Every Heel WWE Royal Rumble Winner Ranked From Worst To Best

7. Triple H (2016)

Ric Flair Vince McMahon Charlotte Flair
WWE

Following two hideous Royal Rumbles, WWE moved to address a growing Roman Reigns problem by putting his Championship up for grabs in some Austin/McMahon note-copying that was getting over just enough to justify proceeding.

'The Big Dog' had battered Triple H in December and feuded with Vince and Stephanie McMahon ever since, foreshadowing 'The Game' as the ace in the corporate hole, but the company under-thought how to maximise the moment.

Reigns entered at #1 but was missing from large portions of the match after a League Of Nations beatdown. Though well-intended, it was a rather transparent method of making sure he was there for the finale, and that wasn't only issue by the end.

Hunter entered in the predictably rigged #30 spot, generating a pop nearly as big as the one he got when he crotch chopped after eliminating Roman and guaranteeing the crowning of a new titleholder. He was booed again after tossing overwhelming crowd favourite Dean Ambrose out, but there was an obvious audible to be called and the organisation sadly missed the mark.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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