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

8. 2017

Royal Rumble
WWE

The Good: 2017 salvaged the burning wreckages of the prior three Rumbles and steered into the hatred by having Roman Reigns fail again when it looked as though he'd spoil everybody's fun at #30. Randy Orton's victory was well received as the lesser of two differing evils. The card was enhanced further by two different but both highly enjoyable championship clashes. Universal Champion Kevin Owens snuck by 'The Big Dog' as Chris Jericho hammed it up in a shark cage, whilst John Cena and AJ Styles had a sensational payoff to their months-long mega-match series as 'The Champ' equalled Ric Flair's massaged title record.

The Bad: Women were grossly underrepresented on this show, but it was at least for the last time. The final Royal Rumble without a Women's battle royal highlighted why one was so important - the division was at this point strong enough to earn a matching main event, rather than gobble up pre-show crumbs.

The Ugly: Nothing - this was a show with nothing so hideous it required scorn. A rarity in any era, not least in one where a pay-per-view such as this can go beyond the five-hour mark.

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