100 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Moments Ever

19. Cody Goes Back-To-Back (2024)

WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Edge
WWE.com

The men’s 2024 Royal Rumble was a whole bunch of fun, with many fans viewing Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, and possibly Gunther as being the most likely to emerge victorious. And that trio would indeed make up the match’s final three.

For a second year running, the Ring General would be eliminated by the American Nightmare, leaving the fascinating prospect of Cody Rhodes and CM Punk squaring off.

In a Rumble rarity, Rhodes and Punk battled on for nearly ten minutes before Cody blocked a GTS and threw the Second City Saint over the top, before making it clear he was coming for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL - regardless of creative shenanigans from The Rock, of course.

Not only did this make Cody Rhodes only the fourth person ever to win back-to-back Royal Rumbles - following Hulk Hogan (1989, 1990), Shawn Michaels (1995,1996), and Steve Austin (1997, 1998) - but he was the first person to do so in a quarter of a century.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.