Ranking All 31 WWE Royal Rumble Winners

12. Rey Mysterio – 2006

Ric Flair Royal Rumble 1992
WWE.com

WrestleMania title shot: Lost title shot to Randy Orton at No Way Out; Added to title match and defeated Orton and Kurt Angle at WrestleMania XXII

For Rey Mysterio, his run in early 2006 was a career milestone. Drawing #2 in the Rumble, Rey went the distance, lasting 62 minutes and setting a longevity record for the Rumble. He eliminated six wrestlers (the most of any superstar), including Rob Van Dam, Triple H and Randy Orton. He would go on to win his first world title at WrestleMania XXII, capping an improbable run for the littlest big man in WWE.

If Mysterio had gone on to WrestleMania XXII and the match unfolded the same, this would be a top 10 entry. But Rey was goaded into putting his title shot on the line by Orton, who snatched it away at No Way Out. He then had to be added to the Mania match artificially and won in a contest that went less than 10 minutes. It was just a deflating ride post-Rumble for Mysterio.

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.