10 Best WWE Royal Rumble Final Fours
9. 2004 (Chris Benoit, The Big Show, Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho)
Despite what WWE want you to remember, the story of the 2004 Royal Rumble was the truly remarkable hour-long (then a record) effort from eventual winner Chris Benoit.
This match will be forever left to history, and rightfully so, but viewed in subjectively challenging isolation, the Canadian wrestling ace turned in an extraordinary display on this historic night. Benoit’s Ironman performance was made all the more impressive, considering the depths of talent which WWE still possessed during the initial years of the Ruthless Aggression Era.
However, it would be three fellow Attitude Era veterans joining Benoit in the final four.
The Big Show, Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho made up a star-studded quartet alongside Benoit, one which sold the dream of a WrestleMania main event berth with the ferocious desperation required in the apex of a Royal Rumble. With Benoit exhausted, the colossal Big Show did much of the heavy lifting in the match’s later stages. The behemoth eliminated Jericho and Angle, before Benoit eventually grappled him over the top rope whilst on the apron for the win from the #1 spot.
Big Show was once again Royal Rumble bridesmaid, but Benoit and the Fresno crowd were beside themselves with elation.