10 Worst WWE Royal Rumble Winners Ever

5. Seth Rollins (2019)

Vince McMahon worst
WWE.com

This Royal Rumble win defined the essence of Seth Rollins, if you’re inclined to believe that he’s a perfectly solid wrestler who isn’t anything special. 

He won a match that was only decent, in a vacuum, but scanned as something of a relief. Thank God Vince McMahon didn’t commit a booking atrocity, eh? 

The danger’s always there! 

In 2019, though, sensible, un-botched but uninspiring really wasn’t good enough. AEW was on the cusp of making things interesting - a word one can’t really associate with Seth Rollins, as skilled as he is on his better days. 

In football, when a club is in a dire run of form, the owner sometimes goes with - to borrow the clichés - a “safe pair of hands” who “knows the club inside out”. This new caretaker manager isn’t going to succeed at the top level, but they’re capable, at least, of staving off yet more utter humiliation. 

That was Seth Rollins in 2019. 

His unremarkable win led to some very committed booking - going over Brock Lesnar clean twice surely counts as being “handed the ball” - but his run-in with the Fiend and his Stand Up For WWE campaign didn’t do much for his Face of the Company credentials.

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!