Ranking every WWE Royal Rumble match in history

12. Royal Rumble 2003 – Brock Lesnar

The great thing about the 2003 Royal Rumble is the fact that there always seemed to be a really big name in the ring at all times. While this Rumble perhaps lacked in the big spots or moments, it made up for that with some star power and just really never seemed dull.

Shawn Michaels was out first but he certainly wouldn’t have a repeat performance of what he accomplished in 1995 from that same spot as he was beaten to a pulp by Chris Jericho, who snuck in the ring at number two as Michaels was distracted by Christian, and smacked him in the face with a chair. And in just two and a half minutes, HBK was gone, kicking off the rivalry that would be one of the best in WWE history. He would come back later in the match and exact his revenge, leading to their epic encounter at WrestleMania XIX. And the first half stayed hot as some of the more agile guys on the roster made their way in and kept the crowd entertained. You had Mysterio and Edge (and them nearly really hurting Chris Nowinski) and Christian and the Hardys and the pace was electric.

And I can’t not mention the rap from John Cena before he entered the match. And those jeans. That’s all.

It slowed down a bit in the second half of the match as some of the bigger guys got in there but not much and it really didn’t take away from the feel of the match. As I said, there was always a really big name in there and the final four was huge with Batista, Kane, The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar battling it out. Lesnar had already become a huge star the previous summer but his status was elevated even further by picking up the win here, and he and Kurt Angle put on a phenomenal match at WrestleMania a couple of months later … well, minus that whole botched shooting star press and everything. And who exactly did Brock Lesnar eliminate last to win the 2003 Royal Rumble? The Undertaker.