Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best

30. Royal Rumble 2004 - Brock Lesnar Vs. Hardcore Holly

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

Did anyone really believe that Hardcore Holly would dethrone Brock Lesnar and become WWE Champion at the 2004 Royal Rumble?

This was a match solely booked around the fact that Holly's last match with the Next Big Thing ended up with Hardcore suffering a legit broken neck which put him on the shelf for 13 months. Returning full of piss and vinegar, and with Lesnar in his crosshairs, the former Sparky Plugg landed himself a WWE Title match in time for WWE's annual January extravaganza.

In front of a silenced Wachovia Center crowd in Philadelphia, Brock put Holly away in barely six minutes at the '04 Rumble. Bar an early flurry of stiff offense and an Alabama Slam, this one was all Lesnar as the dominant heel barely broke a sweat as he retained the gold with an F5.

When looking at WWE Title matches that have taken place on Premium Live Events, this was as close to a squash match as it gets. But hey, at least facing the Beast Incarnate on a PLE should have hopefully led to a decent payday for Hardcore.

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.