10 Best WWE Royal Rumble Performers (Who Never Won The Rumble)

Before Kofimania and his brief but bright world title run, before The New Day turned him into one of the company’s most bankable performers, Kofi Kingston cemented his status as a great worker thanks in no small part to the Royal Rumble.

Kingston was a must-watch feature of the flagship match for his saves, which had to be seen to be believed. Year upon year he’d be launched from the ring, only to cling on by means equal parts inventive, athletic, and fortuitous.

He’d land on his hands and “walk” his way to the steps. He’d be dumped on the guard rail then pull off a gravity defying jump back to the squared circle. In perhaps his finest moment, he commandeered JBL’s announce chair and pogoed his way to safety in a spot so joyous it even had the cantankerous commentator waxing lyrical about it for the rest of the match.

Kofi has also taken part in 13 Rumbles, joint second most, and may take that second spot for his own this year. The veteran performer shows no signs of slowing down, and if it’s probably too late for him to win one, he can rest easy knowing he was MVP of the Rumble for many years.