Best Non-Royal Rumble Matches At WWE Royal Rumble

It’s that time of year again. With January coming to a close, we are starting up the Road To WrestleMania and that means the Royal Rumble is upon us. The show features two editions of its namesake match and those will rightfully get all of the attention. However, there have been some other matches taking place at the show which deserve some attention as well.  That’s what we’re going to be looking at this week, with the best non-Royal Rumble Royal Rumble matches over the years.

Note that I did omit a few matches just to keep the same names from dominating the list, as well as trying to keep a bit of a balance throughout the years rather than just one era. Therefore, a few matches you might be expecting possibly won’t be included.

10. The Rockers Vs. The Orient Express (Royal Rumble 1991)

While there have been a lot of title defenses throughout the show’s history, we’ll start things off with a match designed more to wow the crowd. The late 80s were the golden age for tag teams in the WWF and this was something of the leftovers. The Rockers were reaching their peak as a team and the new version of the Express (with Kato replacing Saito) was more than capable of hanging with them.

These teams had met the previous year at WrestleMania VI and it only worked so well, which might have been due to the Rockers being a bit, ahem, under the weather. If that was the case again here, they certainly didn’t show it, as these teams had an awesome match to kick off a not so awesome show. You could see the greatness in Michaels starting to come together, with Jannetty being right there to stick with him.

Starting a show with a tag match is an idea that always works and they made it work here, with these teams going nearly twenty minutes at a fast pace. You did not get this kind of action back in the day (at least not in America) and it was quite the treat. The Rockers might not be among the most decorated teams in the company’s history, but dang they were quite awesome when they got the chance.

9. Daniel Bryan Vs. Bray Wyatt (Royal Rumble 2014)

The rise of Daniel Bryan and the YES Movement is one of the best things that WWE has done in a very long time. It was one of the strongest pushes to the top of the company that anyone has had in the company’s history, but it was far from a straight path for Bryan. There were times when he was having issues on the way to the top and this was certainly one of them.

One of the many steps on Bryan’s path to the World Title was a mini feud with Wyatt, who had gotten Bryan to join the Wyatt Family at one point. However, Bryan fought back and it was time for a showdown between the two of them, which took place at the Royal Rumble. That is the kind of thing that had all of the makings of an awesome match and low and behold, they pulled it off.

The surprising thing here was that Wyatt wound up defeating Bryan without any help. Bryan tried to go too hard with a suicide dive and wound up losing the match, which made for quite the shock. Bryan went on to do just fine though, even without being in the Royal Rumble itself. It was proof that things can look dark for a bit before the big win later on, with Bryan being an all time storyteller.

8. Diesel Vs. Bret Hart (Royal Rumble 1995)

If you watch wrestling for a long time, there are certain match styles that you will see come up over and over. One of the best is the ring technician against the monster. When this formula is working well, it can produce some of the most entertaining wrestling you will ever find. We got to see it here, as two top stars got to display the outstanding chemistry that they shared in the ring.

Diesel had won the title back in November, beating Bob Backlund in eight seconds at Madison Square Garden. Hart was the former champion who was (kind of) cheated out of the title at Survivor Series 1994. It was clear that he would be getting another shot at the title and that took place here. The match just happened to be against someone he had worked well with before and they did it again this time.

Hart and Diesel knew exactly how to wrestle this kind of a match, with Hart trying to chop down the giant champion while Diesel stuck with the power game that had gotten him this far. It started as a technical match and turned into more of a fight, which unfortunately ended with a bunch of people running in for the double disqualification. That came after an all time classic though, as Hart continued to show why he was one of the best of all time.

7. Chris Benoit Vs. Chris Jericho - Ladder Match (Royal Rumble 2001)

There have been better matches. There have been better ladder matches. There have been better matches involving these two. There has never been a better match between these two than what they had here. These guys went with the pure violence between two people who wanted to hurt each other and that’s exactly what it should have been, as it was all about the title.

Benoit and Jericho had a heck of a feud going and the Intercontinental Title was the big prize. Both of them wanted to prove that they were the better man and it became about beating the daylights out of each other. If it happened to involve ladders and whatever else they could get their hands on at a major event, that was just what they were going to have to do.

This match didn’t have a ton of innovative spots (though the Walls Of Jericho on the ladder was great) but it was one of the most intense ladder matches you will ever see. Jericho won, but it felt more like he survived than anything else. That’s what it should have been and my goodness I was digging the whole thing throughout. Check this out if you haven’t in a bit, as it really is that awesome.

6. Asuka Vs. Becky Lynch (Royal Rumble 2019)

This was a case of “here are two awesome wrestlers, watch them have a great match” and that’s exactly what they did. Asuka had won the title in a triple threat Tables, Ladders and Chairs match the previous month and it was time to see what would happen if she faced the former champion on her own. This wasn’t a question of whether the match would be good, but rather just how good it would be. They wound up going way beyond “good”.

There really isn’t one specific thing about this match that makes it work, because really, the whole thing does. It’s two women going out there and trying to steal the show while coming pretty close. Lynch was clearly on the rise to being the biggest star in the division (and ultimately all of WWE), but like so many stars before her, she had to fall before she could get her ultimate win. That would be the case here, as Asuka retained the title, which she would go on to lose to Charlotte the next month.

The interesting thing here is that while Lynch often gets the attention, Asuka was right there pulling her part of the weight as well. While Asuka might not be the star that Lynch wound up being (which granted, no woman was), she was more than capable of having one outstanding match after another. It was nice to see Asuka getting her chance to shine and she more than took the opportunity here.

5. AJ Styles Vs. John Cena (Royal Rumble 2017)

There are certain people who just work well against each other and you know you’re going to get a great match when they get together. That’s what we had here, as these two had already torn the house down the previous August at SummerSlam. Now it was time for the two of them to do it again for the World Title, with Cena gunning to tie Ric Flair’s record for most title reigns all time (or close enough).

There was no special trick to this one and it wound up working so well anyway. What we got was a match between two of the best ever and it happened to be for the World Title. Cena was able to overcome the odds again and take the title, even if the reign only lasted for two weeks. As is usually the case, the title win itself is far more important than the reign, and that was on display here.

Cena and Styles have shown that they can do some great things in the ring together and the question was whether they could do it again. What made it even better here was that we pretty much already knew the answer. It was more about how great the match would be and they put on an all time classic, which was pretty much the case anytime the two of them faced off.

4. Brock Lesnar Vs. John Cena Vs. Seth Rollins (Royal Rumble 2015)

One of the wrestling concepts you will hear about over and over is telling a story. That is something that wrestlers often try to do but only occasionally manage to make it work. Sometimes a story might not click for one reason or another, but when you can see what the wrestlers are doing, it can make for one heck of a performance, which is what these three had here.

The story of this match was a simple one, as Rollins and Cena did not like each other but knew they had to work together to stop the monster Lesnar. That was easier said than done because, you know, Lesnar and all that. The two of them did what they could, but it wound up being a matter of time until Lesnar was back up to get his revenge and retain his championship.

Ultimately that is exactly what happened, as the combined forces of Cena and Rollins weren’t enough to stop Lesnar. It made for a heck of a fight though, with the tensions ratcheting up until one of them eventually fell. Lesnar came off looking like an unstoppable monster, which made it all the better when Rollins managed to steal the title from him later in the year, oddly in another triple threat.

3. John Cena Vs. Umaga - Last Man Standing Match (Royal Rumble 2007)

There are a lot of criticisms about Cena and quite a few of them make sense (and quite a few of them don’t). One of the biggest that you will hear is that he morphs into Super Cena a little too often. This can be accurate, as there are times when Cena overcomes the odds once too often and feels completely indestructible. That can be a big negative, but it certainly wasn’t in this case.

Back at New Year’s Revolution, Cena escaped with the title against Umaga, the new monster on the block. The rematch was set up for the Royal Rumble and this time around it was going to be a Last Man Standing match. It was clear that Cena was going to have to bust out the cape for this one and that is exactly what happened.

These two absolutely went to war, with Cena coming out swinging and managing to survive again. The ending saw Cena using the ring ropes to choke Umaga out and retain the title, looking like an absolute superhero in the process. These guys beat the living daylights out of each other and it was one of the best matches of Cena’s career, as well as in the history of the show.

2. Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit (Royal Rumble 2003)

One of the most satisfying feelings in wrestling is seeing a star build themselves up over the years and turn into an even bigger deal. Sometimes you’ll see someone putting things together and it is clear that the sky is the limit for them. That can be the case with just a single wrestler, but occasionally you will see a match take place down the card before they move up to the main event scene. That is what these two did and it was incredible to watch.

Back in 2001, Angle and Benoit had one heck of a match at WrestleMania X7, with Angle having to cheat to win. What was made clear about that match (and some of their previous ones) was that these two had incredible chemistry together and they would meet each other again. That set the stage for their rematch in Boston in 2003, which somehow blew away everything they had done before.

The match these two had is still one of the finest examples of technical wrestling with a bit of modern style mixed in. You had these two trading suplexes and one hold after another in a game of can you top this. Angle eventually caught Benoit with the ankle lock, with the idea that Benoit didn’t so much get beaten as much as he got caught. It was clear that Benoit would be back, which is exactly what happened the following year when he won the Royal Rumble and went on to main event WrestleMania XX. This was an incredible match and it is well worth another look if you haven’t seen it in a bit.

1. Triple H Vs. Cactus Jack - Street Fight (Royal Rumble 2000)

Yeah there wasn’t much of another option for the top spot. This was an absolute war and it was an incredible mixture of the setup, the match itself, and then the fallout. The match was basically a rematch from the Falls Count Anywhere match (a street fight this time) the two had on Monday Night Raw in 1997 when the show debuted in Madison Square Garden, with the debuting Jack winning. That was the setup for the rematch with the title on the line: it was Jack’s match in Jack’s hometown against a man he had beaten before. Triple H was facing a buzzsaw and had to come out swinging… and dang if he didn’t.

What followed was one of the best matches the company has ever seen, with Triple H surviving against the ultimate street fighter and retaining the title. Jack beat the living daylights out of Triple H, busting him open multiple times and even managing some red hot near falls. The reaction when Jack kicked out of the Pedigree is an all timer as the fans believed all over again, only to have their souls cut out one more time when Triple H got the pin a few seconds later.

This was the match that made Triple H feel like a real threat, as he finally stood up and fought back against a real opponent and won on his own. It was also Mick Foley doing what he did best: making someone else look incredible while going out on his back. I’ve seen this match more times than I can count and it still has me wanting to see Jack pull it off, because you believe that he just might be able to do it. There was no topping this one and nothing else at the Rumble has done so.

The Royal Rumble has been around for the better part of forty years now and the show has put together one of the most impressive legacies in wrestling history. It means a lot to be on the show, but these people went above and beyond the rest of the wrestlers you would see on the show. Yes, the Rumble itself gets all of the glory, but these matches are certainly worth your time, as in some cases they absolutely stole the show.