The Royal Rumble match is the most anticipated match of the year in WWE, but which are the best of the best?
It’s that time of year again and we’re just days away from the 30th annual WWE Royal Rumble. Wow, even just writing that is a little strange. It’s pretty hard to believe that it’s been nearly three decades since the first Royal Rumble took place all the way back in 1988 but it’s still going strong and has become one of the most important and one of the most must-see events on the WWE calendar.
The Royal Rumble certainly didn’t start out to be what it has become today but with some fine tuning over the years and some unforgettable moments and matches, the start of the road to WrestleMania has turned into one of my favorite events. While there’s been a few Rumble matches that have been a bit predictable as far as the winner is concerned, more often than not we’re treated to some quality entertainment with some surprises thrown in along the way. And no, not every Royal Rumble match has been good and we’ll certainly get into some of those here pretty quick.
So you may be asking exactly what criteria I used when putting these rankings together. Well, what makes for an entertaining Royal Rumble for me is a series of things. It could just be the winner and how it affected WrestleMania. It could be a great moment or moments that happened within the match. It could be the finish. It could be the crowd. It could be some of the surprises, which in turn could have led to a few of the things I just mentioned. It could be anything. And I’m sure your list would probably be different than the one I’ve put together here but hat’s the beauty of this, isn’t it? Everyone has their own opinions on these matters and we’d certainly love to hear yours, so be sure to tell me at the end what you think I got right and what you think I got wrong.
So let’s get into this. Here is every single Royal Rumble match ranked from worst to first. Enjoy.
29. Royal Rumble 1988 – Hacksaw Jim Duggan
Well, I had to start somewhere and unfortunately for Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the list starts with the inaugural Royal Rumble event that took place in 1988.
Well, let me back that up for a minute. What a lot of people don’t know is that the first Royal Rumble actually took place in 1987 at a show in St. Louis. However, seeing as how the experimental event drew less than 2,000 people and was never shown, WWE does not acknowledge its existence. And just in case you’re wondering, One Man Gang claimed victory in that first one by last eliminating Junkyard Dog. So there’s your bit of trivia for the day.
But back to 1988.
Obviously, we’re all happy that WWE decided to keep with the concept but they didn’t quite have the faith in it to make it a pay-per-view event just yet, so the first one was shown on the USA Network and only featured 20 wrestlers. It’s not that the lineup was terrible as it featured a few future Hall of Famers but it just wasn’t that great and only went for a little over half an hour. While I really wanted to place it higher on this list, simply being the pioneer event just wasn’t enough for me to do that. If you go back and watch the 1988 Royal Rumble, you’ll see why it’s starting off this list. Sorry, Hacksaw.