Every Heel WWE Royal Rumble Winner Ranked From Worst To Best

5. Yokozuna (1993)

Royal Rumble 1993 Yokozuna Randy Savage
WWE

When Yokozuna arrived in late-1992, WWE decided that he would be unstoppable for as long as they could justify.

Thankfully, because it wasn't the version of the company that exists today, that lasted beyond January, and the newcomer cruised to an incredible victory in the first Royal Rumble to offer a WrestleMania title shot to the winner. Yoko was a force of nature here, battering a field that had admittedly been thinned from the golden era's peak but still smartly ended on the highest of highs.

His exchange with final entrant Randy Savage was so crucial in establishing the new challenger as somebody Bret Hart needed to fear and respect. The Macho Man was pretty thick to go for the cover, but few characters carried the chaos to make forgetfulness a believable trait. Randy was one of them, and Yokozuna was too big, strong and destructive to lay down for it without eliminating him in one fluid motion.

A flash of brilliance from a creatively barren time, the victory and finish made a moment, a memory, and a man set to become a Champion.

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