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 already ranked the bottom four, and I’ll be ranking the winners every day until the we reach #1. If you’re interested in checking out the bottom four spots on our 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!

18. Yokozuna – Royal Rumble 1993

I think Yokozuna is a case of hindsight being 20/20, especially in regards to him ranking higher on this list than Sheamus. When it’s all said and done, Sheamus’s career might rank higher than Yokozuna’s, but looking back over his complete body of work, Yokozuna was truly a game changer. When he wrestled in the WWF, he was anywhere between 500-600 pounds, and was as agile as big men half his weight. 1993 was peak Yokozuna, and this Royal Rumble win put him in line to face Bret Hart at the following WrestleMania for the WWF Title, a match he won, then for some reason he had to fight Hulk Hogan immediately after and lost the title. When Hogan left the WWF, Yoko regained the title, and his second title reign produced numerous memorable moments for WWF fans, including Lex Luger body slamming him aboard the USS Intrepid and his casket match with the Undertaker at the 1994 Royal Rumble. He went on to win the Tag Team Titles with Owen Hart a few years later, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012. His career was short but memorable, and he also gave us the weirdest ending in Royal Rumble history: when Macho Man, the most dangerously insane wrestler ever, went to pin Yoko, which, if you know the rules of the Royal Rumble, makes no sense because you can only win by tossing your opponent over the top rope. Yoko proceeded to push Savage up off him and over the top rope, securing the Rumble victory. I remember this happening and yelling at my TV that Macho Man was an idiot. I was 5.

– Ryan