Edge
Edge is an interesting winner on this list. He won the Rumble twice and his first win came during the height of his career. A solid victory, which if it had been his only victory would have still seen the Rate R Superstar place well on this list.
His second Rumble win however came at the 2021 Rumble and had a lot going for it, but also a few drawbacks. As mentioned with Bianca’s victory at the 2021 event, this happened at the Thunderdome which meant that the entire audience were on video screens live form their living room. This was a shame as if Edge had won when he returned at the Rumble one year earlier, it would have been perfect. The audience went insane when Edge made his surprise return and were desperate to see him win. The WWE gave Edge that win a year later, but without the audience there was definitely just that little something missing.
But back on the plus side, Edge went the distance to prove any doubters wrong as he entered at the start of the Royal Rumble and lasted until the end.
Yokozuna
Of all the Rumble winners on this list, Yokozuna is the biggest. Maybe not the tallest, as that would go to the Undertaker, but Yoko definitely is the largest. When he entered the Rumble in 1993 it made sense that no one could eliminate him – he was a ginormous human being and therefore obviously perfect to win the match. It’s a shame that the WWE never really followed this Yokozuna/Andre the Giant mentality ever again at the Rumble/Battle Royal matches as they usually just have 5-10 guys all gang up to eliminate any and every super heavyweight.
But for Yokozuna’s win, it was one of the most convincing that there has ever been in a WWE ring, and it made an instant star out of the sumo giant.
Randy Orton
Randy Orton is one of those wrestlers who despite his huge fame and accolades still has this sense of disappearing into the background and into the periphery at times. Much like his nick name of The Viper, he is always ready to pounce.
For the first of his two Rumble wins, Orton was in the match a long time, going in early and staying in the match over 40 minutes. His faction at the time, Legacy played a big part in Orton dominating the match and this victory would see him go on to face Triple H at WrestleMania. This being in the era of Triple H dominating WrestleMania main events, Orton fell short of taking the title, but Randy would get a chance at redemption several years later.
Orton’s second Rumble win came in 2017, and was a mixed bag compared to the first. He was still in for over 20 minutes, though only eliminated one person to take the victory. His story would end better with a WWE Championship win at WrestleMania, although this came in the middle of the card and is another example of the WWE lessening the value of the Royal Rumble match victory by not giving the winner the true Mania main event.
John Cena
After The Undertaker was the first man to ever enter the Royal Rumble at number 30 and win, John would do the same thing the very next year to once and for all show that 30 could be a good number and truly break it’s curse.
Despite coming in at number 30, John was still able to eliminate four opponents. Add to this that it was a big return for Cena who had been out with an injury and was said to be out for several months longer than he was. This made his return a huge surprise and his victory all the sweeter.
The follow up wasn’t as sweet as John decided to use his victory title shot a month early at No Way Out and failed to capture the WWE title when current Champion Randy Orton got himself disqualified. After this the story pushed things into Mania where it would be a triple threat match with Orton, Cena and Triple H where Orton retained again.
Cena’s next Rumble win was perhaps better in many ways. He was in the match longer in 2013 although still only eliminated four opponents. This win would take him on to the Twice in a Lifetime main event of WrestleMania where he would defeat The Rock to take the WWE title. This was the culmination of a 3 year WrestleMania main event programme with The Rock and one of the most memorable WWE feuds in many years.
Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio had one of the most emotionally charged victories in Royal Rumble history. After the death of Eddie Guerrero, the WWE and the fans put their focus on Rey Mysterio to lead the charge in terms of paying tribute to the late wrestler. Whilst Mysterio was always good enough to main event a Mania and should have always been a contender for a Rumble victory due to his amazing command of balance and the ring itself, there’s no doubt that he wouldn’t have been in this position at this stage had it not been for passing of Eddie and the fan’s desire to see his carry his legacy.
The WWE recognised that Rey was the right winner for the event, but they did have resistance to the idea of him going onto the main event of Mania. Despite this, he did get there and although it was both a short match and not the final bout, he would pick up the World Title win.
Mysterio is another wrestler to go the full distance form the start of the match, although he did so from the number 2 position. This always makes it sound like he was there less than the men who won from number 1, but in reality the match doesn’t start until both 1 and 2 are in the ring.
