10 Best WWE Royal Rumble Matches

The history books show that there was an 11-year gap between Shawn Michaels and Undertaker meeting in that ill-fated Casket Match at the 1998 Royal Rumble and then renewing acquaintances for WrestleMania 25.

In reality, they also clashed in the 2007 Rumble match, which in the last few minutes practically became a singles bout when the 30 hopefuls were whittled down to arguably the two greatest WWE superstars of all time.

What made this exchange so compelling is that either man could have walked away with the spoils. Both were odds-on favourites to challenge their respective brand's champion in Detroit (in fact, they did) and both were - or so we thought - heading into the final stretch of their illustrious careers.

It's moments like these that are exactly what the Royal Rumble is supposed to be about. You get to see icons whose paths are usually separate due to their both being good guys (or, in recent years, the brand extension) finally coming together to find out who truly deserves the mantle of best in the company.