Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumble - From Worst To Best

21. Royal Rumble 2008 - Randy Orton Vs. Jeff Hardy

WWE Royal Rumble 2008 Jeff Hardy Randy Orton
WWE.com

With Randy Orton as the WWE Champion, this 2008 bout came at a time when fans were desperate to see Jeff Hardy finally climb to the top of the mountain and win the big one.

This January night wasn't to be Hardy's night, as he'd ultimately come up short in a nice back-and-forth contest that saw the Charismatic Enigma largely dominate the second half of the match. Unfortunately for Jeff, having landed a bunch of consecutive offense on his opponent, he was then caught completely 'out of nowhere'.

Special props here for an excellent RKO finish, with Orton reversing a Twist of Fate into his lethal finishing manoeuvre to pick up the three-count. To this day, that Rumble 2008 RKO ranks right up there with the very best examples of the Viper's patented finisher.

While Jeff didn't get his hands on the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble that year, the forever-popular star would close out 2008 as the WWE Champion - defeating Triple H and Edge in a triple threat bout for that prize at December's Armageddon event.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.