Blog Archives
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 16
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
7. Shawn Michaels – 1995 & 1996 Royal Rumbles
Mid 90’s Shawn Michaels is arguably the greatest performer of all time. He was unmatched in the ring, solid on the microphone and his overall attitude and personality ushered in a new and exciting era for WWE fans. Michaels is the second multi time winner on this list (Batista) and the first wrestler we’ve featured who won back to back Royal Rumbles. In ’95, Michaels entered 1st overall and lasted the entire match, eliminating The British Bulldog, who entered second, to win the match. HBK had a more modest showing in ’96 entering at #18, but he still lasted 26 minutes and eliminated 8 other superstars.
The Good: healthy HBK was the best in the business. During his first run, from 1992 to early 1998, he did it all. He won every major championship in the WWE and participated in the first great ladder match and the first overall Hell in a Cell match. Along with HHH, he created Degeneration X, a major factor in the birth of the Attitude Era. Michaels retired in 1998 and wouldn’t return until to in ring competition until 2002. While four years away from the ring would affect most people, HBK came back better than ever. He would go on to wrestle consistently until his retirement in 2010. During his hall of fame career, Michaels earned the nickname ‘Mr. WrestleMania’, and it’s easy to see why. Razor Ramon at WrestleMania 10, Bret Hart at WrestleMania 12, Jericho at WrestleMania 19, Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 21, Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24, The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 & 26; pick any Shawn Michaels match from any WrestleMania and I guarantee you it was one of it not the best match of the night.
The Not So Good: chronic back injuries forced Michaels to semi retire in 1998, and he missed four years of his prime. While he might have been a handful to deal with backstage early in his career, Michaels always performed in front of the camera. That he is only at #7 on this list goes to show you how many top tier talents have won the Royal Rumble.
– Ryan
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 15
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
8. HHH – 2002 Royal Rumble
Although he no longer regularly competes in the ring, HHH is still one of the driving forces behind the corporate machine that is the WWE. While he was once one of the company’s greatest champions, he now serves as on air authority figure and backstage decision maker. He also runs NXT, creating and molding the next generation of WWE superstars. At the 2002 Royal Rumble, HHH entered at number 22 and eliminated Mr. Perfect and Kurt Angle to win.
The Good: whether you love him or you hate him, there’s no denying HHH’s importance to the Attitude Era and beyond in the WWE. He’s as decorated a champion as any other wrestler in history: 13 time World Champion, 5 time Intercontinental Champion, 3 time Tag Team Champion, King of the Ring and Royal Rumble winner. He was an original member of one of the greatest factions in wrestling history, Degeneration X. He had memorable feuds with a who’s who of professional wrestlers, including Mick Foley, The Undertaker, The Rock, HBK, Stone Cold, Kurt Angle, Randy Orton & Henry Godwinn (just kidding).
The Not So Good: internet wrestling fans have varying opinions on HHH, but almost all of the dirt they think they have on HHH is second hand information. If he did in fact “bury” certain wrestlers, add him to the long list of guys who have done so over the years. The facts are that he was an excellent in ring performer, and a very important part of the WWE during their ‘war’ with WCW and the years following it. He has changed NXT from a pseudo reality show competition to the best wrestling show WWE offers, and the future looks very bright.
– Ryan
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 14
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
9. Bret Hart – 1994 Royal Rumble
As I mentioned in my write up for Lex Luger, Bret Hart’s co winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble, this Rumble will always be special to me because it’s the first live pay per view I ever attended. 6 year old Ryan may not have understood what the hell happened when Luger and Hart were both eliminated at the same time, but it’s easy to understand how great Bret Hart the wrestler really was.
The Good: If you look up Mr. Constitency in the dictionary, there will be a picture of Bret Hart. He started in his father’s Canadian promotion, Stampede Wrestling, and eventually caught the eye of Vince McMahon and the WWF. He started off his run in the WWF as a member of the Hart Foundation, he won the Tag Team Championship twice along with his partner Jim Neidhart. He would eventually branch off as a singles competitor, and this is where he really flourished, winning the Intercontinental Championship twice and the WWF Championship five times. His nickname was the ‘excellence of execution’, and whoever he was in the ring was better off for it, as he had great feuds with Mr. Perfect, Diesel, Stone Cold & most famously Shawn Michaels. His iron man match at WrestleMania 12 with HBK has stood the test of time, as has his infamous ‘double turn’ match with Austin at WrestleMania 13.
The Not So Good: Bret was involved in the ‘Montreal Screw Job’, where he famously wouldn’t do the honors of dropping his Championship belt to his on and off screen rival Shawn Michaels, so Vince McMahon pulled the rug out from under him on live pay per view. His subsequent run in WCW was not great, and a concussion suffered at the feet of Goldberg eventually forced him to retire for good.
Hart is a Hall of Famer, and one of the greatest technical wrestlers in the history of the WWE. He still makes appearances for WWE after they buried the hatchet over the Montreal Screw Job in late 2009. He was also apart of the worst match I’ve ever seen, against Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 26.
– Ryan
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 13
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
10. Brock Lesnar – 2003 Royal Rumble
While not the most impressive Rumble victory (Lesnar entered at #29) by a WWE superstar, the 2003 Royal Rumble win by Brock Lesnar was just another notch on the belt for one of the most dominant wrestlers in the history of the WWE. The phrase “there is no one else like him” is most definitely over used, but it describes Lesnar perfectly: an agile, impossibly strong athlete who has dominated in every ring he’s ever been in.
The Good: when Lesnar is ‘on’, there is absolutely nobody like him (see what I did there). His combination of strength, quickness and athleticism allowed him to have memorable feuds and great matches with big guys such as The Undertaker and smaller guys such as Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle. From the beginning, he was paired up with one of the greatest mouth pieces and managers in history, Paul Heyman, which only helped his legend grow. There’s something scarier about a monster who let’s someone else do the talking, because you never truly know what that monster is thinking, and that’s exactly what Heyman did for Lesnar. In 2002, he defeated The Rock to become the youngest WWE Champion at time at the age of 25. After a run in UFC that saw him win their Heavyweight title, Lesnar returned to the WWE and brought with him legitimate fighting credentials. 2014 may have been Lesnar’s greatest in ring year, as he defeated and broke The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania 30 and then dismantled John Cena at last year’s Summerslam to win the WWE title. He is the current WWE Champion, and whether you love or hate the fact that the champ has not been consistently on TV, there is no doubting the importance of Brock Lesnar to the current WWE product.
The Not So Good: the only thing working against Lesnar is the amount of time he’s actually been in the WWE. His first run only lasted from 2002-2005, and his current run, which started in 2012, will most likely be over after WrestleMania 31. In his brief stints with the WWE, Lesnar has been an immensely important star, but the lack of time in the ring, especially during his latest run, kept him from being lower on this list.
– Ryan
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 12
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
11. Randy Orton – 2009 Royal Rumble
Ever since his main roster debut, Randy Orton has been labeled ‘The Chosen One’. The son of ‘Cowboy’ Bob Orton and perhaps the most physically gifted athlete in the WWE, Orton has been a main eventer ever since he joined Evolution in 2003. While he’s currently on the IR, Orton has been a key member of the WWE for over a decade, and his showing in the 2009 Royal Rumble was one of the more impressive outings by a Rumble winner. He came in at #8 and lasted 48 minutes, finally eliminating HHH to win the match.
The Good: Orton was born to be a wrestler. As mentioned above, Orton was the son of Bob Orton, but his grandfather and uncle were also professional wrestlers. He’s a 12 time Heavyweight Champion, Tag Team Champion as a member of the underrated team Rated RKO, Royal Rumble winner and MITB winner. He turned his MITB win in 2013 into a WWE Championship win after conspiring with HHH to cash in on Daniel Bryan. Later that year he would defeat John Cena and unify the World Heavyweight and WWE title. He was a member of Evolution and Legacy, a group which he spearheaded with the help of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. His ‘Legend Killer’ gimmick is still one of the better characters for any young WWE superstar, and he’s just as great in the ring now as he was 10 years ago.
The Not So Good: there have been two consistent knocks on Orton: he’s not as good as the hype, and his temper and penchant for failing drug tests makes it hard for the WWE to make him the top guy. The first one I don’t agree with. WWE is scripted sports entertainment. If Orton were a professional basketball or baseball player and he wasn’t performing, then you can make the argument that he’s not living up to the hype. In a scripted environment, it’s impossible to say that. What Orton does have control over are the failed drug tests. He’s been clean lately, but with his history, it’s understandable that the WWE is leery of giving him ‘John Cena status’.
– Ryan
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 11
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
12. Edge – 2010 Royal Rumble
The 2010 Royal Rumble was an example of the most exciting Rumble match: when a wrestler makes a surprise return as an entrant in the Rumble and ends winning the whole thing. That’s exactly what happened with Edge, who returned from a lengthy absence to not only get revenge on Chris Jericho, but win the Rumble match and earn a title shot at the following WrestleMania. Unfortunately for Edge, his final match would come only a year later.
The Good: Edge was pretty much the modern day Bret Hart: a tag team specialist turned multiple time World Champion. Where he differed from Hart was his personality. The ‘Rated R Superstar’ was a perfect foil for the squeaky clean John Cena, and with the exception of CM Punk, I think Edge was Cena’s greatest rival. Edge accomplished pretty much everything you could accomplish in the WWE: he was a 14 time World/WWE Tag Team Champion, 5 time Intercontinental Champion, 11 time World/WWE Champion, King of the Ring winner, Royal Rumble winner, MITB briefcase winner and participant in the first and only live sex show on Raw. He was a vital part of the revitalization of the tag team division along with the Hardy’s and Dudley’s, and brought the TLC match into the WWE.
The Not So Good: Unless you count ‘retiring so you won’t be paralyzed forever’ as not so good, there’s really nothing to put here. Edge had about as great a career as you can have in the WWE, but unfortunately for Edge fans, the rest of this list is incredibly stacked.
– Ryan
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 10
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
13. Lex Luger – 1994 Royal Rumble
This Royal Rumble will always be special to me, as it was the first live pay per view I ever went to. 6 year old Ryan was there to root on the Steiner Brothers and almost shit his pants during The Undertaker’s entrance. Now that I’m older, The Undertaker’s entrance has more of a cool vibe, but when I was a kid, he was the scariest person in the entire world. This Rumble was also special because it would mark the first and only time that the WWE would end this event with more than one winner. Luger and Bret Hart would both end up getting title shots at the following WrestleMania, but Luger lost the title match via DQ, a pretty accurate summation of his time with the then WWF. Luger is an anomaly on this list, because almost all of his success would happen outside of the WWE.
The Good: In the 80s and early 90s, Luger was one of the most popular wrestlers in the NWA/WCW. He was consistently in the main event scene, winning both the United States and World Heavyweight Championships. He was a member of two historically important factions, The Four Horsemen and the NWO, as well as a main foil to both groups. He had legendary feuds with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and Barry Windham and was a huge part of the NWA/WCW’s success going against Hulk Hogan and the WWF.
The Not So Good: His time in the WWF was less than stellar. He debuted as The Narcissus, a self absorbed wrestler who posed in front of a variety of mirrors but did little else in the ring. He was repackaged with an ‘All American’ gimmick, and besides his win at the 1994 Royal Rumble, his other major moment came when he body slammed Yokozuna aboard the USS Intrepid. His second run in WCW started with major promise after he debuted on the first episode of Monday Nitro, but he was soon overshadowed by Hulk Hogan and the NWO.
His early success secured his spot on this list, and he’s sure to be a future hall of famer.
– Ryan
Ranking The Royal Rumble Winners – Part 9
It’s Royal Rumble season, which means it’s almost WrestleMania season. Thanks to the WWE Network, you can go back and watch all the old Royal Rumble pay per views and matches, and in that spirit, I decided to rank the winners. I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1, and if you’re interested in checking out who’s already on the list, use the tricky magnifying glass at the top of the screen and search ‘Royal Rumble winners’ or scroll through the blog. Now, onto the rankings!
14. Rey Mysterio – 2006 Royal Rumble
Chris Benoit’s 2004 and Rey Mysterio’s 2006 are almost identical. This is one of my favorite Rumble matches, and Mysterio is one of favorite wrestlers. If I were ranking winners by the Rumble match itself, this one would be easily be in the top 3. Not only did Mysterio eliminate HHH and Randy Orton to win the match, but he did so after being in the Rumble for over an hour. At his peak, Mysterio was the greatest high flyer in American wrestling, and he proved that everywhere he went.
The Good: pretty much everything Mysterio did in ECW, WCW and pre 2012 WWE. When he came over from Mexico and premiered in ECW, he changed the game. While people who watched Mysterio in Mexico weren’t surprised by his success, American audiences were left picking up their jaws from the floor. He really was a revolutionary, and it’s a testament to this list that he’s only at #14. He had legendary feuds with Psicosis, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko in ECW and WCW, but Mysterio’s greatest year was unquestionably 2006. Not only did he win the Royal Rumble as the 2nd entrant with a time of over an hour, but he went on to win the World Heavyweight Championship against Kurt Angle and Randy Orton at the following WrestleMania.
The Not So Good: unfortunately for Mysterio, the last few years of his WWE run have been sidetracked by injuries. It was only a matter of time before injuries caught up with Mysterio, who was such an exciting and high flying performer for so many years. He’s been off TV for quite awhile, and rumors continue to swirl that he wants out of his WWE contact because he’s done with in ring competition. It’s tough to blame a guy for getting hurt, especially in something as physical as wrestling, but they have had a negative impact on what will surely some day be a Hall of Fame career.
– Ryan
