3 worst Royal Rumble matches in WWE history
The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble is almost here and fans are extremely hyped up for the event. Outside of WrestleMania, and potentially SummerSlam, fans look forward to the Royal Rumble more than any other show all year and every year.
The big hook of the Royal Rumble event is the 30-man, and now also 30-woman, battle royals. The winner of a Royal Rumble Match can then challenge for a world title in the main event at WrestleMania.
Some of the biggest stars have won the Royal Rumble Match in the past, ranging from Hulk Hogan to Rhea Ripley to Stone Cold Steve Austin to John Cena. In fact, it has almost been exclusively big stars either before or after their win to have accomplished the feat.
Despite that, not every Rumble match has been a hit despite having so many stars. There have been some that have left fans downright angry when the show ended. This article will take a look at three Royal Rumble Matches in particular that have been widely considered the worst to ever take place.
Below are the three worst Royal Rumble matches in WWE history.
#3. The 2015 Royal Rumble Match was a disaster
WWE held the 2015 Royal Rumble event back on January 25 of that year. The big show took place live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Over 17,000 fans were in attendance for the event.
The Royal Rumble Match at this event predated the creation of the Women's Royal Rumble and was thus the only bout of its kind on the show. The match featured a mix of big WWE stars and some less big names, including Kane, Big Show, Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, and Dolph Ziggler.
Fans desperately wanted Daniel Bryan to win the match, but he was awkwardly tossed out after just 10 minutes of being in the ring. Fans then turned against the bout vocally, especially as The Big Show and Kane routinely threw names out one by one.
In the end, Roman Reigns won the bout, but fans had rejected The Big Dog at this point. They wanted Bryan and were extremely upset Reigns won. So much so, in fact, that they even booed him. When The Rock made the save from a post-match beatdown, the crowd even booed The People's Champion for holding Roman's arm up. Altogether, it was a badly booked match.
#2. The Men's Royal Rumble Match in 2022 left fans disappointed
The next entry on this list comes from the 2022 Royal Rumble. The event was held in front of well over 44,000 fans live at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This was the last Royal Rumble event fully under the leadership of Vince McMahon.
The Men's Royal Rumble Match again featured some big names, both at the time in WWE and at various other points. The likes of Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and Sami Zayn were involved. None of them won the match, however. Simply put, it was an awkwardly booked bout, with Shane McMahon dominating and fans didn't even get a good winner.
Instead, for some bizarre reason, Brock Lesnar won it. Not only had Brock won the Rumble in the past, but he had wrestled Bobby Lashley earlier in the night. The Beast Incarnate even lost the WWE Championship to The All-Mighty, only to win the Royal Rumble later on in the same night.
To make matters worse, Brock regained the title from Lashley before WrestleMania. He then proceeded to have an Undisputed Championship match with Roman Reigns at The Show of Shows where the belts were unified, which damaged both brands for a long time. This win was a total disaster.
#1. The WWE Women's Royal Rumble Match from 2022 also disappointed the audience
The 2022 Royal Rumble event didn't just have one of the worst Royal Rumble Matches - The WWE Premium Live Event featured two of the worst Royal Rumble Matches ever.
The Women's Royal Rumble Match featured a mixture of NXT stars, legends, and main roster names. This included Mickie James, Nikki Bella, Rhea Ripley, Naomi, Sasha Banks, and Melina, among others.
Despite that, the match never truly clicked and fan interest dropped once #28 came out. Ronda Rousey made her shocking WWE return, but fans didn't exactly seem thrilled. Plus, her arrival made the outcome more predictable.
This made the entire closing stretch of the match disappointing. Fans either had to choose between Charlotte or Ronda, two stars who had been there and done that already. It was just not booked well at all.