20 Greatest WWE Royal Rumble Undercard Matches

15. Dean Ambrose Vs Kevin Owens (2016)

Matt Hardy Powerbombed through a table Royal Rumble 2000
WWE.com

A thrilling battle made all the more spectacular by the fact that both would have starring roles in the evening's 30-man war hours later, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose continued the Intercontinental Title's return to prominence with a sensational Last Man Standing effort.

Concluding the best series Owens had engaged in since his introductory main roster feud with John Cena, 'The Lunatic Fringe' and 'The Prizefighter' brushed aside some early comedy around breaking Michael Cole's glasses (and almost his iPhone) to get very f*cking serious indeed with an collection of chair, table and environment spots believably employed to put one of the competitors down for the count.

Particularly gruesome highlights saw Owens planted through two steel chairs on a powerbomb reversal, 'KO' catching Ambrose from a dive and ramming him into both the apron and the stairs and the Champion elbowing the challenger from the top rope through a table on the floor.

After both rebounded from the near-fatal spots, it took a last gasp from Ambrose to save his title. Recovering from his horizontal base on five steel chairs, he hurled Owens from the turnbuckle through two tables set up then crucially ignored nearly 15 minutes earlier.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett