Ranking EVERY Royal Rumble WWE Championship Match From Worst To Best

1. Kurt Angle Vs Chris Benoit - WWE Championship (2003)

Royal Rumble
WWE

Subjectively iffy for all the obvious and awful reasons, this furious fight between two of the best to ever make the staged sport feel real was the type of match that - for better and worse - doesn't really exist any more.

Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit give their bodies to the cause, willing themselves beyond human thresholds and never losing sight of the end goal in a clash that never loses sight of suspension of disbelief. Every tired and twisted limb is weakened with a tunnel-visioned purpose in mind - beat the other guy by being better than him.

Rarely had either of the industry's pre-eminent wrestling machines looked so finely tuned.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett