2) 2001 Royal Rumble
— Winner: ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin
When asking fans what are the best Royal Rumble matches of all time, many lists will likely include the 2001 edition of the Rumble.
2001 was when WWE’s ‘Attitude Era’ was at its peak. The Rumble match had a little bit of everything that made the Era so great for fans. The roster was deep. There were some hardcore moments. There was a funny and surprise entrant in Drew Carey. Kane eliminated an incredibly impressive 11 people from the match, a record at the time (later broken in 2014 by Roman Reigns with 12).
The match also featured a bloody ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and The Rock staring down near the end of the match for one of the biggest pops in Royal Rumble history. This was a prelude to their eventual match at Wrestlemania X-7 a few months later, which is considered one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches of all time.
Austin, the Rock, and Kane put on some incredible performances, with the ‘Texas Rattlesnake’ walking out as the winner. This gave Austin the most Royal Rumble wins in the history of the event, with 3 (1997, 1998 and 2001).
1) 1992 Royal Rumble
— Winner: Ric Flair
The 1992 Royal Rumble match is my favorite in WWE history. For the first time in the Rumble’s history, the vacated WWF World Heavyweight Championship was on the line.
The match had a lot of star power, including Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage, The Undertaker, Jake Roberts, Sid Justice, British Bulldog, Roddy Piper, Ted Dibiase, and the Big Boss Man. This match featured some of the greatest wrestlers of all-time.
Ric Flair entered the ring in the number 3 spot and put on arguably the greatest performance in Royal Rumble history. He lasted for almost an hour, piling up five eliminations and putting on a show.
It should also be noted that this match featured some incredible commentary by Bobby ‘the Brain’ Heenan. He showed so much bias towards Ric Flair in the match and helped tell an incredible story. Another layer to this awesome match and one of the greatest pieces of announcing that we have seen in WWE history.
Overall 1992 remains as the benchmark of what a Royal Rumble should be. It remains my favorite of all time.
Let us know how you rank the best Royal Rumble matches of all time in the comment section. Also, make sure to check out ProWrestlingQuiz.com for some fun trivia!
On a related note, here is our ranking of The Best Hell In A Cell Matches Of All Time.