Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best

17. Royal Rumble 2009 - Jeff Hardy Vs. Edge

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

Whenever you have Jeff Hardy and Edge together in any capacity, the result tends to be something entertaining and engaging.

Despite having a No DQ stipulation in place in order to facilitate the use of certain weapons (see: tables, ladders and chairs, oh my!), the action here was hindered by everyone being well aware that Edge was going to take Hardy's WWE Championship by hook or by crook.

While that was predictable, the surprise element was that it was Matt Hardy rather than the recently-departed-TNA Christian who cost the Charismatic Enigma. Even then, that revelation was a forced and unnatural call designed solely to go against the more obvious, logical choice of the returning Captain Charisma.

That turn from Matt would set in motion a feud between the Hardy Boyz, with Matt defeating his brother in an Extreme Rules offering at WrestleMania 25. That would be quickly followed by a Stretcher Match on SmackDown, which Matt again emerged victorious in, before Jeff would finally get the better of his older sibling at that year's Backlash PPV in an I Quit war.

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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, 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.