Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match - From Worst To Best

42. 1999

Shawn Michaels Ranked
WWE.com

Anyone crying heresy at the placement of this one hasn't watched it in a while.

Sure, the match-long Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon stuff was always gonna be some laugh, but that was literally all the 1999 Rumble had to offer you. There were vast stretches of nothingness in between the red hot opening (Austin and McMahon were the first two entrants) and the finish. At times, there was only one guy in the ring waiting around for the next worker.

Thrilling? Hardly, and the rest of the Rumble's lineup didn't help matters. Golga, Gillberg, Tiger Ali Singh, The Blue Meanie?! Honestly, this was giving 1995 a run for its money at one point. Worse, far too many of the wrestlers only lasted seconds, and others like Kane eliminated themselves to go after "the men in white coats".

It's no surprise to learn that Vince Russo was responsible for laying some of this out. The Rumble had a car crash quality that suited Raw is War more than pay-per-view. Despite lasting 56 minutes, one could cut a solid 50 minutes of that out and just watch both Austin vs. McMahon portions without actually missing anything worthwhile. Where's that dud rating?

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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.