Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View From Worst To Best

14. 1998

Royal Rumble
WWE.com

The Good: Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were megastars-in-waiting, and pushed as such in an otherwise forgettable Royal Rumble. Mick Foley working as all three versions of himself was a cute use of the gimmick, and did well to hide roster depth issues that still lingered from the company's creative and commercial low.

The Bad: Shawn Michaels' industry-altering injury in the main event sent the match careering off a cliff despite the spectacular and dramatic conclusion. The New Age Outlaws getting by the Legion Of Doom on the undercard yet again felt both painful and cathartic for fans of a certain age - Hawk and Animal were simply not fit for purpose by 1998.

The Ugly: Very little, though a little people's match featuring Sunny as the referee exploited both their size and her sexuality despite all of the above having far more to offer to the show than comedy and titillation respectively.

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