I did a little exercise back in 2022 where I looked back at the brand vs brand Survivor Series shows and handed out some accolades and rankings of sorts, so with some time having passed I thought it would be to look at the Royal Rumble during the brand split era that started in 2016. Now for the most the Rumble matches themselves are the thing most people remember from the show, for obvious reasons, so I decided to focus on those and not deal with them rest of the card. I’ve rewatched all of these over the past few months, some for the first time since I watched them live, and gotten some new perspective on them while others reinforced what I already thought.
Now just how do I judge whether I think a Rumble was good or bad? First off, who was in it? For me the more big stars the better, but also people who come in and impress even if they’re lesser known entities, or people who will do something cool to add a highlight. A field where 20 out of the 30 people could be replaced with folks off the street and have the same effect can make for a very uninteresting match; it’s the Royal Rumble, please keep the outright filler to a minimum please. After that, the action matters. Where there any cool and clever spots and/or eliminations or did people just do basic battle royal stuff all day? Was there consistent activity or a lot of laying around? Were most things well done or was there any egregiously bad stuff happening? And finally there are the intangibles. Were there any story progressions? Did anything start there that led to WrestleMania or some other future date? Were there any dream match face-offs or reunions? Any surprise entries that popped? That’s all factored in here.
Before we get to it here are what I considered the best of the other matches over time:
- John Cena vs AJ Styles, 2017
- Roman Reigns vs Kevin Owens, 2017
- Charlotte Flair vs Bayley, 2017
- Sasha Banks vs Ronda Rousey, 2019
- Becky Lynch vs Asuka, 2019
- Reigns vs Owens, 2021
- Reigns vs Seth Rollins, 2022
- Reigns vs Owens (Again? Yes), 2023
2017 is definitely the best card top to bottom it seems, except for there only being a Men’s Rumble that year.
2017
The Field: A
Look at this lineup: All three members of The Shield, The Undertaker, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Bray Waytt, and the Miz just for starters. And then we get to previous world champions/main eventers, etc like Sheamus, Big Show, Mark Henry, and Dolph Ziggler alongside future world champs/main eventers like Kofi Kingston, Big E, Braun Strowman, and Sami Zayn. That’s 17 guys who either did or would go on to win world titles and an 18th (Zayn) who would become a main eventer later. Even the next tier down had the then-promising Big Cas and Rusev. That’s 20 guys worth watching at the time, and 10 of the biggest names of the past 20 years. Just outstanding. The only people missing were Cena, Styles, and Owens who were previously occupied with matches even though Reigns did pull double duty that night.
The match: A–
Lots of moments between all those big names punctuated it but there was also a high comedy moment when Enzo Amore came in and got tossed by Lesnar. Braun got his big star turn with 7 eliminations. There were a few lulls but not so many that it took you or the crowd out of the match. Goldberg’s shock elimination of Lesnar continued their feud and would lead to their Universal Title match at WrestleMania 33. There was Reigns big run at the end eliminating Taker then Jericho (who was in for an hour) then Wyatt before getting caught by Randy. Speaking of Reigns it was a master troll job having him come in number 30 to piss off the IWC, and his elimination of Taker spawned the phrase ‘it’s my yard now’, nailing the passing of the torch between the two while setting up what would be that year’s Mania main event. Excellent lay out and execution from start to finish.
2018
Men’s Rumble
The Field: A-
Not quite as loaded as 2017 but still stacked in it’s own right. Reigns, Rollins, John Cena, Orton, a returning Rey Mysterio, Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor, the Miz, and then recent former World champion Jinder Mahal, all 3 of the New Day, Sheamus and Rusev along with a legends return from the Hurricane.
The Match: B+
Like the field this was a step down from 2017 but still very good in it own right. There was a funny spot where the New Day doused Mahal in pancakes after he got eliminated and an every man for himself moment when Roman threw out Seth. This did drag a bit in the middle but then we got maybe the best closing sequence of any Men’s Rumble ever.
The Final 6 was a face off with Ruthless Aggression Era made stars – Cena, Orton, Rey – on one side and current made stars on the othe in Roman, Balor, and Nakamura. Then the final four pitted number one guys in the company Reigns and Cena against Balor and Nakamura, then the final two came down to the totally homegrown Reigns vs Japan and ROH battle tested Nakamura. The only black mark here was a funny one, when Cena’s notoriously loud spot calling got picked up on mic. But outside of that great finish to a good match.
Women’s Rumble
The field: A
Where do we start? Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Bayley at the top. The undefeated Asuka. Then the Legends field of Trish Stratus, Lita, Michelle McCool, the Bellas, Mickie James, Torrie Wilson, Kelly Kellly, Beth Phoenix, Jacqueline, and Molly Holly. That’s 15 current or future Hall of Famers before we even get to Naomi, Nia Jax, and Natalya. One of deepest fields ever in a men’s or women’s Rumble match.
The match: B+
The star power of the field did a lot of heavy lifting here. Nothing was egregiously bad per se but there were a lot of spots where things slowed down to a crawl and people were just lying around on the floor, undoubtedly because this was the first time any of them had been involved in this kind of thing. But there lots of great face offs, reunions and a couple of everyone for themselves spots. The very existence of the match itself was a magical moment and it would have had to have been really bad to get a low grade here. But as it was they did do well enough to legit get a good grade here; good but not great work but one big great moment.
2019
Men’s Rumble
The Field: D
This was more notable for wasn’t there than who was. No Reigns because of leukemia, no Cena because of injury, none of the older big names like Taker or Goldberg, or none of the other top guys and big names who were occupied in other matches that night – Lesnar, Balor, AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, and the Miz. You can add Bobby Lashley to that list seeing as how he was only in there for 13 seconds. That left Rollins, Strowman, and Orton as the only ones left you could call favorites. Jeff Jarrett would return, but what should have been a fun bit with Elias ended up being a dud. The only entry that anyone truly remembers is Jax, who was the first woman to enter the Men’s Rumble in several years.
The match: D
The only thing worth watching from this whole match was Jax’s time in the match after she entered at 30 and held her her own for a few minutes before getting dogpiled and eliminated. The other 54 minutes you can skip, it was that uneventful. The D grade is only because of Jax and that the ringwork didn’t have any real issues.
Women’s Rumble
The field: C
Like the Men’s Rumble this was largely about the absences. Banks and Asuka were busy in other matches and all the Legends who were in the 2018 Rumble except James did not return. That left an extremely top heavy field of Flair, Lynch, Bayley, and Alexa Bliss plus recent champs Jax and Carmella, and Naomi to hopefully inject some excitement into the match. Yeah…….not much else to see here, folks. The other 22 consisted of women from NXT who’d barely been seen outside of there and women on the main roster who everyone knew had zero shot at winning anything here.
The match: D
Not only was the field lacking, but the match itself was not very good. First off it was the longest Women’s Rumble ever at an hour and twelve minutes and the first 22 were only good for Lacey Evans’ ‘peaked on day one’ debut on the main roster. Naomi was in and out in a minute and a half, which served her feud with Mandy Rose but killed a big chance to liven up the match. And after Charlotte came in at 13 to pick things up none of the other big names showed up until Bliss at 26. Waiting until 13 to bring in anyone who had a chance of winning, and then until number 26 to start bringing in the four other legit contenders, in a match that went well over an hour, was a choice and not a good one. It was boring for some very long stretches and only got good at the end. It was better than the Men’s Rumble this year but that’s not saying much.
2020
Men’s Rumble
The Field: A–
Given the circumstances of his return, Edge alone gets it a B. But there were also some other big returns to the match in the form of Reigns, Lesnar, Styles and Kevin Owens (both Styles and Owens had not been in the Rumble since 2016, due to being occupied in other matches or injuries). Drew McIntyre was hitting his peak on the main roster and was a huge deal, while Rollins, Orton and Strowman as always were threats to win. A very top heavy field that was fleshed out in the middle by Kofi, Big E, Ricochet, Samoa Joe, Alaister Black, Ziggler and maybe the best NXT guest Rumble appearance ever from Keith Lee.
The Match: A-
The first half was a storytelling masterpiece with Lesnar entering as World Champion, mowing everyone down at first, and then things getting progressively more difficult. Keith Lee’s arrival and showdown with Brock was a great moment that unfortunately became an all time what if, and the three on one Kofi/E/Rey team up that had Brock cornered until he fight back and eliminated all three was spectacular. And the big moment of the first half, when Ricochet got revenge for a beating Brock gave him and helped eliminate him, was just as good. Drew glaring down on Brock as he laid on the floor was one of those searing images of the match’s history. The second half was starting to slow down but then came Edge to deliver a truly magic moment as a career that had been thought to be over for nine years was rekindled.
The last 15 minutes was a great run to the finish that saw a brief Rated RKO reunion, Rollins unsuccessfully pandering to Reigns to help him out one more time, and then Reigns taking the heat for tossing Edge to nicely set up Drew to get a big cheer for throwing him out to win.
Women’s Rumble:
The Field: C+
As far as current top stars this was a pretty depleted group. Outside of Flair the only one considered a top star on the main roster at the time was Bliss. There were several current women who’d held a singles title before (Bliss, Naomi, Carmella, and Nattie on the main roster and Shayna Baszler, Toni Storm, and Kairi Sane in NXT) and there were a few returning Legends in Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, and Molly Holly. But with Banks and Jax out injured and Becky, Bayley, and Asuka in other matches there were seven big players missing in action here.
The Match: A
What was missed in name recognition was made up for with execution. Bianca Belair came in at number 2 and had a truly star making performance with several spectacular eliminations and an all around outstanding performance. Bliss was a great dance partner during the first half of the match and between the two of them they ran the match and were both excellent. During the first half there were also a couple of entertaining storytelling angles with Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville, and Liv Morgan vs Lana. Then like a relay team Bliss and Belair would hand the baton to Flair and Naomi for the second half. Naomi’s entrance was a highlight of the night and Flair went into full heel mode in eliminating Belair and fan favorite Kelly. Beth Phoenix gave a true warrior-esque performance, soldiering through after busting the back of her head open as if nothing had happened. Nattie would join late and the four of them would take the match almost to the finish line before Baszler came in to bat cleanup on the way to a great finish between her and Charlotte.
All said and done it was a prime exhibit in how to use your best and most talented people to make up for a lack of depth; keep your biggest names and best physical performers in the match from start to finish and play everything off of them and through them. This was a team effort from Alexa, Bianca, Charlotte, Naomi, Nattie, Beth Phoenix, and Baszler and the seven of them pull it off like an NBA Finals seven-man rotation.
2021
Men’s Rumble
The Field: B
Edge and Orton at 1 and 2, Daniel Bryan, Rollins, the ascending Big E, Bobby Lashley, and Matt Riddle and the main roster debut of Damian Priest. Throw in the Styles, the Miz, Nakamura, Sheamus and the Legend return from Christian and you have a good group. But it was missing a few guys who could have gotten it up to an A. Reigns, Owens, McIntyre, and Goldberg were occupied in other matches. Just two of those guys would have been huge, or Cena or Brock.
The Match: C
Not a whole lot to remember here other than the finish, Edge going wire to wire, the Edge/Christian reunion, and the first in ring spot in WWE from Bad Bunny. Nothing bad happened per se, just nothing to write home about. Orton going out with a kayfabe injury for an hour and then coming back for the finish is just outstanding work, if you know what I mean, but kept a major player out of most of the match. All in all it was……fine. The Thunderdome atmosphere didn’t help, either.
Women’s Rumble
The Field: C
At the top were Flair, Belair, and Bayley along with soon to be RAW Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, Jax, Baszler, and Naomi. After them and Mickie James we’re talking almost all also rans outside of Legends returns from Alicia Fox and Victoria. Bliss at this point was barely wrestling and was no longer a serious contender.
The Match: B
An A for action but a C for atmosphere due to the Thunderdome. As much as WWE and we made it work back then it’s hard to watch now that we’re back to normal arena atmospheres again. But there was a lot of good stuff here. Bianca came in at 3 and went the distance but along the way had several meaningful encounters with rival Bayley, the returning Naomi, and the final 3 with Rhea and Charlotte. Flair would also take her feud with Lacey Evans from RAW and the preshow to the big match and eliminate her. There was a brief Iconics reunion and a 24/7 title run in that saw Alicia Fox briefly capture the title in the middle of the match. If only this match had happened in front of fans it would have gotten an A from me.
2022
Men’s Rumble
The Field: C
The depletion cycle would continue. Bryan was now gone from the company while Edge, Rollins, Lashley and Reigns were occupied elsewhere on the card. Even some notables like Styles, MacIntyre, and Big E had been cooled off when this match happened, and weren’t seen as possible winners (FWIW McIntyre did get to the Final 2 before Brock tossed him to win). Randy Orton, always a safe pick, and Brock entering at 30 is the only reason why the grade is even this high.
The Match: F
A disjointed mess with rumors of all kinds of backstage turmoil leading up to it. The crowd was quiet for lots of it, and there was little going on that made any sense or fit into anything happening on TV, or any history. The only real highlights were Bad Bunny and Shane McMahon surprise entries, and Johnny Knoxville squaring off with Sami Zayn. There was also the unfortunate miss on Kofi’s narrow escape that forced his elimination and left Big E standing around with nothing to do now that he and Kofi couldn’t get their planned spots in. Brock winning didn’t bother me so much (I even called it a few days prior) but given what we’ve heard about this match since it’s really just bizarre.
Women’s Rumble
The Field: A+
Flair, Banks, Belair, Ripley, Rousey, Lita, the Bellas, James, McCool, Naomi. Then Morgan fresh off a title feud with Lynch, Deville in the middle of a nasty (in a good way) feud with Naomi, and returning Legends in Melina, Summer Rae, Cameron, Kelly, Ivory, Molly Holly and Alicia Fox. That’s 20 to watch before you add in Baszler, Carmella, Zelina Vega, and Natalya. Deepest women’s field in interesting players since they started doing Women’s Rumbles.
The Match: A-
The IWC hated this match because Ronda won, but that doesn’t amount to a hill of beans. The pacing was good, there weren’t many slow spots, there were plenty of storytelling moments and callbacks, the crowd was into it, and they went up big when Ronda made her return. Flair the arrogant and dominant heel role to a tee with a lot of opportunistic eliminations of babyface favorites ultimately leading to her comeuppance at the hands of Rousey. You can hate the winner but that doesn’t mean the match was bad. The people in the building that day sure didn’t agree with you. Banks getting eliminated early 10 minutes in was a downer but she was coming off an ankle injury that would keep her out for another month so it was for the best. But even in her brief time she got to shine as did all the other stars. If you tell me this match was bad I dare you to tell me just what was so bad about it besides how you feel about who won.
2023
Men’s Rumble
The Field: A
Seth Rollins, Edge, Brock, Drew, Lashley, Strowman, Gunther, Sheamus, Kofi, Ricochet, Logan Paul, Balor, Damien Priest, Cody Rhodes, Dominick Mysterio, Omos. That’s a field of literal giants, highlight reel makers, the hottest faction next to the Bloodline, and 5 previous Rumble winners. Booker T came in for a brief but fun crowd popping cameo.
The match: A
This spectacular moment wasn’t the only thing notable. Edge returned to combat the Judgement Day, and his wife Beth Phoenix would join the fray. Bobby Lashley sought out revenge on Lesnar and would elimate him. Dominick Mysterio assaulted his father Rey and took him out of the match. Gunther started at 1 and went the distance, beating the crap out of people along the way. Drew and Sheamus handed out lots of punishment themselves. And Rollins would begin a rivalry with Logan Paul that would culminate at WrestleMania. Lots of hard hitting action, capped off with a mini match between Cody and Gunther at the end.
Women’s Rumble:
The Field: C+
Rhea, Becky, Bayley…….a returning Asuka and Nia Jax, Morgan who wasn’t far removed from a run as Smackdown Women’s champion and Raquel Rodriguez who was still an interesting and intriguing dark horse at the time. And that’s it. Outside of anyone who was a personal rooting interest, nothing to see here folks. Belair and Bliss were occupied with a title match and Flair already ran the Champ in the Rumble gimmick in 2022 so she couldn’t repeat that here. Michelle McCool came back for one more run but that took a twitter campaign to make happen. It felt like they chose the field as a way to show just how many women they have on the roster and that’s about it.
The Match: D
The execution was fine but the layout was not. Lynch inexplicably was in and out in 10 minutes and immediately before Bayley, removing what little suspense there was as to who was winning. Jax and Asuka came in late, long after we’d been underwhelmed for 40-plus minutes to good reactions. Ripley and Morgan going wire to wire, as impressive as it is on it’s face, was a feat with nothing memorable until the finish. The crowd was mostly unimpressed beyond popping Jax and Asuka’s returns until the spectacular finish. This was truly a skip to the end special. I originally had this graded a C but after watching the 2024 Women’s Rumble I soured on this one even more. There is almost nothing other than the finish worth watching here.
2024?
The 2024 Men’s and Women’s Rumbles just happened and my snap judgement grades would be an A- for the women’s and C+/B- for the men’s. When I get to take them in again I’ll update things here. But for now that’s what I think of all this, and here is how I rank them:
Mens:
2023, 2017, 2020, 2018, 2024, 2021, 2019, 2022
Women’s:
2024, 2022, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2019
Stroke of Genius 