10 Worst WWE Royal Rumble Winners Ever

7. John Cena (2013)

Vince McMahon worst
WWE

Once In A Lifetime was once enough. 

The paranoid dick-measuring contests were fascinating, and WWE felt massive when the Rock and John Cena shared the ring, but their WrestleMania XXVIII main even felt like it went on for a week. 

WWE fans had connected with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, but the promotion wasn’t interested in pushing them to the tippy-top. The company motto had become ‘Putting Smiles On Shareholder’s Faces’, and you didn’t have the money to invest. You were poor. 

And don’t forget stupid! 

And so WWE reneged on the ‘Mania tagline to simply re-do Cena Vs. Rock - after, of course, the worst year of Cena’s career. The guy was so out of form that he defeated a returning Brock Lesnar. 

'Super' Cena won the 2013 Rumble match, last eliminating Ryback. People wanted Ryback to win, primarily because John Cena was about as funny as pranking a child for social media engagement. Allowing children to watch Cena was the most sinister prank of them all. 

Ryback. They wanted Ryback. 

Remember that the next time people insist that Cena was always good and it was simply cool to hate him. 

The timing of Cena’s win was as bad as the win itself; it made the Rock’s boring WWE title win over CM Punk that bit more predictable. 

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!