10 Best Performances From Number 1 In WWE Royal Rumble Match
1. Chris Benoit - 2004
This entry is extremely bittersweet (for obvious reasons), but, objectively, this was one heck of a performance.
2004's Royal Rumble match began with Chris Benoit squaring off against Randy Orton.
Men would come and go over the course of the next hour - storylines involving Mick Foley, Goldberg, and even Ernest 'The Cat' Miller - but the one constant was Benoit.
Benoit made it all the way to the end of the match in a showdown with Big Show. The World's Largest Athlete looked to have the match won several times, but The Rabid Wolverine finally got the better of him and (very slowly) pulled him over the top rope to eliminate him and win the match.
He became only the second man to win the Rumble match from the first spot. He only broke the longevity record at the time and became only the third man in history to last over an hour in the Rumble.
Benoit was the ultimate underdog - the technical wizard who deserved way more than he always got. Finally, Benoit was getting his shot at the main event and he would cash that shot in by becoming the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XX.
It's one of the best Rumble performances of all time. It's just a shame that it can never be celebrated.