Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match - From Worst To Best

2. 2010

Shawn Michaels Royal Rumble 2010
WWE.com

While he has back-to-back Royal Rumble wins to his name - including going the distance from #1 in 1995 - it could easily be argued that Shawn Michaels’ finest Rumble performance came in 2010.

This wasn’t a win for Michaels, but his mastery came in how he was so desperate to win. At this point, the Heartbreak Kid was haunted by his loss to the Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. And with the Phenom refusing to give Shawn a second bite at breaking the Streak, the Showstopper saw a 2010 Rumble win as his way to get to ‘Taker at WrestleMania XXVI. As per Michaels’ thought process, the Deadman was at that time the World Heavyweight Champion, and thus a Royal Rumble victory would allow for HBK to call his shot at ‘Mania.

For Shawn Michaels, he entered the 2010 Rumble at #18 and put on a valiant, urgent, scrappy 24-minute battle, scoring six eliminations, including his best pal Triple H. Never has someone in a Royal Rumble been so outright desperate to get the win, with another shot at the Undertaker feeling more important than near-enough any other Rumble win.

Alas, for Shawn, his match came to an end at the hands of Batista during the final four portion of the match - all as Michaels’ literal fingertips desperately reached out to cling onto the ropes before his body fell to the outside.

For the record, it was Edge getting the victory after entering at #29 and dumping out John Cena to secure himself a WrestleMania main event. But really, the story was all about Shawn Michaels, complete with a post-elimination breakdown from the veteran.

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.