Ranking Every WWE Title Match At Royal Rumbles Worst To Best

24. Royal Rumble 2006 - Edge Vs. John Cena

The Rock CM Punk
WWE.com

To some, Edge is John Cena's greatest rival and vice versa. Time and time again, these opponents put on brilliant matches that were refreshing in how they didn't always simply have Super Cena taking the win.

Sadly, the pair's Royal Rumble 2006 contest wasn't of the level of the countless Edge vs. Cena efforts which would follow it.

Here, the Rated-R Superstar had cashed-in the inaugural Money in the Bank contract to dethrone Cena as WWE Champion just three weeks prior. As such, despite causing an upturn in ratings, Edge wasn't quite viewed as a true main event player by some fans.

So, surely a big Royal Rumble win over Cena would help establish the Canadian as a credible top talent, right? It absolutely would've. Instead, Big Match John handily tapped out Edge in a match that seemed stuck in second gear.

Edge would of course go on to cement himself as a genuine main event star, as one of the absolute best in the industry, and wind up with a Hall of Fame career, but it was baffling back in '06 - and even now on reflection - to see his legs get cut from under him at that year's Rumble.

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.