The 2015 Royal Rumble is a little over three weeks away, and with the first Raw of 2015 only a few days away, WrestleMania season is closer than ever. The Rumble match itself is one of the most exciting matches in WWE, and the Royal Rumble pay per view has long been a member of the ‘Big Four’ pay per view club, and is consistently one of the most action packed shows of the year. This year’s show will be no different, as it’s already been announced that John Cena will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and Daniel Bryan will be making his long awaited return as an entrant in the Royal Rumble match. In the tradition of this wonderful event, I decided to rank the winners of the Royal Rumble match, all 22 of them, from worst to first. While a few wrestlers have won this match multiple times, I’m going to lump their spot on the list into one position. Who is the greatest Royal Rumble in wrestling history? Let’s find out.

22. Vince McMahon – 1999

The Mr. McMahon character was one of the greatest villains in WWE history, and his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin propelled the industry back into the mainstream pop culture scene. Vince McMahon the wrestler was not the most gifted athlete in the world, but the rivalry between him and Austin was built up so well that the actual physicality aspect of it didn’t really matter. McMahon spent most of the match outside of the ring, but since he was never thrown over the top rope, he was never officially eliminated. After The Rock provided a timely distraction, McMahon seized the opportunity and dumped Austin over the top rope, winning the Rumble and robbing Austin of his three peat. Vince takes our worst spot on the list for many reasons, but mainly because his master plan didn’t end up working: Stone Cold defeated The Rock for the WWE Championship a few months later at WrestleMania XV.

– Ryan