Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match - From Worst To Best

37. 2011

Shawn Michaels Ranked
WWE.com

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.

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, Jamie Hayer, 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.