10 WWE Royal Rumble Wins That Would Have Improved WrestleMania

Under a different set of global circumstances, this spot absolutely belonged to Keith Lee.

Unfortunately for ‘The Limitless One’, serious medical complications resulted in five months of hiatus and convalescence, disrupting any potential WrestleMania main event with the pair who eventually duelled for the WWE Championship, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley.

So why not do the next best thing? Sure, seeing Edge in the main event of WrestleMania after nearly a decade on the shelf was cathartic. The triple threat match with Daniel Bryan and Universal Champion Roman Reigns is an all-time classic. But at the time, neither challenger really needed the stock boost winning the Royal Rumble should provide.

During a recent interview with GiveMeSport, Drew McIntyre confessed the number one match he wanted but never got was with The Swiss Superman. At the time, The King of Swing was riding a wave of momentum on the advocacy of Daniel Bryan himself. This included his first WrestleMania singles victory against Seth Rollins and his first ever chance at a WWE World Championship against Reigns a month later.

For lack of a better phrase, Cesaro was WWE’s Swiss Army Knife for over a decade, trusted to deliver (often overdeliver) in any capacity. A WrestleMania showdown with ‘The Scottish Warrior’ would have been no different. It’s a shame WWE lacked the patience to postpone The Miz cash-in, the tact to introduce Lashley to the picture a tad later and the faith in Cesaro he had earned.