Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best

13. Royal Rumble 1999 - Mankind Vs. The Rock

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

Mankind being screwed out of the WWF Championship by The Rock in an I Quit Match that seemed unfathomable Mick Foley could ever lose? From a pro wrestling story standpoint, this was brilliantly delivered.

Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and looking back at the brutal beating and head trauma Foley suffered at Royal Rumble 1999 is even more disturbing when we now know what we know about concussions and brain injuries. Adding further to the discomfort of rewatching this one, is the knowledge that The Rock dished out way more chair shots to the handcuffed Hardcore Legend than was previously agreed upon.

As such, it's tough knowing where to rank this infamous contest between two all-time greats.

At the time, the match was must-see, with the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim crowd doing all it could to rally behind Foley. Here in the present day, though, it's extremely tough to watch parts of this I Quit battle when we're fully aware of how this contest impacted Mick and his family - as detailed in Barry Blaustein's brilliant Beyond the Mat documentary that premiered later in '99.

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.