Ranking EVERY WWE Royal Rumble's Biggest Surprise 1988-2022

26. 2002 - Maven Eliminates The Undertaker

Edge Royal Rumble
WWE

Capitalising on both the The Undertaker's recent heel turn and the fresh-faced endeavour of Tough Enough winner Maven, a sublime spot saw the latter get lucky with a dropkick that sent the former tumbling.

The elation turning to devastation was a hoot, as was most of the beating that followed. Maven took some revolting chair shots, but during a time where this was seen as a measure of honour and acceptance amongst his peers, it actually scanned as a stamp of approval.

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