Tag: Royal Rumble

And so our ranking of every WWE Royal Rumble entrant arrives at its conclusion—the top 20. This elite tier is almost exclusively Royal Rumble winners, including the lowest ranked multi-time winner, the first second-generation winner, the top-ranked non-winner in history, all four back-to-back winners, and the only three-time winner ever. Full-on Rumble royalty, with the cream of the crop at the very end.

#20: Drew McIntyre and Nia Jax (Tie)

Drew McIntyre and Nia Jax is as oddball a pairing superficially as they are in terms of how they each racked up 176 points to tie for 20th place. For McIntyre, the story centers on his 2020 Royal Rumble showing. His first of six eliminations saw him Claymore Brock Lesnar right over the top rope. Lesnar was not only his usual monster self, but was reigning Universal Champion and had an especially dominant run of tallying 13 eliminations before McIntyre entered at 16. McIntyre would go on to win the whole Rumble to set him up to unseat Lesnar for the title at WrestleMania. In The Scottish Warrior\’s seven other Rumble appearances, he recorded just under two hours more ring time and twelve more eliminations.

For Nia Jax\’s part, she\’s the highest ranked woman to have never won a Royal Rumble. She was only the fourth woman to enter a men\’s Rumble and the only person to ever work both the men\’s and women\’s Rumbles in the same night. Despite only getting a little over an hour of cumulative ring time in seven Rumble appearances, the biggest story for The Annihilator comes down to eliminations as she\’s credited with 29 over her career—enough to best John Cena and place ninth overall across men and women for most eliminations ever (and second most overall among wrestlers to have never actually won the Rumble).

#19: Bianca Belair

Bianca Belair\’s run in the 2021 Royal Rumble is about as traditional as a WWE rags-to-riches story can get. Often overlooked and underutilized, The EST went from just another face in a field of 30 women to lasting 56 minutes to emerge victorious in the Rumble from the #3 entry spot, before converting this triumph into winning a WrestleMania main event and her first world championship.

That performance alone would elevate Belair to Rumble royalty. She has worked four other Rumbles to date too, though, to accumulate just shy of four hours of total ring time in the match, not to mention sixteen career eliminations. Belair has every chance of winning another Rumble at some point or another in her career, but even if she doesn\’t, her endurance and power make her a real threat to put in further marathon performances and keep adding to her elimination total for years to come.

#18: Bayley

While Bayley stans won\’t hesitate to point out the ways in which Bayley has been under-utilized despite being among the greatest performers in WWE history, her steady space as one of the top names in the women\’s division has allotted her six Royal Rumble appearances, and, most remarkably, she has averaged over 30 minutes per outing. That substantial ring time facilitated her racking up 18 career eliminations to date.

Of course, the biggest story for Bayley comes down to 2024 when she lasted 63 minutes from the #3 entry position to win it all, last eliminating Liv Morgan, who had entered at #30.

#17: Batista

The 9 years that passed between Batista\’s two Royal Rumble victories are a testament to just how big a star he was in the world of professional wrestling. It\’s also fun to look back at the two victories in consideration of how different they were. In 2005, The Animal was an up-and-comer. Though he was a Rumble favorite, he was also very unproven as a singles talent, let alone a main eventer or babyface. A muddled finish with fellow rising star John Cena may not have added much confidence, but to Batista\’s credit, he saw his story through with an epic babyface turn against Evolution and unseating Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania to become a viable main eventer for years to follow.

Batista comes out the lowest ranked multi-time Rumble winner on this countdown, but that\’s largely on account of efficiency—winning two Rumbles in only five tries, with under 78 minutes in the ring total. His 13 eliminations are noteworthy, but not all that remarkable in comparison to other individuals who won it all twice.

#16: Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins represents an interesting case in Royal Rumble history. 2019 saw him do a lot of traditional things—be a top-performing, lowkey underdog babyface with a groundswell of support, win the Rumble from an early entry position (10), and go on to beat a top heel for a world title at WrestleMania.

The odd part is that, while this journey was as classic as could be, it also came well after Rollins was an established star—indeed, four years after he\’d won his first world title at a WrestleMania. Just the same, that victory was the key element of The Visionary\’s seven Royal Rumble appearances to date, complete with nineteen eliminations and just a shave under three full hours of ring time.

#15: Rhea Ripley

Rhea Ripley is, by the numbers, an incredibly complete Royal Rumble performer. Her four outings have yielded one victory, an average of over 34 minutes in the ring per Rumble, and an average of 5 eliminations per Rumble.

The biggest story for The Eradicator naturally comes down to 2023 when she not only won, but did so from the #1 entry spot, lasted over an hour, and registered seven eliminations. That\’s an objectively great showing that readily enters the conversation for best Rumble performances ever.

#14: Rey Mysterio

When Rey Mysterio entered the 2014 Royal Rumble, a surprise #30, he got booed because fans wanted Daniel Bryan in the ring and, even among those fans who liked Mysterio, it was a letdown to see a veteran with no real chance of winning enter the fray.

Rewind eight years, and the story couldn\’t have been more different for the Luchador. That year saw Mysterio win the Royal Rumble from the #2 entry spot, going just about wire-to-wire with Triple H, and tallying 6 eliminations, including no lesser names than Helmsley and Randy Orton. The hour and two minute performance was a proving ground for Mysterio en route to winning his first world title at WrestleMania 22. By 2014, Mysterio\’s status as a main event guy was well established, but in 2006, this was the victory that elevated him from beloved underdog to top-tier star for WWE.

This history combines with Mysterio working a total of 13 Rumbles, accumulating over four hours in the ring, and 14 eliminations total.

#13: Charlotte Flair

In 2020, Charlotte Flair became half of not only the first father-daughter pair to have won a Royal Rumble, but the first nuclear family pair of any gender permutation to win Royal Rumbles (Mr. McMahon and Triple H as a father-in-law and son-in-law, or Anoa\’i cousins Yokozuna, The Rock, Roman Reigns, and Jey Uso are probably the next closest things to this milestone otherwise).

Even more impressively, The Queen became the first woman to ever win the Royal Rumble twice when she did it again in 2025. She has 143 minutes of ring time and 15 eliminations to her name as well in four Rumbles. All that spells a .500 record in winning Rumbles she enters, besides the noteworthy bit of trivia that in the years she didn\’t win she was either first or second runner-up.

#12: Roman Reigns

The story of Roman Reigns\’s Royal Rumble trajectory is pretty interesting. Though he has only won the Rumble once, he has been a major factor in all six appearances in the match, drawing enormous reactions—for better and for worse—from fans.

In The Big Dog\’s Royal Rumble debut, he registered a then-record 12 eliminations in just under 34 minutes and finished first runner-up. Reigns had the fans behind him with the excitement of an upstart having a huge performance, besides fans actively rooting against a win for a returning Batista. A lot changed in a year, as Reigns won the 2015 Rumble to nuclear heat in front of a hostile Philly crowd. The 2016 Rumble saw Reigns defend the WWE Championship in the match, to notably lukewarm reactions, as it was all too predictable Triple H was going to screw him in the late stages of the bout.

2017, 2018, and 2020 saw markedly similar stories play out around Reigns as he entered very late and looked as though he might steal the victory—finishing first runner-up each time—and giving Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Drew McIntyre, respectively, big boosts for overcoming him. As it stands, OTC is probably the biggest WWE star of the last 40 years not to have won two Royal Rumbles. A main eventer in peak physical condition, though, there\’s every chance he\’ll still pick up that second victory before he hangs up his boots.

#11: Hulk Hogan

From a modern day perspective, fans take it for granted the Royal Rumble is one of the biggest matches of the year and that to win it is an honor quite arguably on par with winning a world championship. That wasn\’t always the case, though. The first two televised Rumbles were more novelty matches in which Jim Duggan and Big John Studd, respectively, winning was less a signal they were getting main event pushes than an affirmation of them as popular babyfaces whom fans would be happy to see win at the end of a fun battle royal variant.

Hulk Hogan played an enormous role in legitimizing the Royal Rumble. He won the match in 1990 as the reigning WWE Champion and again in 1991 as a springboard to challenging Sgt. Slaughter for the title at WrestleMania 7 (though there was no title shot officially on the line in that, the last Rumble with zero title implications). In so doing, Hogan contributed to this piece of WWE history like he did to so many others, establishing the Rumble as a match that top tier stars participated in and won, along the way becoming the first-ever back-to-back Rumble winner. It\’s worth noting that in just four Rumble appearances, he tallied no fewer than 27 eliminations.

#10: The Undertaker

The Undertaker is a defining icon of WWE history, but he isn\’t exactly synonymous with the Royal Rumble. Indeed, while The Dead Man had his WrestleMania streak, main evented SummerSlam with opponents ranging from Bret Hart to Edge to Brock Lesnar to an evil version of himself, and both debuted and commemorated his retirement at Survivor Series, the Rumble doesn\’t stand out as much on The Phenom\’s resume.

That said, The Undertaker did win it all in 2007, besides working a noteworthy 11 different Rumbles, credited with 40 eliminations across those years. It\’s also worth mentioning that every single time he entered the Royal Rumble, he was a credible threat to win it all.

#9: John Cena

John Cena\’s farewell tour of 2025 was littered with callbacks to his career as he tussled with some of his most iconic rivals, often as not putting a new spin on old moments. This was quietly the case in the Royal Rumble, his first match of his final year. Much like 20 years before, he found himself in the final two, and much like 2005, a very close finish emerged out of which Cena got the short end of the stick, only to wind up winning his way to a WrestleMania title shot anyway at the next PLE.

Between those runner-up bookends, Cena also finished in second place in the 2010 Rumble. More noteworthy, though, he was a two-time Rumble winner. In 2013, he emerged victorious to punch his ticket to a \’Mania rematch with The Rock. It\’s the 2008 performance that was particularly iconic, though, as Cena had a Mt. Rushmore surprise entry at #30, in Madison Square Garden, to win it all. Cena had been forced to vacate his WWE Championship due to a torn pec the preceding October, and even the most generous reports suggested he\’d be out for six months. Seeing him back in the Rumble was a legitimate shock and seismic shift to the main event picture at the launch of WrestleMania season.

Cena\’s 277-point total owes to nine Rumbles total, nearly two and a half hours in the ring, and 28 career eliminations.

#8: Randy Orton

There\’s something quite fitting about Randy Orton and John Cena placing just one spot, seven points apart as career-long rivals and peers as defining faces of two decades-plus of WWE history. Orton also won two Royal Rumbles and did so several years apart, in The Viper\’s case collecting victories in 2009 and 2017.

Orton edged out Cena despite tallying three fewer career eliminations because he worked four more Rumbles and nearly an hour and a half longer in Rumbles. Indeed, these numbers bespeak Orton maintaining more of a full-time schedule while Cena transitioned to off-and-on part-time status in his last decade as a pro wrestler.

#6: Brock Lesnar and Edge (Tie)

Brock Lesnar and Edge have a lot of differences between them, but they share a space as two out of only three wrestlers with over a decade in between their Royal Rumble victories. Edge went 11 years, including a nearly 9-year layoff when he thought his career was over, between winning the match again. For his part, Lesnar holds the record at 19 years between wins, which encompasses 8 years away as he pursued MMA and other interests outside of WWE.

The numbers diverge from there, with Edge working 9 Rumbles to Lesnar\’s 6 and, in the process, accumulating over two-and-a-half hours more ring time. For The Beast\’s part, though, eliminations are the name of the game with a total of 32 to Edge\’s 25.

Lesnar\’s most memorable Rumble performance actually didn\’t fall in either year he won it all, but rather 2020, when he entered at number one, threatening to run the gauntlet as he did, in fact, score 13 straight eliminations—a record both for consecutive eliminations and most eliminations overall in a single Rumble—before Drew McIntyre spoiled his run.

2020 was also an iconic Royal Rumble year for Edge as he made the single greatest surprise return in Rumble history, nearly a decade after fans had accepted they\’d never see him work a match again.

#5: Kane

Six wrestlers who never won a Royal Rumble nonetheless cracked the top 30 on account of how many times they entered the match, volume of eliminations, or minutes spent in the ring. Nia Jax stood out from that pack in making it to number 20. Only one non-winner placed higher than that, though, and most remarkably of all, made it all the way to the top 5, ahead of the overwhelming majority of people who actually won Rumble matches over the years. To quote Jim Ross, \”That\’s gotta be Kane!\”

The Big Red Machine famously holds the record for most eliminations (47, 5 more than the closest runner-up, Shawn Michaels, and, adding in The Undertaker to the mix, one of only three men to ever clear 40 career eliminations). Kane also holds the record for most Rumble appearances (20, 4 more than top runner-up, The Miz). Perhaps most surprising of all, Kane places second all-time for most Royal Rumble minutes without having won the match (behind Chris Jericho), and places 8th all-time overall in this category.

The funny thing is that Kane was never that serious a threat to actually win the Rumble, a three-time world champion (but only if one counts his ECW Championship reign) and often a main event level guy, but never really positioned as the guy. In some ways, that makes it all the more impressive that he remained a Rumble wrecking ball whom, even if fans didn\’t expect to win, nonetheless all but guaranteed some carnage once he hit the ring. This was the case, in particular, in 2001 when he tallied a then-single-night record of 11 eliminations and finished second only to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

#4: Triple H

It\’s no surprise that Triple H would crack the top five of this list given his longevity and especially his longevity as a main event guy in WWE. He worked 9 Royal Rumbles all told (a figure that would probably have been much higher had he not also worked 6 singles title matches at the Rumble PLE). Along the way, his 32 career eliminations were enough to tie him for fifth all-time, and with 231 minutes he also finished 5th all-time for time spent in Royal Rumble matches.

The Game\’s two Rumble victories each tell their own story as well. In 2002, he was a conquering hero—a babyface returning from a legitimately catastrophic injury to pick up the inspirational win and get right back to WrestleMania main eventer status. By contrast, when he won again 14 years later, it was a predictable swerve that saw him enter at #30, a heel authority figure returning from a kayfabe injury to spoil Roman Reigns\’s good time.

Triple H\’s placement on this list says a lot about what he meant to WWE as an in-ring performer—an all-time great and major star who hung with WWE through thick and thin to remain relevant working Rumble matches in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

#3: Cody Rhodes

Were it not for the numeric-formula-driven nature of this list, some readers would surely call recency bias and hold it against Cody Rhodes. The numbers speak for themselves, though, as not only two-time, but back-to-back Royal Rumble winner status immediately placed The American Nightmare in the rarefied air of Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and Steve Austin (only one of whom he has topped).

Indeed, while Rhodes was never a serious contender to win the Rumble in his first WWE tenure, he did assemble noteworthy numbers, staying in the ring for long stretches and picking up his share of eliminations. Things went to a different level for him after returning to WWE in 2022, though. Winning first from the #30 entry spot (with a not-too-shabby 15 minutes in the ring and 5 eliminations), then from #15 (43 minutes and 4 eliminations) proved he was here to stay as a main event guy.

It\’s unlikely anyone is going to supplant the top two guys on this countdown anytime soon, but—particularly if he were to win a third Rumble—Rhodes is the current star who could feasibly make it happen before he retires, given 58 points separate him from the number one spot.

#2: Steve Austin

There\’s a real case to be made that no wrestler is more synonymous with the Royal Rumble than Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin was the first and remains the only wrestler to date to have ever won the match three times. Moreover, his smashmouth, chaotic style was a near-perfect fit for the Rumble environment that, in his heyday, invited a huge pop when he hit the ring only to unleash a fury of offense, stunning anything that moved en route to elimination after elimination. Add on that, besides winning the 1997, 1998, and 2001 Royal Rumbles, Austin was the first runner-up in 1999 and made the final three in 2002.

The Texas Rattlesnake\’s every Rumble outing was memorable as well. A controversial finish saw a still-heel Austin manipulate a referee\’s distraction to steal the victory from Bret Hart in 1997. In 1999, the Rumble match revolved around Stone Cold\’s war with Mr. McMahon. Austin also memorably dispatched of a dominant Kane at the end of the 2001 edition and an upstart young star in The Rock to win in 1998.

A vocal contingent of WWE fans speculated John Cena might tie Austin\’s three Rumble victory mark in 2025, but in WWE not going there—giving the sentimental win to its biggest stars on his retirement tour, when he was headed for a WrestleMania main event anyway—it seemed like a testament to WWE seeing Austin\’s position as the only three-time winner as sacred and a mark unlikely to be matched, let alone exceeded, for a very long time.

With 36 eliminations (fourth most ever), The Bionic Redneck\’s efficiency also bespoke a downfall, though, as only working five Rumbles, despite logging two and a half hours in the ring, left him three points short of another performer\’s totals.

#1: Shawn Michaels

Call him Mr. WrestleMania. Cite his myriad great performances at SummerSlam. Note that, particularly in the second act of his career, he established himself as an elimination tag team match great at Survivor Series. Take all that into account, but Shawn Michaels also made a formidable case to be called the greatest Royal Rumble performer of all time.

HBK\’s Royal Rumble resume is incredible as the first man to win the Royal Rumble from the number one entry spot and just the second person to ever win back-to-back Rumbles (not to mention that he was the first to win back-to-back in the era of WrestleMania title shots being on the line). He was only the third heel to win the Rumble and the first wrestler to ever win it as both a heel and a babyface. When he wasn\’t winning, he had three other final four appearances.

With 42 eliminations to his name, Michaels is second only to Kane in that department, and his 225 minutes in the ring place him 6th all-time. All of that happened across twelve Royal Rumble appearances ranging from 1989 to 2010.

With an accumulated 388 points via the established scoring system, Michaels\’ longevity, talent, stamina in the ring, and ability to deliver exciting performances across eras all served him startlingly well. Many consider him the greatest professional wrestler of all time, and now he gets his just due, recognized as the greatest to ever enter the Rumble.

This installment of our ranking of every WWE Royal Rumble entrant covers the elite tier from #21 to #49. Royal Rumble winners come fast and furious in this section, including the first man to ever win a Royal Rumble and our first serious contender for the single greatest Royal Rumble performance of all time. This portion also features an elimination machine who quite arguably should have won the 2020 women\’s Rumble, plus several names still active today who could climb even higher.

#45: AJ Styles and Natalya (Tie)

The 2016 Royal Rumble generally isn\’t remembered all that fondly for focusing so much energy on a tepid Roman Reigns vs. The Authority feud and culminating in an ultra-predictable \”surprise\” swerve of Triple H joining the match to screw Reigns in the end.

Amidst a lackluster Rumble, the brightest spot was a truly surprising entry on the part of debuting AJ Styles. The Phenomenal One had a strong showing with two eliminations and was the more legitimate iron man in that year\’s contest. Though Styles has not and probably will not ever win a Rumble, this showing was a sign of things to come as he has accumulated just shy of two hours of cumulative ring time and 11 eliminations in five Rumbles and counting.

For her part, Natalya has been a staple performer in women\’s Royal Rumble matches, working every single edition to date, tallying well over two and a half hours of ring time and eight eliminations, including one 56-minute showing.

#44: Bray Wyatt

In just four Royal Rumble appearances, Bray Wyatt tallied impressive numbers—twelve eliminations, plus an hour and forty-eight minutes of ring time. It\’s a testament to his place on the card that he was always a threat but rarely \”the guy\”—someone who could slide into the main event picture but never got the full-throated push to the tip-top when it mattered.

Wyatt\’s run in the 2015 Rumble was especially noteworthy for lasting over 45 minutes and eliminating fan favorite Daniel Bryan, besides his 2017 outing in which he made it to the final three.

#43: Rikishi

Rikishi doesn\’t show up often enough in conversations about legends of the Royal Rumble, but it\’s noteworthy that he worked no fewer than ten editions of the match, spanning his time as a Headshrinker to playing The Sultan to his \”Make a Difference\” character, and both the fun-loving dancing big man version of Rikishi as well as the monster heel version who\’d run over Stone Cold. Speaking of that, Rikishi entered at number 30 and made it to the final five the year of Steve Austin\’s final Rumble win in 2001.

Despite impressive numbers that include nearly an hour and a half of cumulative ring time and twelve career eliminations, it\’s telling that Rikishi\’s most memorable Rumble work probably comes down to working a dance break alongside Too Cool mid-match in 2000, only to take down both his running buddies and toss them from the ring—a truly callous Rumble betrayal and months before he turned heel!

#40: Dolph Ziggler, Liv Morgan, and Shinsuke Nakamura (Tie)

Despite the wrestlers at #40 landing directly ahead of Rikishi, it\’s worth noting that this is the largest gap in point totals between adjacent rankings up to this point in the list, with the tying trio each racking up a full ten more points than the man they placed ahead of.

Ziggler\’s longevity facilitated 14 Rumble appearances, and his stamina facilitated him collecting over two-and-a-half hours of cumulative ring time. He accumulated ten eliminations. Lowlights of his Rumble resume include only lasting 21 seconds before Kane dumped him in 2009 and one of the most anticlimactic surprise entrant spots in 2018 when he joined the match at #30 after having kayfabe quit the company weeks earlier.

For her part, Liv Morgan has eight Rumble matches under her belt to date, highlighted by her 2023 performance, going wire to wire with Rhea Ripley with them starting at 1 and 2, only for Morgan to be the last woman eliminated after over an hour in the ring. Morgan was the first runner-up again in 2024, falling to Bayley.

Then there\’s Shinsuke Nakamura. The King of Strong Style may well represent one of the strangest Rumble resumes of all. He entered for the first time in 2018 and had a star-making performance with a lowkey upset victory, nearly 45 minutes in the ring, and eliminations including Roman Reigns and John Cena. In five more Rumble appearances, though, Nakamura only accumulated two more eliminations, averaged 11 minutes per outing, and never sniffed the final few again.

#39: The British Bulldog

In addition to capturing Tag Team, Intercontinental, and European Championship gold, Davey Boy Smith was a number one contender who challenged Bret Hart, Diesel, and Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship, as such marking himself as a quintessential New Generation upper-card talent. He never quite crossed over to full-fledged main event status, though, with a world title win.

Bulldog\’s Royal Rumble legacy is a testament to that narrative. He, perhaps most famously, went wire-to-wire with HBK in the 1995 Royal Rumble, entering at number two and proving the last man to be eliminated (after a fake-out victory when one of Michaels\’s feet hit the ground and Bulldog\’s music even played). Smith entered six Rumbles and had fifteen eliminations to his name, over two hours in the ring, and two final four appearances.

#38: Kofi Kingston

Kofi Kingston has worked 15 Royal Rumbles to date, scoring nine eliminations and clocking over two and a half hours in the ring. He was never positioned as a meaningful contender to win the match, though it\’s especially interesting to look back on 2019 in that light, as he was a veritable non-factor in that Rumble but became a WrestleMania world title contender via star-making gauntlet match and Elimination Chamber performances in the weeks to follow.

The real story of Kingston\’s Royal Rumble legacy comes down to creatively escaping elimination as wild leaps from the apron, pogo-sticking on an announcer\’s chair, walking on his hands outside the ring, and falling into the arms of Rosebuds on parade all offered vehicles for wildly entertaining and memorable Royal Rumble moments.

#37: Shayna Baszler

After a sensational run in NXT, Shayna Baszler\’s main roster run in WWE was defined by false starts and tepid booking. Her Royal Rumble stats speak to the potential some higher-ups in WWE clearly saw in her at times. The Submission Magician\’s 16 eliminations in 6 Rumbles is an objectively impressive mark, highlighted by her 2020 run that saw her enter at number 30 and toss eight other women en route to finishing as top runner-up.

Baszler never garnered the big Rumble push of actually winning, though, and while her two excellent reigns as NXT Champion are remembered fondly, this inconsistent usage on the main roster bespeaks why she never actually won a world title at that level.

#36: Becky Lynch

Despite being on the shortlist for women with the most iconic Royal Rumble performances—entering 2019 in impromptu fashion and with a kayfabe injury after wrestling (and losing) in a great match earlier in the night, only to win it all—Becky Lynch arrives as the second-lowest women\’s winner on the list. Chalk that up to her only working four Rumbles to date, in no small part because she was working title matches other years or out of action. Lynch\’s seven eliminations and cumulative 78 minutes of match time attest to her being a workhorse in this aspect of her WWE career, like so many others.

#35: Yokozuna

Yokozuna was all about efficiency when it came to Royal Rumbles, winning his debut outing in 1993 and, with only one more Rumble appearance to his name and only 34 minutes of cumulative ring time, nonetheless registering an impressive ten eliminations. The big man\’s Rumble legacy largely does come down to \’93, though. He got a monster push, last eliminating Randy Savage. That victory set the stage for him to unseat Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania before spending the second half of 1993 and the first leg of 1994 reigning as world champ.

#34: Asuka

The list arrives at the original women\’s Royal Rumble winner, Asuka, who rode the wave of a dominant NXT run into a main roster winning streak and this victory—arguably the biggest of her career. It\’s unfortunate the triumph was overshadowed by Ronda Rousey debuting immediately afterward, and then The Empress ultimately proving unsuccessful at converting a Rumble win to championship gold, as Charlotte Flair beat her at WrestleMania 34.

Asuka nonetheless has a solid Rumble record with that original win, plus two other appearances, cumulatively tallying seven eliminations across over an hour of ring time.

#33: Bret Hart

It may surprise long-time fans to realize Bret Hart only worked five Royal Rumbles. He made the most of those opportunities, though, with 85 cumulative minutes and eight eliminations credited to him.

Interestingly enough, 1994 saw Hart work fewer minutes than he did on average per Rumble, but score more than half his eliminations in that single outing and emerge victorious. Hart was infamously one half of the only tie in Royal Rumble history as he and Lex Luger went over the top rope and hit the floor simultaneously to close the bout. Another interesting bit of trivia—that Royal Rumble show, followed by WrestleMania 10, marked an unusual circumstance of someone pulling double duty on back-to-back PPVs, but also losing his first match only to win the main event.

#32: Lex Luger

There\’s a certain irony that Lex Luger, who tied with Bret Hart for each man\’s only Royal Rumble victory, wound up almost tied with The Hitman on this list with only two points in between them. Luger worked three fewer Rumbles and a fair bit less time than The Excellence of Execution, but covered the difference by way of eliminations. Despite only entering the Rumble twice, Luger was a force, lasting about twenty minutes in each outing, racking up 11 eliminations total (7 in 1994 when he won).

#31: Jim Duggan

From one flag-waving, patriotic powerhouse to another. Jim Duggan holds the auspicious title of having been the first-ever Royal Rumble winner and winner of the only twenty-man edition of the bout.

Hacksaw\’s victory was a sign of the times as WWE didn\’t yet know what it had in the Rumble. By most accounts, Pat Patterson conceptualized and championed the idea until Vince McMahon gave it a try for a TV special, the success of which led to the iconic annual PLE. Before the match meant much—no stakes attached, no tangible reward, and less the start of an institution than a weather balloon—Duggan wasn\’t out of place winning it, a popular upper mid-card babyface. It\’s telling that in four other tries, he never came close to emerging victorious again, with relatively paltry cumulative totals outside that one win—just five total eliminations and a cumulative 45 minutes.

#30: Ric Flair

Ric Flair may have just barely cracked the top 30 of this list, but it\’s worth noting that there is a very, very solid case that he gave the single greatest Royal Rumble performance of all time in 1992. (Incidentally, Bobby Heenan gave the greatest Rumble commentary performance ever as he cheered on The Nature Boy.)

Fans must keep in mind that, leading up to \’92, the earliest entry number anyone had won from was #13, and that was Jim Duggan in the 20-man Rumble. The longest performance a Rumble winner had ever given was Hulk Hogan in the preceding year, entering at #24 and working 21 minutes to last eliminate Earthquake.

By contrast, Flair entered at #3, which, in the moment, felt like a kiss of death. Instead, WWE offered The Nature Boy a showcase to demonstrate what he brought to the table—particularly to fans who hadn\’t followed his NWA career—against an expansive catalog of WWE talents. Flair lasted a full hour, making five eliminations and last dumping Hogan to become the original (almost) wire-to-wire Rumble winner. Flair won the star-studded edition of the bout and, in so doing, captured the vacant WWE Championship in what many still hold to have been the greatest Rumble of all time.

The Dirtiest Player in the Game entered four more Rumbles and registered three more eliminations over the course of his career, buffering an impressive legacy at the event, though nothing could compare to that 1992 coming-out party.

#29: The Rock

The Rock is, of course, one of the biggest names in WWE history, and he won the Royal Rumble at one of the high-water marks for the company\’s popularity, around the peak of the Attitude Era in 2000.

Some fans may be surprised not to see him closer to the top 10 on a list like this, but that largely boils down to him only actually entering three Rumbles. Putting that into perspective, he won one, was the first runner-up in another, and made the final three in his final Rumble appearance in 2001. In just three outings, he worked just shy of two hours, including a 51-minute run in 1998, besides racking up a total of ten eliminations.

#28: Braun Strowman

As a fun bit of list trivia, Braun Strowman is the sixth highest ranked wrestler to have never actually won the Royal Rumble (and, correspondingly, the guy whose list placement is most hurt by the Greatest Royal Rumble not factoring in—without getting into all the math, that performance would have vaulted him up at least ten spots).

Strowman makes all the sense in the world as a Rumble standout for his immense size and the consistent threat he posed at or around the main event level during his WWE tenure. This giant of the ring worked just shy of an hour in seven Rumble appearances, but most notably hit a career elimination mark of 22, ranking him #15 all time in that category.

#27: Chris Benoit

It\’s very, very difficult to celebrate Chris Benoit after the tragic circumstances surrounding his death, so we\’ll keep this write-up short and factual. Benoit reaches 27th place largely for his Rumble performance in 2004—a wire-to-wire showing in which he entered at #1, lasted over an hour, and made six eliminations, last of all going one-on-one with The Big Show and, without any help, getting the giant over the top rope to secure the victory.

The Rabid Wolverine worked two other Rumbles, tallying three more eliminations and logging another hour and twenty minutes of ring time.

#26: Sheamus

Sheamus is, on paper, exactly the kind of talent who\’d thrive in a Royal Rumble. He\’s a powerhouse brawler who has enjoyed multiple main event pushes—case in point, he went so far as to win the Rumble in 2012.

To date, The Celtic Warrior has worked ten Rumbles, with nine eliminations to his name and a noteworthy three hours-plus of ring time placing him among the steadiest Rumble contributors of his time.

#25: CM Punk

A Royal Rumble victory is conspicuously missing from CM Punk\’s resume, but it\’s telling he has been in the conversation to win it all multiple times—including WWE explicitly showing on its Unreal docuseries that many championed him to take the 2025 Rumble before the conversation shifted to Jey Uso. Moreover, The Straight Edge Superstar isn\’t to be counted out in considering favorites to win it all sometime in the next few years.

Punk had perhaps his most memorable Rumble run in 2010, when he ran a gimmick of grabbing a mic and cutting promos during his time in the match, but he also had multiple lengthy runs, including going 35 minutes the following year as the anchor of a New Nexus vs. Corre sub-angle, besides lasting 49 minutes in what would turn out to be his last WWE match in nearly a decade in 2014. Punk was also the final man eliminated in a legitimately dramatic showdown with Cody Rhodes at the end of the 2024 Rumble.

#24: Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho was the first runner-up to win the Royal Rumble in 2012—a year when many pundits favored him to take it all. It turned out that was as close as he got to winning (at least to date, as the rumor mill continues to spin he could eye a WWE return).

Nonetheless, Jericho\’s Rumble resume is nothing to sneeze at with ten overall appearances that helped him accumulate no fewer than 18 eliminations. It\’s an interesting bit of trivia that he is also the all-time record holder for most minutes in the Royal Rumble at just over 297 total, less than three minutes shy of five full hours total.

Those are noteworthy numbers for anyone and bespeak both Jericho\’s length of tenure with WWE (including surprise returns) and that he spent so much of his time in at least the upper mid-card, if not the main event scene, in several years a legitimate threat to win it all.

#23: The Big Show

There\’s a substantial, ten-point leap between 24th and 23rd place, as we arrive at the #3 highest ranked performer to have never won a Royal Rumble. Indeed, it\’s less wonder that The Big Show would end up in the top 40 than that he wouldn\’t have a single Rumble victory under his belt.

Still, Show\’s 12 Rumble appearances rendered a monster 28 eliminations which was also enough for third most eliminations by a non-winner. His status as a six-time part of the Royal Rumble final four also indicates what a threat he was year after year, including that he was the top runner-up in 2000 and 2004 and reached the final three as late as 2015.

#22: Jey Uso

Ask someone in early 2020, and the idea of Jey Uso cracking the top 100 on this list would probably sound like a longshot. Ask someone as recently as early 2025, and the idea of him winning a Rumble would probably still feel highly unlikely.

A lot changed and Main Event Jey Uso became a legitimate player—a bona fide singles star and an underdog Rumble winner who last eliminated John Cena to win it all in 2025. It may surprise some to realize he has only worked four Royal Rumble matches and went a solid decade between his second and third appearances (to be fair, in three of the intervening years he worked tag title matches at the Rumble PLE). He made the most of the latter two opportunities, not just with his big win, but also a 50-minute run in 2024 that brought him from the number 1 entry spot to the final 7 competitors.

This installment of our ranking of every WWE Royal Rumble entrant covers the upper tier from #50 to #119. This portion cracks the top 100, includes the first Royal Rumble winners on our countdown, and features Hall of Famers, former world champs, and more than one top runner-up. Among the notable names: Andre the Giant, Kurt Angle, The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage, and the iconic Mick Foley with his legendary triple-persona 1998 performance.

#118: Billy Gunn and Lacey Evans (Tie)

Billy Gunn and Lacey Evans represent very different Royal Rumble stories. For Gunn, it\’s all about longevity with seven Rumbles to his name, out of which he registered three cumulative eliminations. For Evans\’s part, she only worked three Rumbles but turned heads in her main roster debut in the 2019 Rumble. From the number one spot, she proceeded to last just shy of a full half hour, laying a foundation for her to garner a big introduction to main roster fans by interrupting action to walk the ramp, before promptly transitioning to the Raw Women\’s Championship picture coming out of WrestleMania season.

#116: Greg Valentine and Test (Tie)

The stories of Greg Valentine and Test are fairly similar, with both being long-time veterans who appeared in Rumbles four and five times respectively. Test accumulated three eliminations across his tenure. For Valentine\’s part, a 44-minute run in the 1991 Rumble marked one of the most impressive performances from his body of work in WWE.

#110: Andre the Giant, Brie Bella, Bron Breakker, Sami Zayn, Sid Justice, and Smash (Tie)

Battle royals are a huge part of Andre the Giant\’s legacy and, as such, it\’s a bit shocking that he didn\’t crack the top 100 for WWE\’s signature battle royal format. That said, he actually only ever worked two Royal Rumbles. Particularly at that stage of his career, he was never going to play the iron man role, but five career eliminations was a pretty solid stat—averaging almost exactly one elimination per five minutes spent in the match.

Sid Justice is also a noteworthy performer at this spot, particularly for an iconic dramatic performance in 1992 when he dumped Hulk Hogan from the match fair and square to reach the final two, only for Hogan to heelishly help Ric Flair dispatch of the big man to set the wheels in motion for WrestleMania 8\’s main event scene.

Smash racked up four eliminations across five Royal Rumble appearances, while Brie Bella and Bron Breakker not only share initials but near-identical Rumble numbers. To be fair, though, Breakker\’s just getting started, and between his powerhouse style and good outlook as a future main eventer, he will likely crack the top 100 before he\’s through.

#104: Dakota Kai, Goldberg, Kurt Angle, Ryback, Tito Santana, and Zelina Vega (Tie)

It\’s interesting to note the similarities between Tito Santana and Zelina Vega\’s stat lines as popular mid-card workhorses with two eliminations apiece across six Rumbles each. Vega will probably have future Rumbles and as such work her way up the rankings.

Despite only having two Rumbles under his belt and not lasting long in either, Goldberg\’s six eliminations bespoke how well he was suited to the match format. His less successful spiritual successor Ryback matched his numbers with one fewer Rumble and one more elimination. Kurt Angle falls a bit lower than fans would probably guess but worked a deceptively low four Royal Rumbles (offset by an impressive five world title matches at the Royal Rumble PPV across his career). That leaves us with Dakota Kai. Consistently underappreciated in her WWE efforts, this is one more area in which she performed quite respectably across her time in NXT and the main roster alike.

#102: Andrade and Piper Niven (Tie)

This unlikely pairing has quite arguably overachieved in Rumble performances. For Andrade, a half-hour run in the Rumble while reigning as NXT Champion in 2018, followed by a nearly half-hour run the following year after joining the SmackDown brand, helped him to a higher placement on the list, combined with a surprise return to WWE in the 2024 edition of the match. Piper Niven doesn\’t necessarily have a single signature Rumble performance to hang her hat on but lived up to her size advantage, racking up four eliminations in three Rumble appearances to date.

#100: Bob Backlund and The Ultimate Warrior (Tie)

The aesthetics don\’t get much more different than comparing old school Bob Backlund with The Ultimate Warrior. Accordingly, Backlund climbing up to the top 100 has a lot to do with his hour-long run in the match in 1993. By contrast, Warrior demonstrated the efficiency of mowing his way through six eliminations in just two Rumble matches.

#98: The Road Dogg and Vader (Tie)

From a perennial mid-card and tag team wrestler with a gift for gab to one of the great super heavyweight monster heels, The Road Dogg and Vader don\’t have much in common aside from similar Rumble output numbers. Over four Rumbles, Road Dogg racked up five eliminations as a nice testament to his steady spot on the roster. Vader only worked this match three times and, despite never lasting that long, accumulated five eliminations befitting his dominant persona.

#95: Dominik Mysterio, Sasha Banks, and Wade Barrett (Tie)

For all his progress as a performer, Dominik Mysterio still lands a fair bit behind his father Rey in this countdown. He nonetheless occupies an interesting spot to be tied with Sasha Banks. Mysterio cites Eddie Guerrero as his kayfabe biological father and an influence, and Banks made no bones about Latino Heat being her favorite and a star she patterned aspects of her career after.

Mysterio seems certain to climb the list as he already has five Rumbles under his belt with respectable numbers, while The Boss may well find herself back in the Rumble mix someday too.

For his part, Wade Barrett appears altogether done in the ring but leaves behind a very respectable Rumble legacy with five eliminations across four appearances in the bout.

#92: Carlito, Cesaro, and Christian (Tie)

92nd place is a workhorse spot, populated by guys with six, seven, and eight Rumble appearances respectively. Carlito was the cumulative iron man of the group but only had three eliminations to his name, while Cesaro and Christian each had six.

Christian probably gets the nod here as the most memorable Rumble performer at this spot on account of a great moment in the 2020 Rumble, making a surprise return to the ring and having an emotional reunion moment with eventual winner Edge. The moment has largely been erased because Christian would jump ship to AEW for his in-ring endeavors to follow (only for Adam Copeland to ultimately join him), but it was nonetheless a special sight for long-time fans to behold.

#91: The Barbarian

Despite always being a tag team or mid-card wrestler in WWE, it feels fitting The Barbarian would snag this respectable spot on the list for a long run with the company and powerhouse, bruising style that fit the Royal Rumble format well. The big man worked four Rumbles, with 37 cumulative minutes in the ring and six eliminations. Another fun bit of trivia is that, after a late entry, he was among the final five men in the ring in consecutive Rumbles in 1989 and 1990.

#85: Alexa Bliss, Bobby Lashley, Booker T, Nikki Bella, One Man Gang, and Shelton Benjamin (Tie)

It\’s interesting to find a quorum of elite-level Black stars tied at this spot with world champions Bobby Lashley and Booker T sharing the space with one of the best WWE performers to never get an earnest WWE main event push in Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin also garners the dubious distinction of being the lowest-ranked performer to have worked ten Rumbles.

It\’s also interesting to note the near-identical stat lines for Nikki Bella and the One Man Gang, each three-time Rumble participants with seven cumulative eliminations to their names. For her part, Alexa Bliss joined the fray with four Rumble appearances and six eliminations. Both women at this spot are still active and stand to move up in the rankings.

#83: Big E and Jake Roberts (Tie)

Both Jake Roberts and Big E benefited from longevity in their Rumble journeys. The Snake worked seven Rumble matches, averaging over ten minutes per outing and tallying five eliminations over his career. Big E worked eight, with a ten-and-a-half minute average time spent in the bout, but only four eliminations credited to him.

#81: Goldust and John Morrison (Tie)

For all their differences, Goldust and John Morrison actually had a lot of similarities to their WWE careers. Each were ahead of their time—Goldust for his edgy character work, Morrison for his innovative high spots. Each were mostly locked in the mid-card aside from entertaining tag runs. So it was that each tied for 81st place. The second Rhodes on the countdown made an impressive eleven appearances in the match, while Morrison worked three fewer Rumbles but clocked an extra forty-three cumulative minutes in the ring, not to mention a cool spot to avoid elimination when he flew from the apron to cling to the barricade before leaping back into action.

#78: Daniel Bryan, Earthquake, and Mark Henry (Tie)

One of these stars was not like the others. Indeed, Earthquake and Mark Henry both make sense in top 100 spots as super heavyweights with main event stints to their credit. Earthquake clocked an especially impressive eight eliminations in just four Rumble appearances; Henry had six in his eight matches but also significantly more time in the ring.

A unique part of Bryan\’s legacy is that not once, but twice it really felt like his year to win the Rumble, but it never happened. Indeed, in both 2014 and 2021 he wound up main eventing WrestleMania with a world title shot anyway, but he never won the Rumble to get there. He was left out of the 2014 Rumble altogether in what was, in hindsight, a real booking blunder given how hot he was with the WWE audience.

#76: Luke Harper and Matt Hardy (Tie)

This tie speaks to the importance of eliminations, as Matt Hardy had twice as many Rumble appearances and, cumulatively, nearly a half hour longer in the Royal Rumble than Luke Harper. The late, great Wyatt family member had no fewer than seven eliminations to his name, though, proving himself a difference maker each time he joined this match.

#73: Michelle McCool, Owen Hart, and Ruby Riott (Tie)

Owen Hart probably would have had additional Rumble appearances were it not for his untimely passing. It\’s also worth noting that he actually did have a breakout performance at a Rumble PPV in 1994, but it was in tag team action as WWE firmly put him on a collision course with his brother for WrestleMania 10 that led to a world title feud. The King of Harts never got to work a Rumble during his bona fide main event run, though.

Hart\’s joined by two talented women with very different journeys. Michelle McCool\’s Rumble appearances all came post-retirement, but that didn\’t stop her from nearly 45 minutes of ring time and eight eliminations. Ruby Riott\’s stat line was markedly similar, but she did it all in her prime as an underappreciated asset to a women\’s roster crowded with star power on top.

#71: Finn Balor and The Great Khali (Tie)

Despite never winning, nor reaching the final stages of a Royal Rumble, The Great Khali makes sense as a top 100 guy with eight Rumble appearances and his massive size facilitating an average of one elimination per appearance. By contrast, Balor\’s Rumble record is more of a study in efficiency, with only three appearances anchored by a standout iron man performance in 2019 that saw him last just shy of 58 minutes, score four eliminations, and reach the final four of the match.

#69: Iyo Sky and Rusev (Tie)

Despite only working three Royal Rumbles, Iyo Sky has impressively logged 110 minutes in the match with six eliminations to her name. In five Rumbles, Rusev has the same number of eliminations with just over an hour and a half of ring time.

Both of these talents stand to rise in the rankings. With Rusev back in WWE, his size and seemingly perpetual mid-card status place him as a likely Rumble participant for years to come with every chance of scoring an elimination here and there.

#67: Hardcore Holly and Mr. Perfect (Tie)

#67 is a spot for long-term, respected veterans it seems. Hardcore Holly scored five eliminations in seven Rumbles, while Perfect had seven eliminations in five Rumbles.

The main difference here comes down to likelihood of winning. Call him Hardcore, or call him racecar driver Bob—regardless, Holly never seemed like a credible candidate to actually take a Rumble. By contrast, in 1990 Perfect looked like a very legitimate threat to take it all (and by some accounts was originally planned to win) before Hulk Hogan took the duke instead, last eliminating Perfect.

#66: Damian Priest

With eight eliminations and forty-seven minutes of ring time across five Royal Rumbles, Damian Priest has a strong Royal Rumble record befitting his status as a rock-solid upper mid-card act who had a main event stint once and may well wind up back there down the road. Priest probably shouldn\’t be considered a favorite to win a Rumble at this point in his career, but more Rumbles and more eliminations seem all but certain.

#63: Crush, The Miz, and Rob Van Dam (Tie)

It\’s a fun piece of trivia that, despite both being WWE veterans, The Miz actually has had ten more Royal Rumble matches to date than RVD. The Rumble isn\’t The A-Lister\’s match, though, as across sixteen appearances, he has only tallied two eliminations. He did have a particularly memorable run in the 2012 edition, though, lasting forty-five minutes with a fun running theme early in the match of him being \”haunted\” by ghosts of his past with former partners Alex Riley and R-Truth giving him a taste of comeuppance early on before it was The Big Show who ultimately tossed Miz.

Rob Van Dam more efficiently had six Rumble appearances with an average of one elimination per outing, highlighted by his surprise return in the 2009 edition.

Crush earns this high placement largely for eliminations—credited with a total of eight across four Royal Rumble appearances that spanned his time as half of Demolition, his heel incarnation managed by Mr. Fuji, and finally as part of The Nation.

#62: Randy Savage

The Macho Man Randy Savage has a very real claim to be the biggest WWE star to have worked Royal Rumbles in his prime but never actually won one. In five appearances, he registered eight eliminations, including back-to-back final four runs in 1992 and 1993 and, before more Rumble norms were established, being a rare active world champion to work the Rumble back in 1989.

#59: Dean Ambrose, Sonya Deville, and Viscera (Tie)

While their total numbers shook out quite similarly, Dean Ambrose, Sonya Deville, and Viscera have very different histories in the Royal Rumble match. Despite arguably never getting her just due in WWE, Deville had a solid Rumble record bespeaking the length of her tenure with six appearances and nine eliminations.

As Mabel, Viscera, and finally Big Daddy V, one of WWE\’s biggest superheavyweights worked an impressive nine Rumbles with eight eliminations, though it\’s telling his most memorable moment was probably getting abducted by The Undertaker\’s minions during the 1999 match to rebrand him as a member of The Ministry of Darkness.

Dean Ambrose made the most of his five Rumbles with six cumulative eliminations and a spotlight performance in 2016 when he was the last man standing opposite surprise entrant Triple H who took the match and the WWE Championship that year.

#58: Gunther

Gunther\’s big claim to fame in WWE comes down to long championship reigns, as his runs with the NXT UK, Intercontinental, and World Heavyweight Championships each ran incredibly long. He\’s no stranger to long runs in the Royal Rumble either. Despite only competing twice to date, he logged an impressive hour and forty-one minutes between those outings. In 2024, his half-hour run took him all the way to the final three; the year before, an over-hour-long tenure in the ring carried five eliminations and took him to the final two as he went wire-to-wire from the number one entry spot.

Gunther can\’t be ruled out as a prospective Rumble winner someday. For sure, he\’s proven both his skill and his endurance, likely setting him up for more impressive Rumble performances to come.

#57: Big John Studd

And so the list arrives at a space of dubious honor with the lowest ranked performer to have nonetheless won a Royal Rumble. Big John Studd won the second-ever edition of the match in 1989, which also meant he was both the first man to win a thirty-man Rumble and the first to anoint the lucky number twenty-seven entry position.

Studd\’s numbers are a bit underwhelming, with only one Rumble appearance. He took the duke in twelve-and-a-half minutes of ring time and only two eliminations. The victory was further neutered by the lack of follow-up. In those early days, before the Rumble had a WrestleMania world title shot attached to it, Studd pulled guest referee duty at Mania, then wound up leaving WWE that summer over purported financial disagreements with WWE management.

#56: The Big Boss Man

The Big Boss Man landing this high on the list is largely a testament to longevity and his relevance in two distinct eras. In the Golden Era, Boss Man was an iconic character, momentary heel main eventer, and steady upper mid-card babyface thereafter. In the Attitude Era, he was a steady heel enforcer type. All of this added up to nearly an hour of cumulative Rumble ring time with eight eliminations to his credit.

#55: Mick Foley

A few spots earlier in the countdown, we noted Randy Savage was perhaps the biggest star to work a Rumble in his prime and not win it. Mick Foley also deserves a place in that conversation.

Despite only participating in four separate Royal Rumbles, Foley entered Rumble matches six times on account of an iconic 1998 showing when he worked as Mankind, Cactus Jack, and Dude Love, earning an extra boost in the rankings for the novelty of that effort. It\’s also worth noting that Foley gave two of the greatest performances of his career in working Royal Rumble PLE WWE Championship bouts against The Rock in 1999 and Triple H in 2000. Finally, Foley also made fun surprise returns in Rumble outings in 2008 and 2012.

#54: Mr. McMahon

So the list arrives at its second Royal Rumble winner, Mr. McMahon, who picked up the duke in his only Rumble appearance in 1999. For a Rumble winner, McMahon\’s stats were not super impressive. He only bagged one elimination against a distracted Stone Cold Steve Austin. Moreover, while he\’s credited with lasting nearly an hour in the match, that comes with a significant asterisk that he spent a majority of that time outside the ring, as this polarizing Rumble featured a lot of backstage shenanigans and even McMahon working commentary for a stretch of his participation in the match.

#53: Baron Corbin

Baron Corbin\’s relatively high placement is a testament to the big plans WWE seemed to have for him off and on throughout his tenure. Corbin tallied seven Rumble appearances with about an hour of ring time and an impressive ten eliminations. The Lone Wolf\’s most memorable performance came in his Rumble debut in 2017—a half-hour run that saw him cleanly clothesline a hitherto dominant Braun Strowman right over the top rope.

#52: Naomi

Seven Royal Rumble appearances with over three hours of cumulative ring time and five career eliminations offered Naomi a prominent spot on this list. Her work in the Rumble included a memorable return to WWE after a stint with TNA in 2024. She entered from the number two spot that year and lasted over an hour in the bout.

#51: Rick Martel

Despite once being a world champion in the AWA, Rick Martel\’s WWE career was defined first by being a tag team wrestler, then by working as a mid-card heel under The Model gimmick. It\’s a bit surprising to find a wrestler who never won a singles championship in WWE this high on the list, but Martel was a long-time respected hand in the company. Particularly noteworthy on his Rumble resume was his 1991 showing in which he lasted 52 minutes and registered four eliminations.

#50: Ronda Rousey

2022 wasn\’t exactly a well-received year for the Royal Rumble. Both Rumble matches saw a polarizing MMA-crossover entrant who had been rumored and thus was only sort-of-surprising return to take the duke. On the women\’s side, that victory went to Ronda Rousey.

Rousey was a bit greater surprise than her male counterpart (more on him later in the countdown) as she had been missing from the WWE landscape for over two years leading up to her comeback moment. The Baddest Woman on the Planet had an iconic moment when she made her more legitimately shocking debut at the end of the 2018 Royal Rumble (also, the first-ever women\’s Rumble). This time, she drew a more mixed reaction from the crowd but nonetheless entered from the 28 spot, lasted over ten minutes, registered four eliminations, and, most importantly, won to punch her ticket to WrestleMania 38.

This installment of our ranking of every WWE Royal Rumble entrant covers the middle of the pack, from #120 to #274. With 446 participants in Royal Rumble history, this section marks the true halfway point. We still aren\’t broaching performers who actually won the match, but we do start to see names who had a significant impact, in addition to a higher volume of both major names from yesteryear and stars on the rise from the modern era.

#254: Bronson Reed, Carlos Colon, El Torito, Genichiro Tenryu, Giulia, Hillbilly Jim, Jim Brunzell, Kevin Thorn, LA Knight, Luther Reigns, Matt Morgan, Mr. Kennedy, Pierroth, Shane McMahon, Steve Blackman, The Hurricane, The Texas Tornado, Tiffany Stratton, Toni Storm, Tully Blanchard, and Xavier Woods (Tie)

This is an interesting spot on the list. LA Knight and Tiffany Stratton seem all but certain to climb to higher spots as they work future Rumbles, with neither out of the question as wrestlers who might one day win the whole match. While Bronson Reed and Giulia don\’t necessarily look as likely to emerge as Rumble winners, they had respectable runs and racked up an elimination each in their Rumble debuts, showing plenty of potential to be players in this bout for years to come.

The 254 spot also includes an eclectic mix of major stars who peaked outside WWE: Puerto Rican wrestling legend and one-off visitor Carlos Colon, World Class franchise player Kerry Von Erich (as The Texas Tornado), NWA upper mid-card tag team mainstay Tully Blanchard, and Toni Storm before she found her footing as a defining star for AEW.

Shane McMahon is also an interesting name to appear here, as fans may be surprised to realize he only ever worked one Royal Rumble (not counting the Greatest Royal Rumble), in what turned out to be his penultimate WWE match to date in 2022. This one is marred by extensive rumors of backstage drama around his appearance, but was nonetheless a better outing than he\’d put on a year later at WrestleMania 39, only getting about a minute into his impromptu match with The Miz before needing Snoop Dogg to sub in for him due to injury.

#239: Aldo Montoya, Aleister Black, Animal, Chavo Guerrero, Diamond Dallas Page, Ezekiel Jackson, Karrion Kross, Ken Shamrock, Maxxine Dupri, Mickie James, Nikolai Volkoff, Rene Dupree, Sarah Logan, The Berzerker, and Torrie Wilson (Tie)

With nine points apiece, the wrestlers tied for 239th are as eclectic as their means of earning this placement. All were multi-time Rumble entrants. Chavo Guerrero and Sarah Logan stood out for their prolific five Rumble berths apiece, though in each case that came with the asterisk that neither has a single elimination on record.

Mickie James probably stands out as the star of 239th place. Despite not scoring any eliminations, she led the pack with about a half hour of ring time across her three appearances, including the memorable moment of entering the Rumble as reigning TNA Knockouts Champion, complete with her TNA music years before WWE formalized its working agreement with the company. The Berzerker also feels worthy of some recognition here, given so much of his gimmick revolved around throwing people out of the ring. He underwhelmed in his two Rumble appearances but did at least score one elimination.

#234: Bo Dallas, Jamie Noble, Koko B. Ware, Ridge Holland, and Tegan Nox (Tie)

Bo Dallas, Jamie Noble, and Koko B. Ware represent a certain \”type\” as recognizable names for both their talent and their longevity with WWE, despite not breaking through to the main event level (though perhaps Uncle Howdy still has time). Ware entered three Rumbles to Dallas and Noble\’s one, respectively, but Dallas and Noble actually had more minutes in that single appearance than Ware did in his three. Each of these three performers had one elimination to their names.

Ridge Holland and Tegan Nox may be surprising names to see at this high a ranking. Holland had a fairly impressive run in his one Rumble to date, though, lasting nineteen minutes and serving as part of a brigade of men to team up and eliminate Omos from the proceedings. For her part, Tegan Nox quietly worked three Rumble matches with one elimination to her name as well.

#223: Ahmed Johnson, Carmelo Hayes, Chris Masters, Dino Bravo, Gangrel, Gene Snitsky, Mason Ryan, Maven, MVP, Rhyno, and Scott Steiner (Tie)

A number of powerhouses filled up this spot on the list, from perpetual mid-carders of different generations like Dino Bravo, Rhyno, Chris Masters, and Gene Snitsky, to talents WWE clearly had bigger plans for that never quite materialized like Ahmed Johnson, Mason Ryan, and Scott Steiner. A combination of factors like an elimination or two or multiple Rumble appearances contributed to this placement.

Carmelo Hayes certainly has the potential to ascend the list if he can truly find his footing on the main roster. Meanwhile, Maven probably gets the nod for top guy at 223rd for his legendary upset elimination of The Undertaker.

#217: Alicia Fox, Joey Mercury, Katana Chance, Lana, Molly Holly, and Xia Li (Tie)

Eclecticism is the name of the game at this stage of the list. Joey Mercury stands out for having worked only one Rumble match but lasting just shy of a half hour in it. Despite a brief and under-featured run on the WWE main roster, Xia Li racked up a deceptively high four Rumbles. Molly Holly and Alicia Fox are arguably the stars at 217th for having departed from WWE long before women got their own Rumble match, but going on to make three appearances each in the bout, including one elimination to each of their names.

#207: Arn Anderson, Ax, Bubba Ray Dudley, Dick Murdoch, Hawk, Kayden Carter, Lita, Mil Mascaras, Otis, and Rick Rude (Tie)

This is a pretty interesting spot on the list. It features guys who, at least as far as WWE was concerned, were primarily known as tag team wrestlers like Arn Anderson, Ax, Bubba Ray Dudley, Hawk, and Kayden Carter. From there, the spot also includes oddball one-off legend appearances from Dick Murdoch, Lita, and Mil Mascaras, each of whom scored two eliminations.

It\’s an interesting bit of trivia that Dudley actually only ever appeared in the Rumble match itself in 2015. In his WWE heyday during the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression Eras, he was focused on tag team action, working five tag bouts alongside his kayfabe brother D-Von, with four of those instances having tag titles on the line. It\’s unfortunate to see Rick Rude this low on the list, but he only ever worked one Royal Rumble match (in addition to one singles match on a Rumble show).

#199: Bushwhacker Butch, Jack Swagger, Kurrgan, Penta, The Godfather, Titus O\’Neil, Virgil, and X-Pac (Tie)

Recognizable names populate this portion of the list. The Godfather earns a mark of distinction for entering the Rumble under multiple personas including Papa Shango, Kama, and The Goodfather besides his most famous gimmick, for a cumulative seven Rumble appearances. Despite very different legacies, Virgil and X-Pac had strikingly similar records on paper to arrive at this spot, while Kurrgan\’s two appearances with two eliminations to his name feels more or less fitting for his legacy as a giant for whom the pieces never quite came together in WWE. Of everyone in this tie, Penta looks like a surefire name to enjoy some advancement up the list as he\’s still only in his first year with WWE and has enjoyed a solid upper-mid-card push; a 42-minute showing in his Rumble debut bespeaks a bright future.

#189: Dusty Rhodes, Ember Moon, Finlay, Hornswoggle, Ivy Nile, Jimmy Uso, Johnny Gargano, Jordynne Grace, Marty Jannetty, and Umaga (Tie)

189th place marks the first appearance for a Rhodes on this list; Dusty only worked one Rumble but did have two eliminations in it. He\’s joined by tag team guys Marty Jannetty and Jimmy Uso, not to mention Jimmy\’s uncle Umaga. Another oddity sees kayfabe father and son Hornswoggle and Finlay tie. Finlay worked one more Rumble and lasted longer than Hornswoggle in this match environment (especially if one were to deduct the leprechaun\’s time spent hiding under the ring), but Hornswoggle made an elimination, which is something Finlay never did.

#178: A-Train, Bad News Brown, Billie Kay, Chad Gable, Chyna, Erick Rowan, Jinder Mahal, Kharma, Peyton Royce, Ricochet, and Ron Bass (Tie)

This is an interesting point on the list for featuring the only two women who entered a men\’s Royal Rumble match but never entered a women\’s Rumble. Chyna was the truest trailblazer as the first woman to ever enter a Royal Rumble, let alone score an elimination. She had sadly passed before women got their own Royal Rumble. Kharma was the third woman in a Rumble, making a totally surprise one-off appearance in the 2012 edition—an unannounced return after she\’d stepped away due to pregnancy, and she\’d never appear on WWE television again.

178th place also includes former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, both IIconics, and some brawlers who felt like natural fits for the Rumble environment in Ron Bass, Bad News Brown, and Erick Rowan, each of whom had two eliminations on their resumes.

#169: Candice LeRae, Dana Brooke, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Maria Kanellis, Val Venis, and Vladimir Kozlov (Tie)

It\’s interesting to note that Nexus alumni David Otunga and Heath Slater wound up tying at this spot, with strikingly similar records of three Rumble appearances apiece, each with two eliminations to his name. As a fun bit of trivia, Candice LeRae accomplished the unlikely in beating out her husband, Johnny Gargano, who was stuck back at 189th. Credit that in no small part to workhorse LeRae\’s five Rumble berths and counting, dating back to her days as an NXT roster member.

#164: D\’Lo Brown, Don Muraco, Jade Cargill, Phineas Godwinn, and Shotzi (Tie)

Though it seems likely Jade Cargill will climb higher on this list over the years to come, it\’s interesting to note her big push in the 2024 Royal Rumble with three eliminations only tied with Shotzi, who never found as much momentum on the main roster but did rack up five Rumble appearances before her release from WWE. Don Muraco was a bit past his prime by the time the Royal Rumble got rolling or probably would\’ve wound up higher; for his part, D\’Lo Brown\’s placement at 164th is largely a testament to his extended, highly respectable mid-card run, while Phineas Godwinn/Mideon\’s placement speaks to his own longevity in supporting roles.

#161: Brian Knobbs, Charlie Haas, and Chuck Palumbo (Tie)

It\’s tag team wrestler central at this point on the list with three decorated tag team champions who never enjoyed much singles success in WWE. Knobbs and Palumbo each registered a noteworthy three eliminations to get them to this spot.

#155: 8 Ball, Carmella, Jimmy Snuka, Kairi Sane, Mustafa Ali, and Savio Vega (Tie)

Everyone at this spot in the list had at least two Royal Rumble appearances, with Carmella, Jimmy Snuka, Kairi Sane, and Savio Vega each boasting four outings. Out of this group, Carmella staged a memorable dance break, while Jimmy Snuka deserves some flowers for appearances ranging from his first in 1990 to his last in 2008—that last appearance spotlighting him squaring off one last time with Roddy Piper in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd.

#150: Austin Theory, Bad Bunny, Jim Neidhart, Logan Paul, and Tamina (Tie)

The 150th spot on the list—with the exception of Jim Neidhart—has a very modern feel to it. Austin Theory, Logan Paul, and Tamina remain signed to WWE at press time, and Paul in particular stands to rise up the ranks, likely to remain a featured player in WWE for years to come. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny impressed in his multiple WWE outings, and when the time is right, there\’s every reason to suspect he\’ll enter a WWE ring—and perhaps a Royal Rumble—again. In an interesting development, Tamina nudged out her father by a point for this higher placement on the countdown.

#149: Bam Bam Bigelow

In the first instance of a wrestler not tying with anyone at all, Bam Bam Bigelow racked up 22 points via his single Royal Rumble appearance in 1994 that saw him last a half hour and score five eliminations. His most memorable appearance on a Royal Rumble PPV would occur a year later, in tag team action away from the eponymous battle royal. He\’d go down in defeat, but the real story was a shoving match with Lawrence Taylor at ringside that set the wheels in motion for their WrestleMania 11 main event.

#145: JBL, Roddy Piper, Samoa Joe, and Zoey Stark (Tie)

Despite a main roster run undermined by injuries, Zoey Stark has a respectable Royal Rumble resume with three appearances and two eliminations to date. That\’s good enough to place her in the company of respected legends whom she\’ll likely climb past in the rankings in years to come, as none of the others are likely to participate again.

For his part, Roddy Piper probably had the most memorable outing of the bunch with his 1992 appearance that saw him fend off Ric Flair across a half hour period during The Nature Boy\’s historically great run in the match. JBL made an impressive six Rumble entries, while Samoa Joe only had two but racked up three eliminations in the process.

#141: Haku, Mia Yim, Raquel Rodriguez, and Roxanne Perez (Tie)

In hindsight, it seems borderline criminal that one of wrestling\’s defining real-life badasses, Haku, would only have two eliminations and about twenty minutes in the ring at Royal Rumbles across four appearances. There\’s not much cohesion, either, to read into him tying with Mia Yim and tag team partners Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez.

For her part, Perez had an hour-long run in the 2025 Rumble that brought her all the way to the final two in the ring. The odds are she\’ll climb quite a few spots in the years ahead, and fans shouldn\’t count her out as a prospective Rumble winner one day.

#133: Al Snow, Eddie Guerrero, Elias, Jacob Fatu, Nikki Cross, Omos, Santino Marella, and Terry Funk (Tie)

133rd seems like the spot for respected veterans who didn\’t get to make as much of a dent in the Royal Rumble as their talents or legacies would suggest, highlighted by Eddie Guerrero, Terry Funk, and Al Snow. Santino Marella deserves a shoutout here for an iconic runner-up performance in 2011. Though he never graduated from the mid-card in WWE, fans were nonetheless genuinely excited when it looked like he had a chance at eliminating eventual winner Alberto Del Rio. Moreover, given how Del Rio\’s career and life played out from there, many suggest WWE history would\’ve been better off had Marella picked up the win.

Nikki Cross is still on the roster and stands to advance at least a bit on the list. The real movers and shakers looking ahead for this slot, though, are Jacob Fatu and Omos. Fatu has only worked one Rumble to date but had four eliminations in it and has a style well-suited to big runs in this match. Meanwhile, Omos is a legit, true giant of this era. After an absence from television, WWE reintroduced him where he promptly won a battle royal. He\’s an unlikely Rumble winner, but the kind of attraction well suited to appear in the match again and who will probably pick up at least one more elimination each time he does.

#131: Curtis Axel and Trish Stratus (Tie)

This is an interesting spot on the list for featuring two well-respected in-ring performers. After a brief over-push at the launch of the Curtis Axel persona, he was widely under-utilized relative to his talent. In the end, the most famous part of his Rumble legacy probably comes back to an extended comedic angle: because he was attacked before he could get into the 2015 Royal Rumble, he was never eliminated and thus had a claim to have been the match\’s true winner, or at least still in contention.

Had women had a Royal Rumble a decade or two sooner, Trish Stratus would surely land much higher on this list. As it stands, she was a fun returning legend to see in this environment, with four cumulative eliminations over two appearances.

#126: Jeff Hardy, Mandy Rose, Ron Simmons, R-Truth, and Ted DiBiase Jr. (Tie)

On paper, the Royal Rumble looks all but tailor-made for Ron Simmons to thrive in, but like a number of world champion legends, his heyday didn\’t coincide with his Rumble appearances. To his credit, he did work five Rumble matches and tally four eliminations, with a particularly noteworthy outing in 1998 when he made it to the final four.

Jeff Hardy is another noteworthy name whom some may have expected to land higher, but he spent the years when he might have most legitimately been a contender to win the match—2008 and 2009—in world title matches on the PPV, besides otherwise spending two Rumble PPVs working tag matches.

R-Truth\’s longevity—working no fewer than nine Rumble matches—helped him scale the list, not least of all including some comedic gold like a dance break and joining the match with a ladder in tow. Ted DiBiase Jr. and Mandy Rose each likely land higher than folks would expect. It\’s easy to forget that in the heat of DiBiase looking like a future main eventer, he got a 45-minute run in the match in 2009, alongside two other respectable outings, while Mandy Rose worked four Rumbles with three eliminations to her name.

#124: Hercules and Matt Riddle (Tie)

Powerhouse Hercules worked three early Rumbles with nearly a cumulative hour to his credit and three eliminations. Matt Riddle wound up boasting strikingly similar stats decades later, in a time when he looked like a prospective main event guy. There remains an outside chance WWE fans may see him in the Rumble again at some point in the future.

#120: Beth Phoenix, Chelsea Green, Jerry Lawler, and Tatanka (Tie)

Beth Phoenix stands out here as only the second woman to participate in a men\’s Royal Rumble. She\’d go on to make her presence felt in two women\’s Rumbles post-retirement. That included a memorable moment of squaring off with Nia Jax, then falling victim to betrayal by her friend Natalya in the inaugural women\’s match in 2018. She worked the Rumble again in 2020 with a 23-minute showing that memorably saw her keep going while visibly bleeding from the back of her head.

Out of this cluster, Chelsea Green and Jerry Lawler make a fair amount of sense coexisting. For all the differences and working in totally different eras, both are underappreciated talents who, particularly in WWE, engaged fans largely with comedic heel personas. To wit, one of Lawler\’s most famous Rumble moments saw him enter the 1997 edition only for long-time rival Bret Hart to dispatch of him in all of four seconds, so he could go straight back to brawling with Steve Austin. For her part, Chelsea Green made a dramatic surprise return to WWE to enter the Royal Rumble, only for Rhea Ripley to send her packing after five seconds. Their resumes shape up similarly otherwise too, each with four Rumbles apiece and three eliminations credited to them.

Tatanka may have had the least iconic Rumble work to his name, but showing up at this point on the list bespeaks the rock-solid place in the mid-card he held in the early-to-mid-1990s, including at one point looking like a prospective main event threat.