10 Worst WWE Royal Rumble Winners Ever

8. Edge (2010)

Vince McMahon worst
WWE

Edge’s 2010 Royal Rumble victory was ultimately a stunt that meant nothing in the long run.  

There weren’t many exciting options. 

While WWE, in a rare departure from a crushing norm, actually used Triple H and Randy Orton to elevate new talents at WrestleMania XXVIII - Sheamus and Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, Jr. respectively - nobody new was ready for the spot. 

Instead, despite playing heel before suffering an achilles injury, Edge did the “star automatically returns as a babyface” bit ahead of a show-down with partner-cum-rival Chris Jericho. 

This wasn’t the most successful comeback of its type; entering at #29, in a rushed sequence, Edge tossed out Cena after spending the least amount of time en route to victory up to that point (7:31). This didn’t scan as a heroic achievement - it was more consistent with his Ultimate Opportunist heel gimmick - and he clearly lacked match sharpness. 

Edge’s babyface character didn’t improve much from there - his attempted call-and-response to get the Spear! Spear! Spear! over felt like a novice’s prelim gimmick on their first house show loop - and the resulting match was technically decent but long and bereft of heat. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!