10 WWE Classics That Never Should Have Worked
3. The 2011 Royal Rumble
The only ever 40-man edition of the encounter had plenty going against it, but bravely told several long-form stories, found logical ways to reintroduce nostalgia names, and even glued a dramatic twist on to an otherwise-obvious conclusion.
Divided up into clear sections to make the best of the extra mass, 2011's match first featured a brawl between CM Punk's Nexus and Wade Barrett's Corre breakaways. A comedic interlude led by John Cena and Hornswoggle served as a palette cleanser before a rampant and action-packed closing stretch with the last gasps of the other major stars.
Cameos from returnees Booker T and (especially) Kevin 'Diesel' Nash were especially well-recieved, whilst nailed-on winner Alberto Del Rio almost slipping on a Santino-shaped banana skin had the crowd collectively losing their f*cking minds enough to believe it might actually happen.
The match was such a glorious over-achievement that it's astonishing the company never ended up bothering with a second bite until the inherently daft 50-man version at 2018's first Saudi Arabian supercard. 'The Greatest Royal Rumble', as well as being problematic in its inception, had little of the charm or elegant booking required to help stretch the traditional premise.