Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match - From Worst To Best

29. 1991

Royal Rumble 1991 Hulk Hogan Earthquake
WWE

For the second consecutive year, Hulkamania ran wild in the Royal Rumble as Hulk Hogan won back-to-back Rumbles. The problem is, there was very little of note before the Hulkster entered the match at #24.

With Iraqi sympathiser Sgt. Slaughter having defeated the Ultimate Warrior - with the help of Randy Savage, of course - to become the WWF Champion earlier in the night, there was a distinct lack of energy in the Miami Arena when the Royal Rumble match started.

To look at the entrants in the ‘91 Rumble, it’s a mixed bag of tag teams, jobbers, future big stars who’d not quite broken out, and legends long past their prime. For example, there’s the Bushwhackers, there’s Saba Simba, there’s a Davey Boy Smith who’d not fully found his footing as a solo act, and there’s a broken-down, 47-year-old Jimmy Snuka.

To be fair, the crowd did pick up nicely when the Legion of Doom eliminated the Undertaker, and there was a solid showing from Earthquake - who took the runner-up spot - but this was very much lather, rinse, repeat for the time. As in, Hogan entered the match, scored a dominant seven eliminations, pulled out the tired victory schtick, and put the wheels in motion for Hulk vs. Slaughter at WrestleMania VII.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.