Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best

22. Royal Rumble 2014 - Randy Orton Vs. John Cena

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

All that anyone was interested in at the 2014 Royal Rumble was seeing Daniel Bryan emerge victorious in the titular Rumble bout.

Once Bryan had tore the house down with Bray Wyatt in the opening match of the show - D-Bry losing to the Eater of Worlds - Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center was solely focussed on the Rumble match and seeing the Yes! Man succeed.

So, when it came time for a lather, rinse, repeat John Cena vs. Randy Orton contest as they waited for the Rumble, nobody particularly gave a damn.

With Orton as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion here, it was very much everything you'd seen before from these two long-time rivals. It was fine, it was okay, it was passable, it was generic. Randal Keith get the W with an RKO following an assist from the Wyatt Family - all while the crowd chanted for Daniel Bryan.

Famously, the Pittsburgh crowd was left furious by WWE's decision to not include Bryan in that year's Royal Rumble contest at all. Instead, returning babyface Batista won the match to monstruous boos, whilst poor Rey Mysterio was completely sh*t on by those in attendance when he took the over-the-top offering's #30 spot.

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, Jamie Hayer, 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.