10 Best WWE Royal Rumble Final Fours
7. 2008 (John Cena, Triple H, Batista, Kane)
Royal Rumble matches are perhaps WWE’s greatest opportunity to engineer moments that are born out of pure shock value and generated to add to the drama of the spectacle.
Case in point: the rabid response to Roman Reigns in 2014, drawn from his unexpected rise to the final two against a loathed Batista. Sure, Reigns was not nearly as polarizing as mid-to-late 2000s Super Cena, but the reaction was still pulsating. Compare this to the reception for John Cena in 2008, and the noise was next level.
Defying the injury odds once again, Cena emerged at the #30 spot in front of a deafening and passionate Madison Square Garden crowd. Despite being WWE’s most controversial golden child, the New York faithful went absolutely nuts. His premature return from a shoulder injury was truly too unbelievable to keep the usually snarky MSG crowd quiet, with 21,000-strong bursting with excitement.
Once Triple H and Batista disposed of Kane, three of the biggest faces in wrestling in 2008 had a short but extremely fun Triple Threat, a battle calling back to their interwoven career paths, before Batista fell to his Evolution dad.
Cena rallied alongside the MSG crowd, but against his former and future ‘Mania dance partner, sending The Game packing to end a star-studded Rumble undoubtedly capped off by the shockingly delightful ending.