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

31. Royal Rumble 1996 - Bret Hart Vs. The Undertaker

Royal Rumble 1996 Bret Hart Vs The Undertaker
WWE

As a huge fan of the Hitman, it's genuinely painful for your writer to have to throw shade at a Bret Hart match. Even more so when that match includes the Undertaker, an opponent with whom Bret had several classic contests over the years. 

Still, there's no avoiding the fact that the pair's 1996 Royal Rumble match was just such a disappointment, going way, way longer than it needed to.  Hart had long proved he could work magic in lengthy contests, and 'Taker would likewise deliver some fantastic longer matches of his own later in his career, but here it just didn't work.

It also didn't help matters that the match ended in a disqualification, with the Phenom getting a DQ win after Diesel attacked Earl Hebner following nearly 30 minutes of sluggish action - meaning that the Excellence of Execution, the defending champion, retained his WWF Title.

For a far better bout between Bret Hart and the Undertaker, be sure to check out their One Night Only match from 1997 or their SummerSlam match from earlier that same year. That's not to mention the eponymous main event of In Your House: Final Hour, where the two also had Vader and Steve Austin along for the ride in a brilliant four-way elimination battle for the vacant WWF Championship.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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, 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 the 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, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.