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

13. 2008

Royal Rumble
WWE

The Good: The first High Definition Royal Rumble proffered one of the company's best ever surprises as John Cena returned from an injury allegedly set to shelve him until October to win the Royal Rumble. Madison Square Garden exploded before remembering him to boo him.

The Bad: It doesn't get mentioned much based on the electrifying conclusion, but the rest of the Rumble was rather dull save for early portions between intriguing #1 and #2 entrants The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Umaga's bright red tights were about the most exciting thing to look at before 'The Champ' shocked the world.

The Ugly: Chris Jericho's first pay-per-view match back with John Bradshaw Layfield was an utter stinker. Several months before he gave himself a total gimmick overhaul, 'Y2J' looked like the man out of time he was against a performer that should have stuck with his original 2006 retirement plan.

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