10 Times WWE Got The Royal Rumble Main Event Wrong

Two names from the list of Royal Rumble winners stand out like a sore thumb, those being the first two: Jim Duggan and Big John Studd. Put differently, the only two besides Shinsuke Nakamura who never held world title gold (and that includes Vince McMahon himself).

But at least the former, with his trusty 2x4 and endearing (if slightly annoying) catchphrase, was pretty popular. His triumph in the inaugural Rumble in '88 didn't catapult him to the main event, but he stuck around long enough to become an important member of the roster, that victory being his claim to fame.

Studd, on the other hand, actually departed the company in 1989, the same year that he won the Rumble, making all the effort they had put into pushing him as one of the WWF's next breakout stars count for precisely nothing.

Granted, they couldn't have predicted that he would up sticks at the turn of the year - but they generally don't allow wrestlers to leave for reasons as petty as wanting a bigger cut of the pie if they truly believe they have a future at the top of the show.

However you spin it, this was a failure, embryonic paradigm or no.