Every WWE Royal Rumble's Best Performer

2014 €“ CM Punk

You could say that the real star of the 2014 Royal Rumble match was Daniel Bryan. The omission of D-Bry led to his name being chanted throughout the entire match, with the fans famously turning on the babyface winner Batista. Of course, Bryan would get his moment in the sun when WrestleMania came round, but for the Rumble itself the guy who shined the most was CM Punk. Punk and Seth Rollins started the match and both lasted over 45-minutes, with both also eliminating 3 superstars a piece. This would sadly be Punk€™s last Royal Rumble and can also be described as the straw that broke the camel€™s back. After the already-eliminated Kane returned to throw out Punk, the plan was in motion for the Straightedge Superstar to face the Big Red Machine at Elimination Chamber before a showdown with Triple H at WrestleMania. That happened to be an idea that Punk wasn€™t all too fond of and so would quit the WWE shortly after the Royal Rumble. At least he went out with an impressive Rumble showing, even if it ultimately led to nothing.
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 dayjob, 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.