Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match From Worst To Best

12. 2023 (Men)

Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

An excellent entry into the pantheon, 2023’s men’s match setting about getting an awful lot done and achieved just about every goal with unfamiliar pace and zip.

Brock Lesnar and Edge’s appearances were reduced to sprints, but long stints in the match weren’t required to sell their impending programmes with Bobby Lashley and The Judgment Day respectively. Speaking of which, Dominik decking his Dad backstage and stealing his mask was inspired bullsh*t from the jumped up little tosser, especially considering the need for Rey’s late injury write-out.

And the flash-points were strong, the most meaningful stuff fell to those that mattered most; Gunther and Cody Rhodes as the final entrants from #1 and #30 respectively simultaneously put both men over for telling completely different tales. The Intercontinental Champion felt as over as he’d ever been in what’s been a fantastic WWE run, and Cody’s return never once felt like an entitled queue-jump of days gone by.

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