One WWE Match You MUST Watch From Every Year 1984-2024
14. 2010 - The Royal Rumble Match
Purists go 1992. Newer or younger fans go 2018. Psychopaths go 2022.
There are arguments to be made for several Rumbles to claim vaunted greatest-of-all-time status, but there's none with the range of emotions, stories and stars quite like the celebrated 2010 Road To WrestleMania curtain-raiser.
It can be split into three distinct parts, though even that undervalues the magic that plays out over multiple bursts thanks to the timeless gimmick being used to escalate the company's biggest storyline while actively trying the make the best out of floundering midcarders and a back pocket shock at the end.
CM Punk chews out losers and chews scenery for a blast of an opening portion involving him trying variously to corrupt, backjump or beg for forgiveness as he works through a series of eliminations in his own mini-Diesel run. The closing stretch is dominated by the drama of if surprise returnee Edge send even more shockwaves through the company by punching his ticket to WrestleMania at the expense of heavy favourites Dave Batista and John Cena, and Chris Jericho - the man that disowned him as a tag partner when he'd gotten injured the prior summer.
But the show is stolen by the man who made his name doing just that. Growing increasingly desperate to face The Undertaker one more time at WrestleMania after coming so close to breaking his undefeated streak the year before, Shawn Michaels reasons that in order to get to the then-World Champion, he would simply win a shot at the title. Informed by 'HBK's rich Rumble history and some next level selling of the stakes throughout, Michaels is an on-sight equal opportunities offender, taking out everybody from Cody Rhodes to Carlito to his best friend in Triple H in order to seal the deal.
He fails, it's devastating and his heartbreaking flailing elimination at Batista's callous hands remains one of the best in the gimmick's lengthy history too.