Ranking every WWE Royal Rumble PPV in history

1. WWE Royal Rumble 2001

Match card & results

• WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Dudley Boyz def. Edge and Christian (c)
• Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho def. Chris Benoit (c)
• WWE Women’s Championship Match: Ivory (c) def. Chyna
• WWE Championship Match: Kurt Angle def. Triple H
• Stone Cold Steve Austin wins 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

Simply put, the 2001 Royal Rumble pay-per-view had it all. It kicked off with The Dudley Boyz taking on Edge and Christian for the tag titles and while it didn’t have the crazy spots like the match the year before with The Hardy Boyz, this was still a very good match. The Dudleys had held the titles one before but they celebrated like this was the first time and that added to the match. Things only got better from there as Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit went out and put on a fantastic Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship. Again, this is going to always get lost in the history of great ladder matches because of Benoit’s involvement but this was spectacular.

The only weak link of the night was again the women’s match. It’s not their fault because they only get about four minutes to work with and they did the best they could to make this work and still did a decent job. Kurt Angle and Triple H are up next in the WWE Championship Match and we knew this was going to be good. This was a great rivalry in terms of storytelling and in-ring performance and while this wasn’t their best match together due to the Austin involvement at the end, it was still very good. The stuff with Vince and Trish and Steph took away from the match a little bit but this happened a lot during the Attitude Era and it was something we just had to deal with.

The Royal Rumble itself was the embodiment of the era. There was so much going on and there was never a dull moment. Seeing Matt and Jeff Hardy get after one another while still working together at points was a lot of fun, as was seeing Drew Carey actually take part in the match. We would rip that booking to shreds these days but again, this was what the era was and seeing his face when Kane came out was priceless. He tried to bribe him at the start before taking himself out of the match completely. Funny stuff. Kane had himself a night as he set a then-record with 11 eliminations and was the last man out after lasting close to 54 minutes.

BIg stars were involved here as The Rock, The Undertaker, The Big Show and Stone Cold Steve Austin entered the mix and yes, I marked out for Haku there at number 29. Triple H, looking for revenge on Austin for costing him the WWE Championship, got involved and assaulted Austin, which allowed others to shine for a bit. The Rock and Big Show continued their rivalry and Rock and Austin were also able to go at it, which is never a bad thing. They were part of the final four with Kane and Billy Gunn, who was the first to go. Rock and Austin battled on the ropes and Kane dumped them bot but Austin hung on and went on to obliterate Kane with some chair shots and a Stunner before eliminating him to claim his third and final Royal Rumble victory. Excellent finish to an excellent night.

Next: RAW turns 25: 25 biggest stars in Monday Night RAW history

What was your favorite WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view of all time? Feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.