Every Royal Rumble Winner From The 2000s, Ranked
The Royal Rumble is arguably the most important WWE event each year. Even though WrestleMania is the biggest show, Royal Rumble sets the tone with the unpredictable start leading up to the show of shows. The 2000's might have been the peak decade for the Rumble match, where all 10 legendary winners earned a title shot at WrestleMania.
Each wrestler had a different story about getting to that stage and what their win represented. A few names had the biggest moment of their careers by winning the Rumble and getting their first taste at a major WrestelMania match, while others were established but had a strong story to make it more important. Find out which WWE names stand out the most with the ranking of the 2000s Royal Rumble match winners.
10 Brock Lesnar (2003)
The name value of Brock Lesnar falling to 10th place shows how little impact his Royal Rumble win delivered. WWE already made Brock the top star for SmackDown by 2003 after winning the WWE Championship in the summer of 2002.
Lesnar was now in the face role, but he never felt authentic playing a fan favorite character. The win sent Brock to WrestleMania 19 where he defeated Kurt Angle to win back the WWE Championship in a memorable match.
9 Randy Orton (2009)
The first Royal Rumble win of Randy Orton’s career came in 2009, during his biggest push yet. Orton attacked Vince McMahon and punted him in the head on the go-home edition of RAW before the Rumble.
The win here landed Orton a title shot that prevented him from getting fired for his actions. Orton’s win was extremely predictable after the Raw moment and there was no real intrigue. Everyone knew Orton was winning due to the final four with him, Triple H and his Legacy teammates Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr.
8 Chris Benoit (2004)
WWE will never be able to talk about the 2004 Royal Rumble due to the horrific ending to Chris Benoit’s life. However, fans of the time will remember Benoit's win being huge when he eliminated the Big Show to win the Rumble match.
Benoit was finally getting his main event push at WrestleMania 20, where he defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a classic. The Rumble win started the momentum for fans to invest in a long-term star finally getting a WM title shot.
7 The Rock (2000)
Madison Square Garden gave WWE a hot crowd for the Royal Rumble 2000 event. The Rumble match saw an impressively stacked card that included the legendary Triple H vs Mick Foley match and a wild Dudleyz vs Hardyz tables match.
WWE knew the Rumble match was still the biggest selling point of the show. The Rock winning ensured the audience would also react huge since he was the top name in the industry at the time.
6 Rey Mysterio (2006)
The underdog story of Rey Mysterio grew even better when he was the second entrant in the 2006 Royal Rumble match. Mysterio dedicated the match to the recently deceased Eddie Guerrero and went the distance.
The final eliminations of Triple H and Randy Orton made the moment even sweeter. Mysterio went on to win his first World Championship at WrestleMania 22 and went out of his way to show appreciation to his fallen friend.
5 Triple H (2002)
Triple H returned to WWE in early 2002 after his torn quad injury healed up and, amazingly, he gave his loyal fans a great storyline. Fans wanted to cheer Triple H after a long break, especially after he actually finished the match that resulted in his severe injury and after his being a heel for so long.
This undying fan support made Triple H the right choice to win one of the most star-studded Royal Rumble matches in WWE history. Steve Austin losing showed that WWE was ready to build new stars. Triple H’s win here cemented him as being part of that top tier with Rock and Austin.
4 Batista (2005)
The controversial finish of the 2005 Royal Rumble just added more to the memory. For those who may have forgot it, this was the time that Batista and John Cena accidentally eliminated each other at the same time. But even more memorable than that was Vince McMahon power walking to the ring and infamously tearing his quad before restarting the match.
Batista eliminating Cena won him the match to get momentum for WrestleMania 21. Both Batista and Cena won their respective title shots, but Batista’s moment was better due to his storyline. The Rumble win turned him face to end his time in Evolution and start the next chapter of his career.
3 John Cena (2008)
Wrestling fans love the element of surprise that comes with Royal Rumble matches. Usually, WWE goes out of its way to bring a few surprise names to add more fun to the overall experience. John Cena eventually gave fans a surprise on one of the grandest levels ever seen.
Instead of the usual retired names that nostalgic fans love, WWE put its top star in the last spot. This was a huge shock and Madison Square Garden exploded with cheers and excitement instead of the usual boos when Cena's music blared. Cena had one of the standout moments of his career on this night.
2 Steve Austin (2001)
WWE did a great job building interest to the 2001 Royal Rumble match. Quite a few names had realistic shots at winning the Rumble, with this being arguably the best overall roster in WWE history.
Steve Austin ended up winning the match for his third Rumble victory. The win was done to set up a huge WrestleMania 17 attraction of Austin vs The Rock. Kane dominated most of the 2001 Rumble until Austin came into the picture.
1 The Undertaker (2007)
The Undertaker has only won one Royal Rumble match in his career despite being part of WWE for over three decades. WWE usually kept Undertaker out of the title picture during WrestleMania since his streak as a big draw on its own.
2007 was the year they decided to add the mystique of Undertaker putting his streak on the line against World Champion Batista. The Rumble match was superb, with an exciting ending of Undertaker eliminating Shawn Michaels. WWE hit a homerun with Undertaker’s Rumble victory and story building to his eventual WrestleMania title win.
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