Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best

8. Royal Rumble 2007 - John Cena Vs. Umaga

The Rock CM Punk
WWE

Having been attacked by Umaga previously, WWE Champion John Cena went into this Royal Rumble 2007 contest with bandaged ribs that provided the perfect target for the Samoan Bulldozer.

This Last Man Standing offering was a slice of delicious violence which added to the stock of both men. Umaga may have come up short, but he saved face by not being pinned. Instead, Cena choked the powerhouse out with a rope-assisted STFU.

For Umaga, he came across like more of a monster than ever here, whilst Big Match John fought from underneath and overcame the odds in a way that felt vastly different to his usual formulaic PPV wins of this period.

If you're a younger wrestling fan who's looking to see why Umaga is held up so highly be so many both in and out of the business, there's no finer showcase of the Samoan's skillset than this Rumble '07 outing. Likewise, if you want a reminder of how great the real-life Eddie Fatu was, this is the perfect match to revisit.

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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.