Royal Rumble 2018: Ranking all number 1 entrants (Part 2)
The last time, we took a little detour to jump from the number one entrant to final entrants. Now we're back looking at the next set of ten men who managed to accomplish greatness from the number one position in the Royal Rumble, if not excellence.
Royal Rumble matches are like anything else in the WWE. Invented by Pat Patterson, the innovative concept relies on a number of spots and particular 29 eliminations that will lead the winner to Wrestlemania.
As in a normal wrestling match, beyond the important pre-determined spots everything else is choreographed by the referees, management backstage and most importantly the wrestlers in the ring.
They have to be able to be intuitive enough to move the pace of the rumble along and keep each other in check to get to the desired end result. More often than not, that is why the veterans in the Rumble are spaced out between entries and also given the lofty position of the Iron Man (superstar who lasts longest) to make sure things run smoothly.
The best Rumbles feature ironmen who share the responsibility of anchor but never win. The best ironmen are those who last from the grand number one position to somewhere close to the end, giving us a riveting contest and persona to engage with as the match moves along.
For these ten men, victory was never the motive it was to anchor the match as best as possible in their limited time; whether to energize the first act or to carry forward the whole thing through till the end.
#20 Trying it with Flair
In 1992, with a tear in his eye, Ric Flair managed to win the Royal Rumble and with it the WWE Championship. A year later and after falling out of favour, Flair found himself at the first spot of a stacked Rumble.
Unfortunately for him, that number one spot bore a curse as he got promptly eliminated at the hands of Mr Perfect. This was the first time the Royal Rumble would get the opportunity to challenge for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania. Unfortunately, Flair couldn't capture that chance and had to make due to the fact, that his days at the 'E were numbered.
Anyhow Flair tried and luckily, years later he'd get the chance to shine at many a Rumble. This just wasn't his night.
Eliminated by Mr Perfect.