10 WWE Royal Rumble Wins That Would Have Improved WrestleMania
9. Eddie Guerrero (2004)
As a standalone contest, the 2004 Royal Rumble match is unquestionably top five all-time. Unfortunately, hindsight has made it almost impossible for WWE to acknowledge going forward.
WWE’s erasure of Chris Benoit, while entirely understandable, has been the subject of no small debate since 2007. ‘The Rabid Wolverine’ compiled innumerable classics across a 21-year career and featured prominently during his seven-year WWE run. However, their biggest snag by far is disregarding Benoit’s wire-to-wire triumph from entry #1 in the highlight reel every January.
The bittersweet ending to WrestleMania XX that saw Benoit and career-long friend Eddie Guerrero leave Madison Square Garden as World and WWE Champion respectively should not be lost to the ages. However, perhaps a slight amendment to that January’s Rumble wouldn’t alter the destination too drastically. Better still, a missed WrestleMania opportunity could potentially be rectified.
Awarding the 2004 Royal Rumble to Guerrero instead repairs the bane of omission, as Eddie’s legacy is still celebrated to this day. As John Cena demonstrated four years later, the Rumble winner doesn’t have to wait for WrestleMania. An impatient Guerrero challenging Brock Lesnar at that year’s No Way Out fits this narrative beautifully.
Meanwhile, Benoit follows his same path minus the Rumble accolade. Exiled to RAW by SmackDown GM Paul Heyman, ‘The Crippler’ emerges as Triple H’s WrestleMania challenger, disrupting the ongoing feud between ‘The Game’ and Shawn Michaels. Feeling usurped, an indignant ‘Heartbreak Kid’ heads to SmackDown to meet ‘Latino Heat’ in the dream match that almost was.