Ranking All 31 WWE Royal Rumble Winners
21. Randy Orton – 2017
WrestleMania
title shot:
Defeated Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania XXXIII
This entry might age a lot worse over time, but for now, it feels wrong to rank a Rumble winner who captured a world title at WrestleMania any lower.
But man, Randy Orton’s win last year was awful. Orton was a member of the Wyatt Family at the time, and once Bray Wyatt won the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, Randy announced he would not face Wyatt at Mania. That turned out to be a “clever” ruse, and two weeks later, Orton burned down the Wyatt Family compound and declared that he would fight Bray at WrestleMania.
A month later, Orton defeated Wyatt in one of the most underwhelming Rumble title matches on record. The “highlight” of the match was Wyatt projecting maggots and roaches onto the mat, drawing groans from the crowd. It was more campy than creepy, and it didn’t factor into the match in any meaningful way.
Less than two months later, Orton lost his title to
Jinder Mahal.