10 Biggest WWE Royal Rumble Innovators
10. First To Get A Guaranteed WrestleMania Title Shot (Yokozuna)
It's weird to think that WWE's first five Rumbles had next-to-nothing to do with WrestleMania. 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 were for bragging rights only, and 1992's addition of the WWF Heavyweight Title similarly decided the promotion's next made man. Then, in 1993, everything changed.
Looking back, it's remarkable that the company didn't make a bigger song and dance about the 1993 Rumble's winner getting a guaranteed World Title shot at 'Mania. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan mentioned it a few times on commentary, but they didn't hammer it home.
Who started the trend? Big, bad Yokozuna.
Yoko eliminated Randy Savage, won the Rumble, posed for a post-match photoshoot then had a heated confrontation with reigning champ Bret Hart. This kicked off a long-standing tradition. The Rumble winner books their ticket to the biggest show of the year.