Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match - From Worst To Best

14. 2006

Rey Mysterio Royal Rumble 2006
WWE.com

The 2006 Royal Rumble realistically came down to two options: do WWE go all-in on Rey Mysterio scoring an emotional Rumble win in tribute to the late, great Eddie Guerrero, or do WWE revert to type and have Triple H do, well, Triple H things and spoil the party of yet another rising babyface?

By all accounts, the result of this match was still up in the air until barely a week before the PPV, with Pat Patterson eventually convincing the company to give Rey the nod. Of course, Triple H still technically headlined WrestleMania 22 - losing to John Cena in the 22-minute show-closer - while Mysterio’s World Heavyweight Championship ‘Mania match was third from the top and bafflingly only got nine minutes…

To be fair, Triple H was great in this Royal Rumble, perfectly playing into that reputation as the political powerplayer who very well might rain on Rey’s parade. Alongside the Game, a post-Evolution Randy Orton was also great in his heel role as the Rumble came down to the underdog Mysterio having to somehow overcome both Triple H and Orton in what proved to be a fantastic closing sequence.

Elsewhere, Rob Van Dam had a really solid showing here, and Shawn Michaels was surprisingly eliminated by Shane McMahon as part of the burgeoning Michaels vs. McMahons feud, but the biggest story was clearly Rey Mysterio putting in a 1 hour 2 minutes 15 seconds stint as he went the distance in memory of his dearly missed friend.

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.