Its an exclusive club, won by just a couple of dozen wrestlers.
There are some wrestlers who never get to win, but they do pretty damn well for themselves.
Maybe they last a long time or eliminate a ton of opponents or make it to the very end.
Maybe all of the above!
Many years later, Rock conceded that Big Show was the real winner.
So the way I see it, they both won.
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Second, Kofi Kingstons not on the list either.
He staved off elimination only to be eliminated a minute later.
Its a moot point.
Upon entering the ring, he got knocked out and rolled to the floor.
BIG CASS
Big Cass is another technicality like Santino.
RANDY SAVAGE
When it comes to the Royal Rumble, Randy Savage is a lot like Santino.
His performances were okay at best, but he never left his mark.
But at least theresRoyal Rumble 1993.
Savage entered at #30 and ended up as Yokozunas final victim.
Savage smartly followed with an elbow off the top rope, then stupidly followed with a pin attempt.
Snap into a silver medal.
read more: Every Royal Rumble Winner in WWE History Ranked
27.
Too bad we never got Surfer Dude Crush to make a Rumble appearance.
I really liked him.
Crush ended up in third place, as Bulldog got the best of him.
THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR
Warrior has only been in two Rumbles with just one worth mentioning.
Once Hulk Hogan arrived a few spots later, the two cleaned out the ring within moments.
Warrior eliminated six men and then went head-to-head against Hogan.
NIKKI BELLA
Nikki Bella got a late enough draw in the first womens Royal Rumble at #27.
Friendship and family, Nikki!
Did cartoons teach you nothing?!
Nikki failed to win, but she did get to main event the first-ever all-womens WWE PPV.
Rumble winner Asuka got to…stare at James Ellsworth for a while and lose to Carmella.
Regardless, Martel endured much of the match and had four eliminations under his belt.
Sasha Banks appeared at #1 and endured to fourth place.
Almost 55 minutes in the ring is nothing to sneeze at.
read more: The History of Women at the Royal Rumble
22.
He entered at #2 and did all right for himself.
Baron Corbin, Aiden English, Dolph Ziggler, and Rey Mysterio all acted as his victims.
No shame in that.
By the time Cena dumped him out, Balor lasted over 57 minutes.
read more: The Wrestlers Who Started the Royal Rumble Match
21.
DEAN AMBROSE
When it comes to the Royal Rumble, Ambrose has always been in Roman Reigns shadow.
Then came the 2016 Rumble, where Roman was the focus.
Roman was eliminated, leaving Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose.
PERFECT
As the new hotness, Mr.
Perfect set the longevity record in 1989 at 27:58.
Not exactly the most impressive nowadays, but not a bad way to make a Rumble debut.
He ended up making third place in that match.
Erick Rowan was there too, but he wasnt officially in the match.
Wyatt essentially broke that years Royal Rumble.
It was so horrifically meta.
In 2017, Bray would go on to make third place, though he didnt get any eliminations.
RYBACK
Rybacks Royal Rumble-ography is a good look at how the company felt about him over the years.
2013 was a great showing for him.
He made it to the finals, where he was eventually ousted by John Cena.
That was Rybacks last true moment of looking like a top guy.
RUSEV
Rusev is a big dude, but hes not a BIG dude.
In 2015, he had a stronger year.
He eliminated six guys, although it wasnt the most impressive list of victims out there.
He returned to the ring, got speared, and lost anyway.
He still got second place.
Angles been in four Rumbles and hes done well in two of them.
In 2004, he made third place.
This time after a very long final battle with winner Eddie Guerrero.
read more: Royal Rumble: Battles From Outside of WWE
15.
TED DIBIASE
Ted Dibiase is the man who feuded with the Royal Rumble itself.
He was the rich man trying to use his money to hedge his way into winning the violent lottery.
Unfortunately for Dibiase, he still had to deal with Big John Studd.
In his remaining Rumble appearances, Dibiase ended up with single-digit entries as karma.
While he was eliminated almost immediately in 1992, his 1990 appearance did net him the then-record of 44:47.
A year later, Earthquake was more fully-formed and was at the tail end of his Hulk Hogan feud.
Then he ended up in the final two against overly-patriotic Hulk Hogan and that was that.
The less said about his time as Golga the better.
Adjusting for the amount of competitors, thats like nine eliminations in a regular Rumble!
One Man Gang also made second place, failing to finish off Hacksaw Jim Duggan in the end.
He was the odd man out, coming off as this vanilla grappler compared to all the colorful characters.
He was an anachronism whose days had passed.
In 1993, Flair was a day away from losing a Loser Leaves Town match against Mr.
Perfect, so they needed someone else to have that longevity record.
Flair came in at #1 with Backlund at #2.
Backlund outlasted Flair and stayed active for the entire match, up until the final minutes.
Unfortunately, Backlund wasnt up to the task and got tossed out.
He made third place and lasted an hour, one minute, and ten seconds.
Out next was Scotty 2 Hotty, who convinced the two to join him in their trademark dancing.
Rikishi clotheslined his partners and threw them out.
THE GREAT KHALI
In the beginning, Khali was treated as the ultimate heel threat.
He first showed up by absolutely crushing the Undertaker without any foul play.
When it came time for Khalis Royal Rumble debut in 2007, he conquered the ring like no other.
Undertaker took care of Khali and basically saved all the would-be victims left littered in the ring.
Of all the women who drew for that match, she was the only viable option.
She entered at #13 and proved her worth, even eliminating her lesser doppelganger Lacey Evans.
Over her 50 minutes of in-ring time, she also took out Tamina, Xia Li, and Carmella.
She even got the assist in removing Nia Jax.
Then again, Beckys knee was busted, so Charlotte owes part of her loss to her own hubris.
She ended up getting thatWrestleManiamain event challenger spot anyway, so whatever.
read more: The Worst Royal Rumble Moments in WWE History
7.
DIESEL
Diesels appearance in 1994 is pretty legendary.
Early on, he appeared and proceeded to demolish anyone in his way.
The ring filled up enough over time that a group effort was able to heave Diesel out of there.
Diesel returned to the Rumble two years later and had another strong performance.
At least Nash would go on to win World War 3 in WCW.
You know, for what thats worth.
3:08:30, to be more precise.
Only six other wrestlers trump him on that time and theyve all at least made second place.
Hes never gotten clotheslined to the floor immediately or anything like that, even during his Stardust days.
Man, the 2012 Rumble kind of sucked.
DANIEL BRYAN
In his initial years, Daniel Bryan never did all that well in the Royal Rumble.
The longer he was with the company, the more this became a thing.
And then his Royal Rumble days were over completely as he retired due to a history of concussions.
Several years after that, he was cleared to wrestle again and returned atWrestleMania.
Shortly after, he was entered into the Greatest Royal Rumble, which featured fifty competitors.
THE BRITISH BULLDOG
Davey Boy Smith had been in many Rumbles and was definitely one of the better players.
His debut in 1991 got him into the final four before being overwhelmed by Earthquake and Brian Knobbs.
He also made the final four in 1996, losing to Shawn Michaels.
He was a dominant force in the 1992 Rumble and made Ric Flairs life Hell for over twenty-three minutes.
The two started the match and ended it.
Bulldog clotheslined Michaels over the top rope and seemingly won to the point that his theme music was playing.
Bulldog then went on to curtain-jerkWrestleMania.
Bollocks…
3.
In 2010, he lasted about ten minutes, but he spent that time outright controlling it all.
He cleared the ring, grabbed the mic, and then started up a sermon about being straight edge.
Before losing, he had a respectable five eliminations to his name.
Then in 2011, he entered at #1 and was soon accompanied by his New Nexus flunkies.
They controlled the match even more thoroughly this time and allowed Punk to rack up the score.
Then John Cena had to ruin everything, causing Punk to last for just over thirty-five minutes.
Once again, Punk appeared at #1 in 2014.
Punk went the distance and got a couple eliminations before being legitimately knocked silly by the Shields triple powerbomb.
Lasting at 49:11, it would be Punks final WWE appearance.
Well, except for thatBackstageshow hes occasionally on, but nobody watches that.
From 1996 to 2016, Kane has taken out a total of 44 opponents.
CHRIS JERICHO
Despite Kanes accomplishments, I cant give him the number one spot.
Instead, I give it to the most understated MVP of the Royal Rumble, Chris Jericho.
He lasted only a couple of minutes and didnt appear in the Rumble for another few years.
Once he started showing up more, he basically made it his home.
Right now, Jericho has a combinedfive hours, one minute, and thirty secondsof Rumble time.
Thats over an hour more than Triple H, who has second place.
