Big John Studd
After the 1988 Rumble, the 1989 event had pretty much perfected the formula. Now with 30 entrants, the match was exciting and was perhaps the most notable win of Big John Studd’s career.
A fan favourite, Studd entered at number 27 which is a frequent number for winners to enter at, and he last eliminated the Million Dollar Man. Bragging rights were the outcome for this win as at this time there was no WWE Championship shot as a prize.
Lex Luger
Lex co-won the 1994 Royal Rumble with Bret Hart. And although the match was good Luger would eliminate six opponents, the victory is held back by the story that would follow. Although Bret and Lex perfectly executed the ending so they truly did appear to hit the ground at the same time, their path to WrestleMania wouldn’t be as equal.
Where as Bret would have the classic one on one match with Owen and then go on to win the World Title from Yokozuna at Mania, Lex would lose his mid show World Title match against Yokozuna and by the end of the night Luger’s Rumble victory and Luger himself was all but an afterthought.
Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio won the first and so far only 40 man Royal Rumble. It was a good match with fun surprises and an entertaining ending where it almost looked like underdog Santino Marella would get the surprise win over Alberto. This wasn’t to be, and Alberto’s failure to capitalise on the Rumble victory with a win at Mania in the third match of the night (losing in what would be then World Champion Edge’s final match for years) makes this one of the Rumble wins with the least impactful legacy.
Jim Duggan
The first man to win the Royal Rumble on screen! Jim Duggan was the winner of the 1988 Royal Rumble. In this event there was only 20 wrestlers, and they hadn’t quite got the match as figured out as they would by the next year. The significance of Duggan’s win wasn’t really apparent at the time it happened, but is one of the highlight’s of Hacksaw’s career.
