The WWE Royal Rumble is always one of the most anticipated events of the year. Outside of WrestleMania, the only other show that rivals the importance of the Rumble is SummerSlam. With the 30-man over the top rope battle royal having been brought to WWE by the legendary Pat Patterson, the event transformed from its 1988 origins to by 1993 determining the challenger for the main event of WrestleMania, increasing the event’s importance even more moving forward.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In addition to the always memorable Rumble match itself, the PPVs over the years have also featured some legendary championship matches and undercard bouts. So as you prepare for the 2021 incarnation of the Royal Rumble, we took it upon ourselves to write up a list of the best overall Rumble PPVs in history.
If you’re looking to watch some historical wrestling content over the weekend to get you primed for Sunday night, here are eight of the best Rumble PPVs to go back and watch on the WWE Network, presented in chronological order.
1991 Royal Rumble
While 1991 television featured the better left forgotten storyline of Iraqi Sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter, the Royal Rumble that year was pretty darn memorable. The show featured what was arguably the best television tag team match in company history to that point in time (The Rockers vs. The Orient Express) opening the show, Dustin Rhodes tagging with his legendary father, a good Rumble match itself won by Hulk Hogan (for the second year in a row), and “Macho Man” Randy Savage escalating his storyline with the Ultimate Warrior by costing him the world championship against Slaughter.ย
1992 Royal Rumble
The 1992 Rumble match itself remains most people’s pick for the greatest Rumble of all time. Ric Flair’s performance in that match, winning him the world championship in the process, stands heads and shoulders above all other Rumble performances to this very day. Just go back and watch it. While other men have had lengthy runs in the Rumble match and won it (Flair entered at #3), most of them at some point kind of disappeared into the background of the match at some point. Not Flair. He was the focal point of the Rumble for most of the hour he was in the match. Not only is this the best Rumble match, it might be one of the 10 best matches, period, in company history. You can watch the full thing above, courtesy of WWE’s YouTube channel.ย
On the undercard, Roddy Piper wins singles gold for the only time in his WWE career, defeating The Mountie for the Intercontinental Championship. Plus, for the second year in a row, The Orient Express open the show and have another good match, this time with the New Foundation (Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart), though not as good as the Rockers bout the year prior.ย
2000 Royal Rumble
The 2000 Royal Rumble is one of the most iconic events of the Attitude Era. It opened with Taz squashing Kurt Angle in 3 minutes, included a Tables Match between the Dudley Boyz and Hardy Boyz (featuring Jeff Hardy hitting a Swanton off MSG’s iconic entrance door), Triple H defeating Mick Foley (Cactus Jack) in a career-making Street Fight championship match, and The Rock prevailing in the Rumble itself. This is a must-watch if you’ve never seen it.ย
2001 Royal Rumble
After missing considerable time the prior year due to neck surgery, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin made his return and would go on to win his third Royal Rumble in 2001, beginning the march to his iconic bout with The Rock at WrestleMania X-Seven in Houston. The 2001 Rumble match is easily a top five Rumble in company history. Also on the card, the Dudley Boyz vs. Edge and Christian opening the show in a tag team title match, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in an incredible Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship, and Kurt Angle defending the World Championship against Triple H.ย
2005 Royal Rumble
I recently went back and watched this one for a fun review we did on my podcast, Top Rope Nation (listen to some clips here). It was better than I remembered.
2005 was full of ridiculous (and memorable) mid-card gimmicks, and we get a lot of them during the Rumble match. Plus, who can forget the finish between John Cena and Batista (which was botched yet handled so well), causing Vince McMahon to stomp out in anger (and tear *both* of his quads in the process) and restart the match, leading to Batista’s eventual win.ย
On the undercard, Shawn Michaels and Edge have a fun match to open the show and Randy Orton takes on Triple H in a very good match. Plus, there’s a hilarious backstage rap off between John Cena and Christian. This show is worth a revisit if it’s been a while.ย
2007 Royal Rumble
The 2007 Rumble match featured one of the most memorable finishes in history, with The Undertaker going toe to toe with Shawn Michaels. At this point, the two men had already had some of the most legendary matches in WWE history, and two years later would begin their unforgettable two year WrestleMania stretch.ย
Earlier on the card, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Umaga in an absolutely awesome Last Man Standing Match. Seriously, if you haven’t watched this one in a while, go back and watch it immediately.ย
2008 Royal Rumble
John Cena’s surprise return during the Rumble match in 2008 shook MSG to its core. It’s one of the great mid-match entrances in Rumble history.ย Cena would go on to win the match, putting him on the path for what would eventually become a triple threat championship match at WrestleMania 24.
Also on the show, Edge defending the World Championship against Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton defending the WWE Championship against Jeff Hardy. Make no mistake, though, the Rumble match itself is the standout from this event.ย
2020 Royal Rumble
Last year’s Rumble was loaded. Drew McIntyre prevailed in perhaps the second best Rumble match of all time. The undercard featured Becky Lynch vs. Asuka, The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan, and Charlotte prevailed in the women’s Rumble. Plus, Edge’s surprise return is a highlight we will look back at for years to come as one of the Rumble’s all time best moments.ย
What are your favorite Royal Rumble events? Let us know in the comments section below or give me a shout on Twitter, @ryandroste.ย
