main event over the Rumble match? If it was going to be an awesome match, I would understand, but this was just okay as these two had far better matches (Summerslam '97, One Night Only '97, etc).
Rating: 83/100
14.) Royal Rumble XXIII (2010) – Phillips Arena, Atlanta
The undercard was weak but the Rumble match was great. We started off with Christian vs Ezekiel Jackson and The Miz vs MVP – but of which were just okay. The first title match was Sheamus vs Randy Orton. Sheamus was champ here, and got the win with a huge boot to the face. The World Heavyweight Title was Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio, again okay match but nothing too memorable.
The Rumble match was awesome. It was faced paced throughout and was totally unpredictable. Classic stuff with CM Punk clearing the ring two different times; then grabbing the mic and cutting a promo mid match. The final four came down to Edge, Cena, Batista and Shawn Michaels. Edge got the cheap win (he came in as a surprise at #29), but it was great as no one expected him to even be in the match.
Rating: 83/100
13.) Royal Rumble VI (1993) - Arco Arena, Sacramento
This was a very good all-around Rumble. The undercard featured two title matches, the first of which was Shawn Michaels defending his I.C. belt against his former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty. This was right after Shawn turned heel and smashed Jannetty's head through a window - so there was plenty of hate between the two. Shawn got the win with sweet chin music, and it was really good - but wasn't on par with the greatness we would see from Michaels in years to come.
The world title matchup featured Razor Ramon challenging for Bret Hart's WWF Championship. Again, this was a good match but certainly not great. Bret retained, as Razor (Scott Hall) would go on to be (in my opinion) the best wrestler in WWE/WCW history to have never won a world title.
The Rumble match here was average at best even though it was very unpredictable. Ric Flair, Macho Man and the Undertaker were favorites going into the match, but Yokozuna gets the cheap win after coming in at number 27.
Rating: 85/100
12.) Royal Rumble XVIII (2005) – Save Mart Center, Fresno
This started off with a dream match, Edge vs Shawn Michaels. It was very good, but still not as good as it could have been. Edge gets the victory. The WWE Championship was a triple threat match between JBL/Big Show/Kurt Angle. Again, pretty good match but nothing special. JBL retained his title, as this was part of his yearlong championship reign filled with “cheap” victories.
The World Heavyweight Championship was Randy Orton challenging HHH. I was not very psyched for this match going in, and it was even more boring than I thought it would be. HHH gets the win with a pedigree…These two would go on to fight in several other big matches, including Wrestlemania 25, and they are all painfully boring to me.
The Rumble match saved this from being a big disappointment. It had the most world champions of any Rumble match with 13; Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Chris Benoit, Booker T, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, John Cena, Kane, Batista, Ric Flair, Christian and Rey Mysetrio – wow!! It came down to John Cena and Batsita, and they eliminated each other simultaneously, resulting in tie. Vince McMahon vowed after ’94 that we would never see a tie again, and he kept his word. He restarted the match and Batista got the win.
Rating: 85/100
11.) Royal Rumble XVI (2003) – Fleet Center, Boston
Great opening match with Brock Lesnar facing the Big Show. There was a stipulation where the winner would gain a spot in the Rumble match. Brock hit Show with all kinds of crazy offense including a ton of suplexes and eventually hit the F-5 (are you kidding!?!) for the win.
This was the first Rumble after they split undisputed title, so from here on we got two world title matches. First we saw Scott Steiner challenging for HHH’s World Heavyweight Championship. This was awful and was one of the worst title matches I’ve ever seen. Steiner literally did the same damn suplex over and over for the entire match. The crowd started booing after the first five minutes – it was that bad. Probably the only match I can ever remember where one wrestler does the same move 20+ times. At least they didn’t let Steiner win the belt.
The WWE Title match was Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit. This was the easily the match of the night. It was a perfect mix of technical wrestling and brawling while being intense and fast paced throughout. Definitely check this out if possible. Kurt Angle would retain and go on to defend his title against the Rumble winner at Wrestlemania 19…
The Rumble match was very good, but predictable. For me, it’s a lot more enjoyable when the winner isn’t the obvious favorite or someone who comes in at the very end. This was unfortunately both, as Brock Lesnar came in at number 29 and destroyed everyone in his path. Still, it was awesome to see Brock win and it set up one of my favorite all time Wrestlemania matches, Lesnar vs Angle.
Rating: 86/100
10.) Royal Rumble VII (1994) - Civic Center, Providence
The undercard featured Bret Hart and Owen Hart challenging the Quebecers for the Tag Team Championships. The Hart's lose and end up breaking up as a team, which lead to their epic match at Wrestlemania X. Owen blames Bret for the loss in the post match invertview. Owen wasn't very smooth on the mic, here is his hilariously bad speech verbatim; "Bret, you're too damn selfish. And that's why you're sittin' there with a bad leg, and that's why I kicked your leg out of your leg". Huh? Do a Google search for 'I kicked your leg out of your leg' and you'll get a good laugh.
The world title match saw Undertaker challenging Yokozuna in a casket match. You'd think Taker would win for sure, but the match was no DQ and Mr. Fuji (Yokozuna's manager) hired ten different superstars to come to ringside and beat down Undertaker mid match. Yokozona then rolled Taker into the casket for the super cheap win.
What happened next was pretty ridiculous. The casket started smoking and they played it up like (storyline-wise) Yokozuna had 'killed' the Undertaker. The arena then went dark and Taker was suddenly 'levitating' at the top of the entrance ramp, and then he disappeared. I was entertained, but some critics hated how cheesy it was. Undertaker would go on to stay 'dead' until resurrecting at Summerslam seven months later.
The Rumble match was also unique, as we saw a tie for the only time in history. Lex Luger and Bret Hart eliminated each other simultaneously, and were both given title matches against Yokozuna at Wrestlemania x. Very solid all-around Rumble, which I probably rank higher than most because of its unpredictability.
Rating: 87/100
9.) Royal Rumble XX (2008) – Madison Square Garden, NYC
Great event as is always this case at Madison Square Garden. Things got started with Ric Flair vs MVP. Flair was fighting under a stipulation that he would retire the next time a lost, which added a sense of urgency and got the crowd fired up. Flair got the win and would remain undefeated until losing to Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 24.
Next up was Chris Jericho vs JBL. I usually can’t stand JBL’s matches and his finishing move is the dumbest I’ve ever seen (the “clothesline from hell”), but this was very good. The World Heavyweight Title was Rey Mysterio challenging Edge. This was sweet and it exceeded my expectations. Then we had Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton for the WWE title. Orton retains win an RKO, but has to beat the living hell out of Jeff to get the pin.
John Cena won the Rumble match by coming in as a surprise entrant at number 30. He was supposed to be out another four or five months after surgery, and NO ONE expected him to show up. I’m not a big Cena fan, but this was awesome and the crowd at The Garden went absolutely nuts when Cena’s music started playing. This was also the only time an unannounced entrant won the rumble. This wasn’t an all-time classic, but every match was good and it just barely makes the top 10.
Rating: 87/100
8.) Royal Rumble XXIV (2011) – TD Garden, Boston
I loved the format here as they literally cut out all the filler to make room for a 40 man Rumble (instead of the usual 30). There were no pointless singles matches or no tag team matches, just two world title matches and the Rumble – three matches in total in they were all great.
The first was Dolph Ziggler challenging Edge for the WWE Championship. This was a solid match as these two have similar styles. Edge was suffering from a serious back injury, and he would retire a few months later. So, there weren’t any insane spots, but still a very good match with Edge retaining his title.
The WWE Title match was Randy Orton challenging for Miz’s WWE Championship. Another very good match, my only complaint is that Miz always looked vulnerable as champ, never having clean title defenses. CM Punk helps out here, nailing Orton with a chair to give Miz the easy win.
The 40 man rumble was awesome. Tons of starpower here along with being unpredictable get this a top 10 spot. John Morrison had one of this sickest spots I’ve ever seen, where he gets thrown over the top rope and lands of the guard rail. His feet never touch the floor, and he somehow leaps from the guardrail back into the ring. Wow! Alberto Del Rio got the win in the end and would go on to have a terrible run as WWE Champion. History will not be kind to kind to Del Rio, and he will be remembered alongside pointless winners such as Jim Duggan and Big John Studd. Still, this was an awesome PPV and it just barely misses out on the top five.
Rating: 90/100
7.) Royal Rumble X (1997) - Alamodome, San Antonio
The undercard here was pretty weak. Disappointing opening match from HHH vs Goldust and ditto for Undertaker vs Vader. Farooq vs Ahmed Johnson was really bad - but you'd expect that. We then saw my vote for the dumbest Rumble match of all time; a six man tag team match featuring some midget wrestlers I've never heard of (and won't even bother listing).
The Rumble match made up for the crappy undercard. For the first time in history, everyone from the undercard was pulling double duty including six all-time greats; Bret Hart, Stone Cold, Undertaker, HHH, Mankind, and the Rock - wow! We also had British Bulldog, Jake the Snake, Owen Hart and the fake Diesel/Razor Ramon. Stone Cold gets the win; kicking ass like we've never seen before with a record ten eliminations.
The main event was also great; Shawn Michaels challenged Sid for the WWE Title. Shawn had the flu (in real life) but still won the title after hitting Sid with sweet chin music. Even though the first half was pretty boring, the last two matches were great and earn this a top 10 ranking.
Rating: 91/100
6.) Royal Rumble XIV (2001) - New Orelans Arena, New Orleans
Started off hot with a tag team match between Edge and Christian vs The Dudley Boyz. We then saw Chris Benoit defend his I.C. Title against Chris Jericho in a ladder match. This stole the show - and is considered among the best all time ladder matches. Jericho won the title (yeah baby!), and this was certainly the match of the night.
The WWE Title match was HHH challenging Kurt Angle. This had potential to be great, but it was totally boring. There was way too much outside interference from Vince McMahon, Stephanie, Stone Cold and Trish Stratus. This felt more like a bad episode of Raw than a big time Pay Per View. Kurt Angle retains his title. Meh.
But the Rumble match delivered and gave us two records that may never be broken. Kane had the best performance of the night with a record 11 eliminations, and Stone Cold went on to win his record third Rumble. This cemented Austin’s legacy as an all-time great, and he would go on to win the Title from The Rock at Wrestlemania XVII.
Rating: 91/100
5.) Royal Rumble V (1992) - Knickerbacker Arena, New York
Whoooooo!! This was pure greatness at the Rumble. In 1992, the title was vacated and for the only time in history, the WWE Title was to be awarded to the winner of the Rumble match. The undercard was pretty much crap, but the hype for the main event was huge as we were guaranteed a new champion. AWESOME backstage promos for this one! Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Undertaker, Macho Man and Hogan all cut sweet promos backstage promos before the match gets started. Ric Flair draws #3 and goes the distance for 60+ minutes, outlasting everyone to become the new champ.
His backstage interview afterward is priceless: "I'm gonna tell you all with a tear in my eye, THIS is the greatest moment in my life. When you walk around this world and tell everyone you're number one, the only way to stay number one - is to BE number one! And this is the only title in the wrestling world that makes you number one! When you're the King of the WWF, you rule the world! This is the greatest moment of my life; I wanna jump, I wanna party. But I gotta tell ya like this. To the Hulk Hogans, the Macho Mans, the Pipers and the Sids: Now it's Ric Flair, and you can all pay homage to the man! Whooooooo!!!!"
Rating: 93/100
4.) Royal Rumble XVII (2004) – Wachovia Center, Philadelphia
Opened up with Brock Lesnar vs Harcore Holly for the WWE Championship. WTF? Why the hell is Hardcore Holly the number one contender? There are literally 20+ wrestlers on the roster I’d rather see fight Brock than Hardcore Holly. At least it was short as Brock destroys Holly in about six minutes.
The second title match was a classic, with Shawn Michaels challenging for HHH’s World Heavyweight Championship. This was a last man standing match, meaning the winner would have to knock out his opponent. Shawn was bleeding profusely from the first five minutes, and there were a couple of great spots, but it ended in a draw. Shawn hit HHH with Sweet Chin Music, but then both failed to respond to the ref’s ten count. This pissed off a lot of people, but it did set up an awesome triple threat match against the Rumble winner at Wrestlemania XX.
The Rumble came down to Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Rob Van Dam, Chris Benoit, Goldberg. This was great because it felt like any of these guys had a chance. Benoit won, and would go on to win the title at Wrestlemania. I hate Benoit for what he did three years later, but in 2004, he was an absolute beast and it was great to see him get the win.
Rating: 93/100
3.) Royal Rumble XI (1998) - San Jose Arena, San Jose
Average undercard here with the Rock successfully defending his Intercontinental Championship against Ken Shamrock being the highlight. The rest of the earlier matches were crap including Goldust vs Vader and an atrocious six man tag featuring midget wrestlers. WTF.
But the Rumble match delivered. The highlight for me was Mick Foley coming in and getting eliminated under his three different personas; Cactus Jack, Mankind and eventually Dude Love. The final two came down to the Rock and Stone Cold, with Austin getting the stunner for the win. Mike Tyson was rooting for Austin from a luxury box and they interviewed him after the match. He said that he loves "Cold Stone" and that he made a lot of money betting on him to win the Rumble. LOL. Who is taking Iron Mike's bets on pro wrestling? And who in their right mind would bet against Austin?
Great main event here. Undertaker challenges for Shawn Michaels' WWE title in a casket match. These two have fought in several big time PPV matches and they always steal the show. It looked like Taker was going to get the win, until DX came in and interfered on Shawn's behalf. Suddenly, the lights go out and Kane shows up, destroying DX and clearing the ring. Kane is seemingly there helping Undertaker, but he turns heel and throws Taker in the casket giving Michaels the win. Kane and Paul Bearer then roll the casket towards the entrance ramp, douse it with gasoline and light it on fire. For the second time in history, the Undertaker is 'killed' at the Royal Rumble.
Rating: 93/100
2.) Royal Rumble XV (2002) - Phillips Arena, Atlanta
This was the first Rumble after Vince bought WCW, so the talent pool was at an all-time high. Good opening tag match with The Dudleys vs Tazz/Spike followed by Edge vs William Regal for the I.C. Title. Then we had a street fight between Vince McMahon and Ric Flair. Whoooo!!! Great match with plenty of violent spots. Flair gets the win - despite Vince looking absolutely huge in comparison.
Next, we had The Rock challenging Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Title. This was a dream match for me, and Jericho retained without any outside interference. YES! This the best of times for Jericho-holics - as Jericho was the first ever Undisputed Champion (owning both the WWF and WCW world titles) and had successful defenses against The Rock and Stone Cold before main eventing Wrestlemania 18.
The Rumble match was sweet - especially if you consider the deep talent pool. Using world champions (future or past) as the measuring stick, this was one of the most talent loaded Rumbles of all time. The match featured 12 world champs (counting WCW reigns) including The Undertaker, Jeff Hardy, Bradshaw (J.B.L.), Christian, Diamond Dallas Paige, Stone Cold, HHH, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Rob Van Dam and Booker T. Wow! The final two came down to HHH and Stone Cold, with HHH getting the win. I'm not a big HHH fan, but it was probably the right call as Austin had already won three Rumbles. On a side note, Austin's second place finish still adds to his legacy - he competed in five Rumbles, won three and placed second in the other two.
Rating: 94/100
1.) Royal Rumble XIII (2000) - Madison Square Garden, NYC
The WWE always goes all out for shows at MSG, and this was one of the all-time greats. Every match was awesome and it includes what most fans consider the Rumble's best world title match, HHH vs Cactus Jack.
The opening match was the undefeated Kurt Angle vs Tazz. It was only about 3 minutes, but it was a series of violent back and forth suplexes. Next, we got an insane tag team tables match between the Hardyz and the Dudley Boyz. Jeff Hardy does a flip from the second level balcony to put one of the Dudleys through two tables. Wow! We then finish up the undercard with Chris Jericho winning the Intercontinental Title in a triple threat match against Hardcore Holly and Chyna.
The title match was a street fight between Cactus Jack and HHH. This was beyond brutal, and saw plenty of chair shots and beatings with a barbed wire bat. By the end, HHH is drowning in his own blood, but he got the win after hitting the pedigree on Cactus Jack into a pile of thumbtacks.
The Ruble match was great even though it was somewhat predictable. Contenders included Chris Jericho, Kane, Big Show, Edge, Jeff Hardy and The Rock. In the end, it came down to The Rock and Big Show, and the Rock got the win in the end. This wasn’t the best Rumble match of all time (Ric Flair winning in ’92), but this was the best all-around Royal Rumble event.
Rating: 95/100
Chronological Winners:
1988 – Big John Studd
1989 – Hacksaw Jim Duggan
1990 – Hulk Hogan
1991 – Hulk Hogan
1992 – Ric Flair
1993 - Yokozuna
1994 – Lex Luger/Bret Hart
1995 – Shawn Michaels
1996 – Shawn Michaels
1997 – Stone Cold
1998 – Stone Cold
1999 – Vince McMahon
2000 – The Rock
2001 – Stone Cold
2002 – Triple H
2003 – Brock Lesnar
2004 – Chris Benoit
2005 – Batista
2006 – Rey Mysterio
2007 – Undertaker
2008 – John Cena
2009 – Randy Orton
2010 – Edge
2011 – Alberto Del Rio
Rumble Records:
Most Rumble Wins: 3 – Stone Cold
Most eliminations: 11 Kane - 1997
Most career eliminations: Shawn Michaels 38
Luckiest entrant spot: #27, four wins
Best Rumble match: 1992 (Ric Flair wins)
Best Title Match: Cactus Jack vs Triple H
Wins as #1 entrant: Shawn Michaels (’95), Chris Benoit (’04)
Wins as #2 entrant: Rey Mysterio (’06), Vince McMahon (’99)
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