Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match From Worst To Best

15. 2021 (Men)

Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

Capping off the best ever night for the two-Rumble era thus far, 2021's men's match didn't quite have the fiery heart or narrative muscle of the women's bout but was an unexpectedly fun run through the best of a barren time all the same.

Edge winning from #1 was an unexpected delight if only because it confirmed he wouldn't be going back-to-back with Randy Orton for the second WrestleMania in a row. The match itself serving as a payoff to that overlong rivalry was another bonus built into the battle royal. Christian's one night return couldn't go without mention as yet another wrestler scored a W over a doomed diagnosis, and the likes of Braun Strowman, Damian Priest and Big E all posted respectable elimination tallies as the monsters of the match.

Only occasionally great, this was still otherwise extremely good, vastly surpassing dramatically lowered expectations due to the restrictive and by-then oppressive ThunderDome aesthetic.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett