For many a fan, WWE's annual Royal Rumble event is the absolute highlight of the professional wrestling calendar.
Created by Pat Patterson and first tested out at a live event in late 1987, January 1988 saw the first official Royal Rumble broadcast, initially airing as a TV special before then becoming a fully-fledged PPV the following year. In the decades since, the Rumble has been home to some of the greatest moments in wrestling history, earning the event a spot as must-watch appointment viewing.
Whether it's electric in-ring action, shock winners, tensions bubbling over, surprise debuts, major returns, legends' cameos, celebrity guest spots, and more, the Royal Rumble is a true highlight of the year, not to mention is also historically the start of WWE's patented Road to WrestleMania. The question is, though, how well do you remember all of the Rumble winners from over the years?
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Starting with that 1988 event, through to the 2026 Royal Rumble, and including men and women, there have been a total of 36 individual winners, but can you name them all? And to clarify, if somebody has won multiple Royal Rumbles, you only need to name that person once. As a little hint for you, too, there are 28 men to name and eight women.
So with that in mind, think you're a WWE Royal Rumble expert? Let's find out by seeing if you can correctly name every single Rumble winner dating back across nearly 40 years by this point.
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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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 a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
