For many wrestling fans the Royal Rumble is the highlight event of the year. Sure, WrestleMania is the biggest and most hyped event of the year, but the Royal Rumble is the most unique event. Whilst WrestleMania will have some big match ups, these in theory could happen at SummerSlam, or pretty much any other WWE pay per view event.
The Royal Rumble is unique as it pretty much is always a once a year event (we will cover the exceptions) and as a fan there is no other match up which guarantees wrestling fans an hour long match with 30 superstars all taking part. The surprise entrants, the near escapes, and the unknown order of entry make the Rumble matches the most exciting of the wrestling calendar.
To date there have been 33 different Royal Rumble winners, 29 men and 4 women. In this list we’ll rank all winners from worst through to best and rank them not just on the actual match, but by the complete story told around their win. This will include build up to the Rumble, their contribution to the match, and the lasting legacy of their win or wins.
Notable Mention
One Man Gang
Before we get going on the full list, we have to mention the One Man Gang who won the very first Royal Rumble in 1987. I’m sure this fact will surprise many as it isn’t often spoken of. The reason for it’s inclusion only as a notable mention is because the event wasn’t filmed, it was primarily done as a test to see if the Royal Rumble concept would work, and it only featured 12 men.
The historical importance of this win isn’t lost on me in terms of it’s ranking position, but as we’ve never been able to see it, we can’t properly say where it’s place on the list should be.
Mr McMahon
Vince McMahon is perhaps the greatest heel in the history of wrestling. Just the fact that he was the owner of the WWE and would mistreat his employees (independent contractors I should say) made everyone hate him. The idea of him winning the Rumble instead of fan favourite and arch nemesis Stone Cold Steve Austin drove everyone nuts.
But whilst it may have seemed a win for Skeletor over He-Man for McMahon to win the Rumble, the fact that McMahon took this honour from building one of his own wrestlers never sat well with me. Add to this that his win was essentially meaningless as he had little to no involvement in the Rumble after being one of the first two entrants and then gave up his WrestleMania World Championship title shot the next night.
This win was for the shock value of the result and not much else.
Bruan Strowman
In 2018 the WWE held their first huge event in Saudi Arabia and it was The Greatest Royal Rumble. That is the name of the event to acknowledge that for the first time there would be 50 wrestlers take part. The winner was Braun Strowman, who it’s worth noting eliminated a record breaking 13 opponents.
Unlike most other Rumbles ever, it didn’t grant Strowman a future World Championship match, but instead he won a trophy and the Greatest Royal rumble Championship belt…which was never seen or mentioned again after his winning it.
