10 Things That Prove January Is The Best Month For Wrestling

8. Fresh World Title Challengers

The Rock John Cena
WWE.com

Largely down to the majority of WWE's bigger names being utilised in the Royal Rumble match itself, that frees up a spot for a fresh face to challenge for one of the main championships on WWE's January PPV.

Rather than the regular revolving roster of the same main event faces competing for the WWE Championship or Universal Championship, the Royal Rumble has afforded an opportunity for one-off, or at least fresh at the time, challengers to step forward and compete for one of the biggest prizes in the business.

Prime examples of this are:

Razor Ramon vs. WWF Champion Bret Hart

Scott Steiner vs. World Heavyweight Champion Triple H

Hardcore Holly vs. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

Mark Henry vs. World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle

Mr. Kennedy vs. World Heavyweight Champion Batista

Umaga vs. WWE Champion John Cena.

Razor, Steiner, Holly, Henry, Kennedy, and Umaga all had their plus points, but it was only at the Royal Rumble PPV that they were afforded a fleeting look at the WWE main event scene. Obviously, Mark Henry would go on to become a World Champion in his own right, although that didn't happen until 2011 - five years after his Royal Rumble title shot against Kurt Angle.

Either way, the point remains: the Royal Rumble PPV has afforded opportunities to those who may not usually be in the World Title mix.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.