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

3. 2002

Royal Rumble
WWE.com

The Good: Triple H hadn't yet exposed himself as half the wrestler (at double the size) following his January comeback, and his Royal Rumble victory was hugely well-received. The entire match was - cameos and comebacks were tons of fun, whilst stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle and The Undertaker made the entire thing feel like the biggest in a decade. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon helped Ric Flair regain his confidence in a powerful and bloody brawl, whilst Chris Jericho's match with The Rock was a heel masterclass that did more for the first ever Undisputed Champion than anything else in his reign.

The Bad: William Regal and Edge never had chemistry together, and a 10 minute Intercontinental Championship battle made that all too apparent. On an event where virtually everything came good, these two huffed and puffed but couldn't bring the house down.

The Ugly: The Undertaker's sickening attack on Maven was designed to be as grisly as possible back then, but increased knowledge of the damage those wicked chair shots could do make the attacks hard to stomach now. Less a fault of those involved, more an ignorance to the cold realities at play.

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