Asuka
Asuka was the first woman to win a Royal Rumble match after the WWE introduced a female version of the match. This historical win is of note, but would lead to a failed challenge for the Women’s title at WrestleMania.
It’s always a shame when a Rumble winner doesn’t go on to capture the belt at Mania, but I guess it has to happen for someone. The fact that the first female Rumble match didn’t lead to a title change is something that felt like a wasted opportunity to really say that the women’s Rumble match was big thing it was. Still, Asuka was already a star by this point and would go on to greater heights in the years that followed so this blib didn’t stop her success.
Shinsuke Nakamura
Having been a huge draw in Japan, the WWE upset fans by bringing Shinsuke into NXT. He was there a while and finally got his chance on the main roster and it looked as if the WWE would push Shinsuke to the moon. Winning the Royal Rumble would see him challenge AJ Styles at WrestleMania and WWE being the WWE, they lost faith in Shinsuke by the time the match happened.
His win was a great feel good moment and nothing will change that, but in terms of the over all story, this is another example of something starting well and losing steam and not having the lasting impact and legacy to top this list.
Charlotte Flair
There was nothing wrong with Charlotte’s win, but it came at a time where it was all too obvious that she would get the nod. There not being a strong alternative or a sense of not knowing who will win a Rumble does take something away from it.
Add to this that Charlotte decided to use her title opportunity to challenge the NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and the legacy of this win just wasn’t as grand as it could have been.
Sheamus
This is an interesting win on the list. Sheamus is a multi-time World Champion, although his status as a main eventer has continued to dwindle in recent years. He wasn’t the absolute favourite to win the Rumble when he did in 2012, and the aftermath of his win was memorable, but quite possibly so for his opponent.
At WrestleMania that year, Sheamus would challenge Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship. With the Rock and John Cena taking the main event, the World Title match went on first, which did seem to undermine the Rumble victory somewhat. Most surprising of all though was that Sheamus would take the victory and the title in an 18 second match.
This seeming so unfair to do at WrestleMania, and especially to Bryan was one of the things that would lead to the explosion of the Yes Movement that would help rocket Daniel Bryan’s career to it’s highest heights.
