Ranking All 31 WWE Royal Rumble Winners

8. Shawn Michaels – 1995

Ric Flair Royal Rumble 1992
WWE.com

WrestleMania title shot: Lost to Diesel at WrestleMania XI

The first man to go coast-to-coast and win the Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels eliminated eight men and created a truly memorable moment when he got tossed and miraculously managed to only have one foot hit the floor. His teased elimination basically set the template for future false eliminations and gave WWE footage that is trotted out every January.

Unfortunately, HBK would lose his title match at WrestleMania to Diesel, but it would just set him up for redemption the next year, when Michaels would finally achieve his dream. Michaels’ performance and the iconic finish to the ’95 Rumble match will remain etched in fans’ minds for as long as the Royal Rumble is held. Regardless of HBK’s loss at Mania, that alone makes his Rumble victory a great one.

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.