Ranking EVERY Royal Rumble WWE Championship Match From Worst To Best

The worst and best of the Royal Rumble rest...

Royal Rumble
WWE

Royal Rumble title matches are often brilliantly deployed as throwaways in disguise - the types of matches you don't realise are largely meaningless until after they've happened, and more power to them. With an entire company strapped in on the Road To WrestleMania and at least 30 performers entering a big battle royal to headline it, it makes sense not to waste a top guy on a title match that doesn't need to be end-of-the-world exciting.

It's not an exact science of course. The Rumble has provided payoffs and big name battles over the years too, but with only certain exceptions (the titular "Worst" that anchor the bottom end of this very list), the lack of pressure tends to proffer a positive atmosphere for performers that potentially won't get too many other main event opportunities.

The typical caveats apply here - depending on the weather, different titles have meant different things to different brands over the years, so all variants of major titles (WWE, World and Universal) are counted.

ECW and other extraneous offerings such as that weren't considered for it - why give a toss when WWE so rarely asked us to - but otherwise, they're all here. For better, and worse...

40. Triple H Vs Scott Steiner - 2003 (World Championship)

Royal Rumble
WWE

A match exactly as bad at Triple H probably wanted to be even if his face was as red as his trunks at times, the World Heavyweight Title match was as catastrophic as it's WWE Championship counterpart (more on that later) was classic.

The build-up had seen both men do everything but wrestle. The payoff sadly provided something almost identical. Scott Steiner was injured, and the self-proclaimed "ring general" allowed his partner to die on his a*se in something loosely resembling a battlefield.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett