Your favourite WWE/World title matches at the Royal Rumble

[The Eighties]

Obviously the Rumble match is the big selling point of the Royal Rumble PPV, but the event has also been home to some great title matches over the years, and I was wondering which were everyone's favourites.

I'll start with mine!

John Cena vs Umaga (Last Man Standing Match, Royal Rumble 2007)
The best Face vs Monster Heel match since the Sting vs Vader feud of the 90's. Umaga was the perfect opponent for Cena and the match was his most epic as he really conveyed the idea that he couldn't stop the beast, the finish is one of my favourites ever and it all reminded me of Dutch vs The Predator.

Triple H vs Cactus Jack (Street Fight, Royal Rumble 2000)
The match that put Triple H over the top, it had a well built angle and Madison Square Garden was the perfect location for the showdown. The match was a classic and both men delivered in spades, As Cactus; Foley was much more dominant than in his matches with Triple H when he was Mankind, he brutalized The Game and Triple H for once had to fight from underneath, in the end outlasting Cactus cleanly in Cactus' playground, which made The Game the most credible heel champion in WWE history.

Diesel vs Bret 'Hitman' Hart (Royal Rumble 1995)
In 1995 Bret Hart got two quality PPV matches out of Kevin Nash without any gimmicks, this one isn't quite as good as their Survivor Series match but it was still a hell of a battle.

Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 2003)
If you want pro wrestling presented as a pure technical and athletic contest then it doesn't come much better than this. They had many great matches together, for me though this was the pinnacle of their rivalry.

 

[rightchoice45]

the best for me is royal rumble 99 the rock vs mankind..one of the most brutal matches i ever seen...classic finish..the rock didnt make mankind say i quit. he made that sumbitch scream i quit..lol

 

[chenandlerbong]

A lot of people probably wont agree with this, but personally I liked Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy. I'm not even to sure why this sticks out for me, but the whole build up to the match itself, the swanton bomb from the titantron, it was for me the feud and match that said Hardy could hang in the main event. Personally I think that Royal Rumble is the ideal place for this 'test' type of main event match, obviously the title matches take second place to the rumble itself, so realistically the pressure is off these matches.

 

[ExcellenceorAwesome]

the best for me is royal rumble 99 the rock vs mankind..one of the most brutal matches i ever seen...classic finish..the rock didnt make mankind say i quit. he made that sumbitch scream i quit..lol

This match was great, but Rock didnt get him to say OR scream i quit. he knocked him out cold with the repeated chair shots, and they played a sound clip of Mick screaming i quit from an interview he did earlier in the night. Letting the corporation screw Mick out of the title again and further the fued between Rock and Mankind.

As said earlier the match between Benoit and Angle was phenomanal, as a life long wrestling fan, that match will always stand out in my mind as a classic

 

[#SAWFT]

Batista (c) vs Mr. Kennedy - Royal Rumble 2007.
I think this match just showed why Ken and Dave both deserved to be in the title picture, unfortunately, WWE messed up with Kennedy.... BUT they did show a good match here.

 

[Chris Jericho Markaholic]

Kurt Angle Vs Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 2003) : This Match Is The Example Of Techinically sound all around match between two great mat techinicians . This Is A Match that just haves you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole match and even though chris benoit was the loser in this match , there were no losers they gave such a tremendous performance and while kurt angle left the ring , The FANS gave benoit a great standing ovation!

 

[eromenation18]

Lots of WWE Championship matches have occured in past Royal Rumbles. One of my personal favorite has to be Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit back in 2003. Easily one of the best matches in RR history and I would even go on record as top 100 greatest matches in the history of professional wrestling. Angle and Benoit told the story and used their skills and moves to put on one hell of a match. Thats #1 in RR history in my book.

 

[Abe]

It has been said several times already but its simply true, Royal Rumble 2003 Angle/Benoit WWE Championship on the line. Just an amazing match between two of the greatest to ever step in the ring.

Other worthy matches

The 1992 Royal Rumble match with the vacant WWF Title on the line. This one was like the who's who on the business. Flair, Savage, Hogan, Michaels, Piper, Roberts, Million Dollar Man, Undertaker,Sid, British Bulldog, Big Bossman and the list goes on. To me one of the best collection of WWF superstars in the Royal Rumble match ever.

HHH/Cactus Jack, Royal Rumble 2000 with the WWF Title on the line in a Street Fight. The match that really made Triple H a main eventer. On this night "The Game" was truely born. What an ending, Triple H pedigree's Cactus on the thumb tack. Great match.

HHH/HBK, Royal Rumble 2004, World Heavyweight Title on the line in a Last Man Standing Match. I mean in this match they showed you can still have a wrestling match even though its Last Man Standing. Great match. Anytime they have ever went one on one it was great. Love the ending with Michaels giving HHH Sweet Chin Music, both men down on the mat, Earl Hebner giving the count, Michaels trying to get up at the 9 count and falls back to the mat, ref hitting 10. HHH Still the champion. Great stuff.

 

[nbrew2119]

I know Ive seen it numerous times already, but, my favorite is Benoit vs Angle in 2003. Wasnt a dull moment in the whole match, and honestly, you had no idea who would win. Also, the reaction that Benoit got from the crowd was awesome, and well deserved too.

For whats it worth, the worst one, was definately Brock Lesnar vs. Hardcore Holly...what a joke that one was lol

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I have no choice but to back up Abe with the Triple H/HBK match in 2004. That match is my favorite match between them and my favorite LMS match of all time. That being said, I'd like to say it's my choice for my favorite World title matches at RR

HBK/Taker 98 was also a fun time. I know that's when Michaels got his injury but it was still a fun match with a fun ending in Kane interfering and lighting the casket on fire

 

[Rob92tkd]

The royal rumble fails to dissapoint. But 2003 has to be the greatest Rumble PPV in history. Not only with the return of the deadman, but, the 2 greatest matches on the card. Scott Steiner vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship and Kurt Angle vs Chris Beniot for the WWE Title. Greatest wrestlers ever to step in the ring gave it their all that night.

 

[The Wrestler`s Wrestler]

For me my picks would be...

1. RR2000 Triple H vs Mick Foley: The match where Triple H cemented is place in the main event spot.

2. RR2003 Kurt Angle vs Chris Beniot: A tech wrestling masterpiece. I swear for like half the match they didn't use the ropes, They just kept it in the middle. Classic.

3. RR2004 Triple H vs Shawn Michaels: IMO the best last man standing match (where the end result is a draw) Both men gave you so much in that match that when they used the rocky 2 finish in the end, But with their own little twist in it. I dont see it possible to call it a bad match.

4. RR2007 John Cena vs Umaga: This L.M.S match was great too. both men not begin able to hold the other down untill Cena had to choke out Umaga to keep him down for 10.

5. RR2008 Randy Orton vs Jeff Hardy: The build up for this match was epic. Jeff had been on a winning streak being the IC champ @ the time and beating Triple H to be the number 1 contender, And Orton was in the middle of the whole "Age of Orton"WWF title reign, Plus Jeff diving off of the tron @ that INSANE height gave the match a big fight feel when it came to the rumble.

 

[BK Styles]

Angle/Benoit 03 and HHHBK 04 were both classics in my opinion. But one o my favorites was from, what I think was the best Rumble and Rumble event; 2001. Triple H vs Kurt Angle. Very solid match; one of my favorite Triple H matches in fact. And it had so much story in it too, with Austin costing HHH the title as he had done to Austin weeks before (of course, HHH tried to screw Austin in the Rumble (didn't happen) then they had one of the greatest 2 out of 3 falls matches in history, the Three Stages of Hell)
A very good, solid match that I enjoy every time I see it. If you haven't, I urge you to find it.

 

[jontabs]

I guess I'm showing my age here, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned Yokozuna versus The Undertaker in 1994. That was a great match. Great build up, great fall out, even great implications for the face of wrestling (it was the first time you saw almost ALL the heels from backstage come out and attack a face). Plus it was one of the few times early on in Undertaker's career that he was beaten (as a face at least)

 

[Stunner=RKO]

Batista (c) vs Mr. Kennedy - Royal Rumble 2007.
I think this match just showed why Ken and Dave both deserved to be in the title picture, unfortunately, WWE messed up with Kennedy.... BUT they did show a good match here.

Ok first of all WWE dIdnt mess up with kennedy are u like a TNA mark or something? Your post really ticks me off. WWE gave Kennedy the money in the bank briefcase. He won the match. And we all know if someone wins the MITB, they will win the title sooner or later so there was his push right there. And what does Kennedy do? That paper boy gets himself injured so edge had to cover for him. Then, they let him come back as a FACE when he was a heel his entire WWE career. And the first night he comes back he botches and RKO and gets injured the FIRST night he is back. And that's the WWE's fault? Then, he goes on to blame Randy Orton because his a little bitch and can't take a move right. Kennedy is a great entertainer and I personally like him slot. Reminds me of Austin kinda. But don't go blaming WWE for some shit they couldn't even control. I don't care if u didn't know this or you are just tryna bash WWE. There are 2 things that piss me off about the business: 1. TNA and there god awful fan base and 2. People who are just plain haters of a company(WWE) who are just trying to give us fans a great show to their beat abilities.


Neway, my favorite royal rumble title match would have to Triple H vs Angle for the title at RR 2001. It was a first time in a while we saw 2 heels go at it. The story was secondary storyline to the austin/triple H feud and it had it's funny moments with angle and stephaine McMahon. The finish was cool how Austin got some payback by screwing triple H outta the title. It help build up the primary story and lead to the 2 out of 3 falls match at no way out. Give it 8/10 wrestling watch wise, but a 10/10 to the use and exceution of the feud.

 

[Takerfan]

Mine would be the 2004 Last Man Standing match between HHH and HBK. For one it was my first RR that I saw and second the match was GREAT. The build up to the match was awsome and the two didn't disappoint.

My next favorite would be the 2003 match between Angle and Beniot when I saw it on dvd. The match was full of technical moves and if I would have seen the match when it was live, I could not have picked who was going to win that match.

 

[King Patrick Star]

My favorite WWE World Heavyweight Title match at the Royal Rumble has to be the 1992 Royal Rumble match. If I’m not mistaken, this has to be the record for the most Superstars in one ring, in a Title match in WWE History. Names like “HBK” Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Iron Sheik (as Col. Mustafa), Sgt. Slaughter, Psycho Sid Vicious Justice, and the “Immortal” Hulk Hogan were a quarter of the names. At that time, entering at number 3, and to go on to win the Royal Rumble was just a Championship caliber performance by the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. With the WWF World Heavyweight Title on the line, kayfabe, it’s easily the most “important” Royal Rumble match in history.

 

[Green Bay Wisconsin]

HHH vs HBK 2004 - A great match between to friends who always wrestle well against each other and this was no exception. They destroyed each other.

HHH vs Orton 2005 (I think) - For some reason I really liked this match. I think I liked Orton when he was quicker in the ring. Also his selling of the concussion was great.

 

[mrbrownstone]

There have been many great ones, however for me one stands out above the rest.

Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit Royal Rumble 2003: This match was an absolute classic in a long line of them that these two produced. It had everything you could ask for in a great match, technical wrestling, cool spots (that apron DDT is still awesome), lots of near falls, the crowd was way into it. The most impressive thing about this match though is the fact that they managed to get a standing ovation for it, as if that weren't enough though take into consideration that the match preceding it was one of the worst of all time and the crowd booed it, to get such a positive reaction after that must really mean an awesome match.

Honorable Mentions to HHH vs Cactus Jack and Rock vs Mankind, both were great matches but I feel both have had better which is why I didn't choose them.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Both title matches at Royal Rumble '07 were very good. Cena vs Umaga was probably one of the best LMS matches i've ever seen, especially at the very beginning where Cena launches the ringsteps out of the ring at Umaga's face.

The Kennedy/Batista match was also very enjoyable. The crowd seemed to be anticipating a Kennedy win during this match, or at least, he managed to convince a lot of people that he could hang with the ME talent, hence winning MiTB 2 months later.

And what does Kennedy do? That paper boy gets himself injured so edge had to cover for him.

I never understood why this needed to happen. He announced that he was going to cash in at WM24, so why did Edge need to take the briefcase from him to cover the summer of '07?

It's more likely that Taker's injury was the reason for this change in plans, as a quick, effective and believable way of getting the World title off of him, because how can a Kennedy injury in May of '07 possibly affect a title match in April of '08?

 

[Raiden]

The royal rumble fails to dissapoint. But 2003 has to be the greatest Rumble PPV in history. Not only with the return of the deadman, but, the 2 greatest matches on the card. Scott Steiner vs Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship and Kurt Angle vs Chris Beniot for the WWE Title. Greatest wrestlers ever to step in the ring gave it their all that night.

What the.... ? Triple H vs. Scott Steiner was awful. It's shame that you even mention it in the same sentence with Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit as being great.

My favorite match has to be Triple H vs. Cactus Jack @ Royal Rumble 2000. That match was epic from start to finish and made HHH's career in what is today. Brilliant effort from both men.

Angle/Benoit, Cena/Umaga, HHH/HBK were also great matches.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Triple H vs Cactus Jack (Street Fight, Royal Rumble 2000)

The match that put Triple H over the top, it had a well built angle and Madison Square Garden was the perfect location for the showdown. The match was a classic and both men delivered in spades, As Cactus; Foley was much more dominant than in his matches with Triple H when he was Mankind, he brutalized The Game and Triple H for once had to fight from underneath, in the end outlasting Cactus cleanly in Cactus' playground, which made The Game the most credible heel champion in WWE history.

That would also be my pick. It was a fantastic match, made even better by HHH really selling the Cactus Jack returns as if he was some mythical superhero, he made you believe that Mick Foley in a different t-shirt was even more dangerous than ever. Brutal, entertaining and this was one of the matches where HHH showed he was that damm good.


My other choice would be the "I Quit" match with The Rock and Mankind at Royal Rumble 1999. This was the most violent match I had ever seen at that point. The punishment taken by Foley was unbelievable as he received unprotected chairshot after chairshot with his hands handcuffed behind his back. We have since learned that Foley was angry with Rock for going over the top with the number of charshots and that Rocky never apologised for it after the match.

When Mankind fell onto the electrical system causing the lights to go off, my mouth fell open. I was at the age where I believed that he really was electrocuted...it was fucking insane to me...I became a major wrestling fan after that match.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I guess I'm showing my age here, but I'm surprised no one has mentioned Yokozuna versus The Undertaker in 1994. That was a great match. Great build up, great fall out, even great implications for the face of wrestling (it was the first time you saw almost ALL the heels from backstage come out and attack a face). Plus it was one of the few times early on in Undertaker's career that he was beaten (as a face at least)

Great match, well booked. I'm glad you're 'showing your age' because I think a lot of the newer / younger fans should appreciate matches like this.

I'll go back one year prior.

Bret Hart vs Razor Ramon was a very well done match. Hart had just won the title and was still trying to get over as a legit champion. Ramon was a hot shot newcomer whom nobody was sure what to expect. It was an unlikely pairing at the time, but Warrior had pulled some shit just 3 months prior and left WWF, Randy Savage was in the Rumble match itself and would start doing commentary soon, and Ric Flair was on his way back to WCW. Hogan would be out for 3 more months. The star power was lacking.

That said, Hart and Ramon went out and put on a tremendous match. I honestly feel that this was one of those matches that ALL wrestlers should match to understand HOW to properly sell a weakness. Hart's ribs were hurt early in the match when Ramon irish-whipped Hart to the turnbuckle and Hart went sternum-first like a freight train. For starters, Hart was selling Ramon's power advantage. Then, Ramon whipped Hart again, only this time, Hart fell and slid at high speed into the bottom of the ring post.

For the rest of the match, Hart sold the rib injury, all the way down to making it look like his breathing was laboured. Ramon put Hart in an abdominal stretch, which looked excrutiating. The commentators were also brilliant, talking about how Ramon's height gave him extra leverage.

Hart ended up winning the match with the Sharpshooter after a double clothesline. Both men were laying in the center of the ring, entangled and exhausted. The ref was counting to ten, but then Hart started maneuvering legs around. Next you know, he turned over and the Sharpshooter was on. Ramon had to tap.

Hart got over additionally here, beating a bigger and fresher foe, while also overcoming an apparent rib injury. Ramon got over thanks to Hart's selling as a brutal contender who could win at a moment's notice.

I think Hart vs Ramon is as underrated a title match as there is.

 

[TakerDakSide]

My main pick would be The Taker/HBK Rivalry in RR'98. Mike Tyson was watching. Taker proved his dominamce as usual in the match. Plus it changed one man's career forever (HBK) from a lift over a casket. However the ending was more epic where after Kane came out to seemigly "Help" Taker & yet turned Taker How & What Happened? Find out for your self. Aftermath of this has lead a great bulid-up to an epic Brother vs Brother storyline. This is one of the events that helped boost The Attitude Era!

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

I like 98', 99' and 00'..

1998 - Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker in a Casket match, IMO was just amazing and may be remembered for HBK breaking his back.. The ending was also something we had never seen before!!

1999 - The Rock vs Mankind in an 'I Quit' match.. This match was brutal!!!! I loved every minute of it!!! Foley took tooo much in this match and everyone will agree with me here..

2000 - Triple H vs Cactus Jack, Again Foley involved in a brutal match and he didn't win!! This is one of my favourite Royal Rumbles and the first I watched live.. This match maybe my favourite from all the Rumbles..