Ranking the last 20 Royal Rumble matches from worst to best
The Royal Rumble is the single most exciting match in the WWE year bar none. It is an hour-long ordeal with a new wrestler entering the match every 90 seconds or two minutes. It is so simple, yet so exciting. This simple concept has built up so much intrigue over the years, causing fans to wait in anticipation. 30 Superstars, 40 in one case, would make their way down to the ring and fight it out until only one remains. The Royal Rumble sets the tone for WrestleMania, playing its part perfectly as the ultimate excitement machine.
However, not every single Rumble could be the excitement machine. Some of them are good and some of them are bad. Various booking decisions among other factors could contribute to the lack of quality and excitement in a Royal Rumble match. A single moment could ruin the entire hour-long match, as has been proven multiple times. There have been 32 Rumble matches, not counting that 50-man one in Saudi Arabia.
It had taken some time for WWE to do the Rumble right, with the 1992 match involving the WWF Championship still standing as one of the greatest Royal Rumble matches of all time. The 90s focused on building new stars more than ever. Shawn Michaels and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin both won back-to-back Royal Rumbles one after the other, with Mr McMahon winning the final one of the 20th century. Since the start of the new millennium, there have been 20 of these crazy star-studded bouts. But which ones were the best and which ones were the worst?
Here are the last 20 Royal Rumble matches ranked from worst to best.
#20 2015
This might be the worst Royal Rumble match of all time. Overall, it was a mess. WWE clearly knew what they were doing and was adamant about Roman Reigns getting the win and main eventing WrestleMania 31. However, the way they did it was painfully horrific and downright lazy. The overwhelming crowd favourite Daniel Bryan entered at number 10 after a decent start to the Rumble, as we got somewhat of a Wyatt Family reunion and surprise entries from Bubba Ray Dudley and the Boogeyman. Bryan only lasted for ten minutes before being unceremoniously dumped out by Bray Wyatt. And that's when the match fell off a cliff. The fans booed the rest of this match like never before, only stopping to cheer the arrivals of other favourites like Damien Mizdow and Dean Ambrose. WWE did not do anything to induce them to change their opinion of the match and it showed. Even Kofi Kingston's elimination escape spot was extremely lazy, as he landed on the Rosebuds, who carried him across the ring before he immediately got dumped out by Rusev.
The Bulgarian had an impressive showing in the match, entering at 15 and eliminating a handful of competitors. However, everybody knew that Reigns was winning the Rumble as soon as Bryan's feet touch the floor. It was a pitiful mess. The ending was also by far one of the worst in WWE history. Kane and the Big Show, yesteryear's giants, went on a rampage and eliminated the remaining crowd favourites. They threw Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose with such ease, that it made the Big Dog's eventual victory much more bitter. He would eliminate both of them at the same time, before they returned to the ring to attack him post-elimination. Then out came The Rock, to save his cousin and try to transfer some of his popularity over to Reigns. It was a blatant and desperate move from the company, that backfired on them massively. "We want refunds" echoed around the Wells Fargo Center, even when the match was going on.
This Royal Rumble was so bad, that it made the fans boo the People's Champion and demand for refunds. Roman Reigns has had many stellar nights and moments in his career. Unfortunately, though, his Rumble victory was so painful to watch.
#19 2012
This was one of the weirdest Royal Rumble matches of all time. There were close to ten surprise entrants, but they were not particularly exciting. There were the nostalgic surprises like "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Road Dogg, along with the downright shocking in Kharma. However, this match will forever be remembered for the fact that all three commentators entered the Rumble. Jerry Lawler and Booker T were acceptable additions to the match because of their prior experience in the ring, but Michael Cole entering at number 20 was a travesty. At least he got the sense knocked out of him by Kharma, the third female to ever enter a Rumble match. Aside from them, the likes of Mick Foley (in 2012) and Ricardo Rodriguez are groan-inducing presences in such a match. Foley and Santino Marella had a comedic battle of the socks, with Mr Socko and the Cobra.
That was what this match was reduced to. It was one goofball of a Rumble to say the least. There were some cool moments though. Cody Rhodes was the star of the show, lasting over 40 minutes and eliminating 6 men. Joining him was The Miz, who started the match and lasted until the end with Rhodes. Kofi Kingston began his annual Royal Rumble tradition of coming up with innovative ways to avoid elimination. He started off big by walking on his hands at ringside. It was incredible from the current New Day member and a perfect sign of things to come. The hometown pop for Randy Orton was immense, as he finished in third place after getting eliminated by the returning Chris Jericho. Y2J was the overwhelming favourite to win the Rumble, but was thwarted in an upset by Sheamus. Not as great as Jericho, but a good winner nevertheless.
Jericho and Sheamus fought hard in a nail-biting finishing sequence to the 2012 Royal Rumble match, one of the better endings to such a match. However, this Rumble's legacy will always be that all three commentators competed in it, especially Michael Cole.