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

10. Men's 2018 - Shinsuke Nakamura Breaks The Curse

Royal Rumble 2018 Nakamura
WWE

A mesmerising Royal Rumble match was capped off by Shinsuke Nakamura winning the whole thing from the dreaded #14 spot, implying that WWE actually knew of the hex hanging over it.

Though not quite the passing-the-torch moment it looked on the night, 'The King Of Strong Style' and Finn Bálor's placement as incumbents in front of John Cena and Roman Reigns made for a captivating conclusion, and Nakamura's challenge to AJ Styles in the aftermath made their match feel bigger than the belt lung over Styles' shoulder.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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