10 Biggest WWE Royal Rumble Innovators

10. First To Get A Guaranteed WrestleMania Title Shot (Yokozuna)

Royal Rumble 1993 Yokozuna Randy Savage
WWE

It's weird to think that WWE's first five Rumbles had next-to-nothing to do with WrestleMania. 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991 were for bragging rights only, and 1992's addition of the WWF Heavyweight Title similarly decided the promotion's next made man. Then, in 1993, everything changed.

Looking back, it's remarkable that the company didn't make a bigger song and dance about the 1993 Rumble's winner getting a guaranteed World Title shot at 'Mania. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan mentioned it a few times on commentary, but they didn't hammer it home.

Who started the trend? Big, bad Yokozuna.

Yoko eliminated Randy Savage, won the Rumble, posed for a post-match photoshoot then had a heated confrontation with reigning champ Bret Hart. This kicked off a long-standing tradition. The Rumble winner books their ticket to the biggest show of the year.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.