10 WWE Royal Rumble Wins That Would Have Improved WrestleMania

10. ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage (1993)

In fairness, WWE can’t really be faulted for tagging Yokozuna as the winner of the inaugural Royal Rumble contested under the ‘WrestleMania Rule’. Nevertheless, a more significant and arguably more fulfilling WrestleMania IX opponent for Bret Hart was consigned to the announcer’s table that afternoon.

On paper, Mr. Fuji’s 500-plus pound charge was the perfect foil for ‘The Hitman’. He fulfilled the ‘foreign menace’ trope that WWE still occasionally utilizes and was literally the largest obstacle WWE could set in front of the defending champion. By 1993, however, the company was amidst a transition from its ‘Golden Era’ to a ‘New Generation’ of talent. It only stands to reason that such a shift would be accompanied by a passing of the torch.

With the Ultimate Warrior out of the picture and Hulk Hogan refusing a backseat to the smaller Hart, only one conceivable Golden Era name remained to pass said torch. The runner-up to Yokozuna in the 1993 Rumble, ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage could have easily lit up the Caesar’s Palace marquee alongside ‘The Excellence of Execution’. Unfortunately, management’s misguided views on the outgoing generation shelved watershed rivalries with the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels while increasingly chaining Savage to the desk. A frustrated ‘Macho Man’ would depart for WCW in November 1994 and prove he still had plenty in the tank.

Who knows? Maybe instead of a WrestleMania frequently discussed as the worst ever, a main event for the ages could have been on the books.