Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match - From Worst To Best
37. 2011
WWE must've thought the Royal Rumble had grown stale by 2011. That'd explain why bosses decreed it was out with the firmly established 30-wrestler idea and in with 40. Announcers were instructed to hype this up as a game-changer on TV before the pay-per-view, but fans weren't fooled. They knew this meant that another 10 lower-tier names would litter the field and clog things up.
That proved to be the case.
Cameo comebacks for legends like Booker T and Diesel did offer some merriment, but that was fleeting. It was also evident that such fun would be few and far between. The main goal for 2011's match was to cement Alberto Del Rio as a headliner worth giving a toss about. Fair enough, but the supporting stories beneath that were far too weak.
Del Rio's triumph didn't have much help, and it wasn't what fans were excitedly yapping about afterward anyway. Nah, those folks preferred discussing Booker and Kevin Nash, or CM Punk's elimination at the hands of John Cena. Every truly great Rumble needs a top winner and excellent side quests. This bout barely had any of that, and that's why it's so far down the list.
Slightly better than the next year’s version, but not by much.