Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Match From Worst To Best

10. 2021 (Women)

Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

The ThunderDome Royal Rumble presented yet another interesting challenge for a company that had failed spectacularly to meet any of the previous ones from the moment the pandemic took hold in 2020.

A beloved institution dependent on crowd reactions for so much of drama surely needed real voices and faces rather than piped in digital ones, didn’t it?

No, in fact. And if anything, time proved even kinder to a pretty great Rumble, in that it clearly delayed a decaying WWE product being exposed to a live audience. The work was good, the cameos were sweet and the direction - at last - was centred around building for the "Forever" rather than the "Then" or "Now". Especially because nobody could be "Together".

Not to overstate the outcome either, but transport yourself back to January 2021 and it's hard to do so with a smile. The world - or at very least the wrestling fan corner of it - needed something as joyous as Bianca Belair's victory, and 'The EST's earnest euphoria at her achievement only solidified it as old school WWE magic finally transported to a contemporary age.

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