Ranking Every WWE Royal Rumble Since 2010

The Royal Rumble rolled around at its usual time in 2018 and this year, it brought with it a second Rumble match - the female superstars were finally given their time to shine.

With two Rumble matches on offer, the number of surprises and memorable moments was likely to be doubled. The men's bout saw five surprise appearances, with NXT call-ups for both Andrade and Adam Cole, as well as returns from The Hurricane, John Cena and Rey Mysterio. The appearances from both Cena and Mysterio allowed for the famous 'The Old Guard vs. The New Guard' spot: Finn Bálor, Shinsuke Nakamura and Roman Reigns had a stand-off with Rey Mysterio, John Cena and Randy Orton. This visual was impactful as it demonstrated a metaphorical passing of the torch from the stars of the past to the stars of the future.

On the other hand, the inaugural Women's Royal Rumble was won by Asuka, after she eliminated Nikki Bella. Many surprise entrants were involved in this match, as the women's roster at the time was not quite dense enough to fill a Rumble contest. The returns of Lita, Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly, Michelle McCool, Vickie Guerrero, Kelly Kelly, Jacqueline, Brie Bella and Trish Stratus emphasised the important nature of this match, as several key female figures from the history of WWE appeared to endorse its creation. After the match, the long-anticipated appearance of Ronda Rousey highlighted her involvement at WrestleMania 34 and a brand new star in the women's division.

Elsewhere on the card, AJ Styles defended his WWE Championship in an engaging handicap match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Also, the SmackDown Tag Team Championships were defended in a 2-out-of-3-falls match between The Usos and Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, a contest regarded as one of the best of the night. On the other hand, the Raw Tag Team Championship match was underwhelming and the Universal Championship was defended in a dull Triple Threat match between Brock Lesnar, Kane and Braun Strowman.

As an entire pay-per-view, Royal Rumble 2018 was impressive and it showcased a lot of new talent, with NXT call-ups and returns, as well as outstanding matches and exciting crowd reactions. It did not seem that this event would be topped, with 2019's event expected to be a step-down. However, that was not the case.