8 WWE Royal Rumble Winners Who Put Their Title Shot On The Line

At this year's Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Roman Reigns accomplished a feat only an elite few have: winning the Rumble match and punching his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 31. Sadly for him though, the win in Philadelphia was met with considerable criticism from fans in attendance and worldwide who believed he wasn't quite "ready" for the main event spotlight. As a result, WWE Creative called an audible by having The Authority goad Reigns into putting his WWE World Heavyweight Championship shot on the line at WWE Fastlane against the man who never lost the belt to begin with: Daniel Bryan. Despite inevitable grumbles, it's far from the first time something like this has happened on the ever-exciting, ever-tumultuous road to WrestleMania, because plans change constantly. And while it could be argued that putting the title shot on the line diminishes the Rumble win for that Superstar, it's been done so many times in the past that it has basically now become common practice. Everyone from John Cena to Shawn Michaels has gone through with it, while other Rumble winners such as Stone Cold Steve Austin have been unfortunate enough to lose their guaranteed championship match before WrestleMania even comes around. And if history has taught us anything, it's that the odds aren't in Reigns' favour for Fastlane.