Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumble - From Worst To Best

10. Royal Rumble 2026 - Cody Rhodes Vs. Kevin Owens

Two of the very best in the industry, going to war in a brutal ladder match, on one of the biggest PLEs of the year, and with the iconic Winged Eagle brought back, no less? This 2025 Royal Rumble contest between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens was an absolute barnburner.

Heading into this one, Cody was the reigning WWE Champion, and KO was the disgruntled former friend of the American Nightmare, having recently turned on Rhodes at Bad Blood that past October after being unhappy with how easily Cody was able to team with Roman Reigns, despite Reigns previously making life a misery for Owens, Rhodes, and various other babyfaces through the tyranical Bloodline days.

With WWE Saturday Night's Main Event brought back in November 2024 for the first time in 16 years, part of the nostalgia of that saw Cody Rhodes using the Winged Eagle version of the WWE Championship as a special one-off for his match there against Kevin Owens. However, a furious Owens would leave Rhodes in a crumpled heap with a Package Piledriver and take the Winged Eagle as his own following a SNME loss to Cody, and the Canadian Dream, Son of a Security Systems Technician, would spend the next several weeks proclaiming to be the real WWE Champion.

The point being, by the time Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes walked into the Royal Rumble with the Winged Eagle and WWE Championship, respectively, things were incredibly personal for this ladder match, with both titles raised above the ring.

A match full of gnarly bumps and intense vitriol, this was a magnificently violent spectacle - by WWE standards, at least - that lasted for 25 minutes of wince-inducing action, culminating in the utterly sickening sight of Rhodes using an Alabama Slam to put Owens through a ladder bridged between the announce desk and the ring. From there, Cody would head back into the ring and climb up a ladder to claim both title belts.

Watching as a fan, it was clear to see how much toll this one was taking on both men's bodies, and that was something only further hammered home when the bout was covered later that year when WWE Unreal debuted.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 26th Jan 2026

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