10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Facts

5. The First Royal Rumble To Be Won By A Former NXT Champion

WWE Royal Rumble 2018 Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre are two former NXT Champions who have since gone onto win the men's Royal Rumble match, while Asuka and Charlotte Flair are two former NXT Women's Champions who have Rumble success under their belts.

The first former NXT Champion to win a Royal Rumble match, though? That would be Shinsuke Nakamura in 2018.

Having made his NXT debut in April 2016, Nakamura would win the NXT Championship just four months later by defeating Samoa Joe at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II. Losing the title back to the Samoan Submission Machine in November, the King of Strong Style would quickly regain NXT's biggest prize before the year was out.

It was a rollercoaster start under the WWE banner for Shinsuke Nakamura, and that success carried through to the WWE main roster when the Artist landed on SmackDown days after WrestleMania 33. And part of that continued early success was Nakamura winning the 2018 men's Royal Rumble nine months after debuting on the blue brand.

Of course, it's been an up and down couple of years for Shinsuke in the three years since the 2018 Royal Rumble, but there does seem to be a renewed WWE spotlight on the three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion in recent times.

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