Ranking every WWE Royal Rumble match in history

17. Royal Rumble 2014 – Batista

If you thought 2009 was a little predictable, is there anyone that didn’t know that a returning Batista would win the 2014 Royal Rumble? With that being said, however, the match itself really wasn’t that bad but may always be remembered for the guy that wasn’t even in it. And yes (ha, get it), we’re back to Daniel Bryan. More on that in a second though.

This Rumble also served as the coming out party for Roman Reigns (this is when the crowd was popping huge for a heel Reigns), who broke Kane’s 13-year-old record by throwing out 12 competitors on his way to the final two before being eliminated by Batista, who made his return to the ring after a four-year absence from WWE. It’s not quite the return that he envisioned, was it? Much like Roman Reigns the following year, The Animal was booed mercilessly following his victory and much like the following year, it boiled down to Daniel Bryan not being involved in the finish. Actually, it boiled down to Bryan not even being involved in the match at all. Bryan had been beaten earlier that night in a singles match with Bray Wyatt and it was expected for him to enter the Rumble at some point. But it was not to be and the live crowd in Pittsburgh certainly showed its disapproval when the number 30 entrant, who everyone thought was going to be Bryan, turned out to be Rey Mysterio, who himself was booed like crazy upon his arrival, which is hardly ever a thing.

The final six competitors that night were Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Sheamus, CM Punk and Batista, which is a pretty nice group, and it didn’t matter who won that night. It wasn’t Daniel Bryan and that’s all the crowd wanted to see. In hindsight, while it may not have been the best choice to completely leave him out, it ended up working out even better for Bryan in my opinion as it only got him over even more and we all know what ended up happening anyway. He got himself into not one but two high-profile matches at WrestleMania XXX and walked out as the undisputed champion. So everyone still got what they wanted eventually anyway. Well, except maybe for Batista, who was likely going to win the title before the “Yes Movement” took over WWE.

And CM Punk, I suppose, who made his last WWE appearance that night.