10 Greatest Performances In WWE Royal Rumble History

8. Triple H (2006)

triple h rey mysterio royal rumble 2006
WWE.com

Few wrestlers have seen more Royal Rumble success than Triple H over the years. As one of only five wrestlers to ever win the match twice (in 2002 and 2016), The Game has spent more time than anyone else wrestling in the match (3:59:37), stands as fifth in total eliminations (32), and in 2006, he became the second man to last a full hour without actually winning the Rumble match.

This was one of two titanic performances in the 2006 Royal Rumble. We’ll get to the other one later, but The Game put forth a Herculean effort by entering first and making it all the way to the final three. He was pegged as the pre-match favourite, but the whole match was built around him being outstanding, but not outstanding enough to win, and he was eventually dumped from the match by Rey Mysterio.

Still, Triple H notched five eliminations throughout his 62-minute run. Simon Dean, his mentor Ric Flair, Big Show, Kane, and Chavo Guerrero were all thrown out by The Game, who produced one of his career’s finest performances. The 2016 Royal Rumble may have seen Triple H leave with the WWE Championship around the waist, but 2006 was comfortably his most impressive all-round showing.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.