5 Royal Rumble Runners-Up That Went On To Win The MatchÂ
The Royal Rumble is one of the most iconic wrestling matches of all time. Whether you are a die-hard wrestling fan, or just a casual viewer looking to be entertained, WWE's battle royal extravaganza is an exciting prospect for everyone in the WWE Universe.
However, while WWE loves to market the match as every one of the thirty participants has an equal chance of winning the contest, fans have realised since its inception, there are only a handful of superstars that can realistically win a Royal Rumble match. For fans of the winner, it is great to celebrate this accomplishment with your favourite wrestler. FOr the runner up, it is nothing less than heartbreaking.
The 'runner up', every fan knows this superstar very well, as this star is branded as the 'nearly man' by the WWE. He is the superstar that puts in one hundred percent effort, only to taste defeat at the very end. The runner-up makes for a good redemption narrative, as we see the company push this star to win the match down the line, and that makes for good television. Now, let us look at some of these stars that went on to victory after defeat.
#1 John Cena
John Cena is one of those wrestlers that fans have come to accept as WWE's go-to guy for a main event push, as there isn't much evidence that points to Cena being left on the sidelines throughout his wrestling career.
From winning sixteen World Titles to headlining numerous Wrestlemania events, Cena was the one star that sat atop of the WWE mountain for a very long time. But before John Cena became 'super Cena', he was a young upstart on the verge of breaking out as a main event act.
During this time we saw Cena take a familiar booking role many future main eventers take throughout their careers, and that was the hard road. This path saw Cena come up short in some truly gigantic matches. The most famous might be his war with Batista in the closing moments of the 2005 Royal Rumble match.
This was a match that became infamous in wrestling lore, as that night the world witnessed an irate Vince McMahon tear both his quads in an effort to sort out the mess that was unfolding before his eyes. Both Cena and Batista went over the top rope at the same time, and Vince laying in a heap of pain calmly ordered the match to be restarted.
Fans then saw Batista throw Cena like a sack of potatoes over the top rope to win the match. For those who feel sorry for 'the leader of the Cenation', he went on to win the Royal Rumble twice from that point. Victories in 2008 and 2013 allowed Cena to enter the main event once again.