Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match - From Worst To Best

13. 2019 Women's

Becky Lynch Charlotte Flair Nia Jax Royal Rumble 2019
WWE.com

Much like Triple H and Rey Mysterio in 2006, it seemed for a moment that WWE wasn’t going to give its fans the obvious thing they wanted from the 2019 women’s Royal Rumble.

While Rey-Rey managed to outdo Trips and Randy Orton to emerge victorious in ‘06, WWE thankfully decided to do the right thing and go with Becky Lynch as the women’s winner in 2019.

By the time of the women’s Rumble match itself, it’d been a rough night for Becky, losing her SmackDown Women’s Championship to Asuka in the PPV opener after tapping out to a brilliantly smooth modified Asuka Lock. What would that mean for Becky at the upcoming WrestleMania 35? Had plans for the Man’s seemingly inevitable, much-demanded match against Ronda Rousey been dropped?

The answer to all of that came at the #28 spot in the women’s Royal Rumble, where Lana - who’d suffered a worked injury on the PPV pre-show - limped out but it was unsure if she was fit enough to compete. By the time Nia Jax entered at #29 and attacked Lana in the aisle, the Ravishing Russian’s night was over before she could even get to the ring.

Cue, Becky Lynch.

Pleading with Fit Finlay to be allowed to take Lana’s spot, Lynch received a huge reaction when her countryman finally gave her the nod. Becky power-walked to the ring and eventually eliminated Nia Jax and the dominant Charlotte Flair to grab the win and earn herself a shot at Rousey’s Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania 35… only, yep, for Charlotte to later be inserted into that match, robbing fans of the hotly anticipated Lynch vs. Rousey singles match.

The ‘will she, won’t she appear’ Becky stuff was the overarching story of this Rumble bout, with the other highlights being a solid run for Charlotte, some welcome NXT and NXT UK appearances, and an entertainingly clunky night for Lacey Evans.

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.