Ranking All 30 WWE Royal Rumble Winners

9. Chris Benoit – 2004

steve austin 2001 royal rumble
WWE Network

WrestleMania title shot: Defeated Triple H and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XX

If not for the events of June 2007, wrestling fans and WWE itself probably would hold the Chris Benoit title chase angle in 2004 in high regard. Looking back on it as a fan, it was one of WWE’s finest moments in storytelling.

By 2004, even casual fans had become aware of what the most devoted fans had known for years: that Benoit was one of the best in-ring performers in wrestling. Benoit had been involved in top-level feuds since coming over to WWE in 2000, but he never could break through.

At the 2004 Royal Rumble, Benoit was given the #1 entry as punishment, but then went on to become only the second person to go the distance from that spot and win. The Rabid Wolverine would then reveal a loophole in the title opportunity and jump from Smackdown to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. (That loophole created an air of drama after the Rumble for the next decade as fans waited to see who the Rumble winner chose to face.)

Benoit would overcome both Triple H and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XX to win the world title in what arguably is the greatest main event in Mania history (which has been all-but erased). It was a huge moment for Benoit and – as Eddie Guerrero also was leaving WrestleMania as the WWE Champion – for fans who thought that the smaller, underappreciated performers would never get a big push.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.