WINC Watchlist: Best WWE Royal Rumble Matches (That Weren't The Royal Rumble)

Whenever there's a big show coming up, like WWE Royal Rumble this weekend, it can be instructive (not to mention fun) to go back and watch some older, related matches in the lead-up to the event. There are as many different ways to watch wrestling as there are individual wrestling fans, but here at Wrestling Inc., we love to cut up and rearrange wrestling history in interesting and unique ways, selecting a variety of matches with some sort of through-line connecting them and placing them side-by-side. We already gave you our best Royal Rumble matches ranked, so now it's time to look at the best non-Rumble matches that took place at the Rumble event!

There were a ton of options to choose for this feature, and we ended up including a lot of matches for an extra-long WINC Watchlist! Not only are we giving you 10 full entries here, we're squeezing more than one match into several of them. A lot of these Rumble matches rhyme with one another, forming mini-watchlists in and of themselves; we've grouped those together here. So if you want to properly prepare for the Rumble this Saturday, you'd better strap in for a long watch, because even outside of the eponymous match itself, the Royal Rumble tends to be a place where WWE thrives.

His 1995 Royal Rumble match against Bret Hart is probably Kevin Nash's second-best match. Full stop. I am not trying to denigrate the rest of his output; I am simply stating a fact. He had plenty of good matches, but he had two truly "great" matches, both in 1995, and both against Bret Hart. Their No Disqualification Match at Survivor Series is the tried-and-true best of the duology, but their Royal Rumble encounter is equally rich, and the Survivor Series match couldn't happen in a vacuum.

I think many stars were afraid of how small Diesel made them look, but not Bret Hart. His entire personality in WWE was built around a kind of underdog heart that would later be passed on to Rey Mysterio, and in an era where fewer and fewer stars were built like Hulk Hogan, Diesel was one of the few big men who could give Hart that classic "David vs. Goliath" scale. Sure, Shawn Michaels knew how to bounce off of Diesel's big frame, but no one ever gave Diesel as much as Hart. 

The match ends as a clusterf*** draw, but it's a wild 30ish minutes of action that ends in a cacophony of interference, and it featured the kind of hard-hitting action that was rare in WWE in those days. It might be one of WWE's best No Contests, as it delivers enough action to overcome any "sister-kissing" disappointment that comes from the lack of a definitive winner.

Written by Ross Berman

At the 2000 Royal Rumble, "The Game" Triple H faced off against the most vicious of the three faces of Mick Foley, Cactus Jack, in a brutal, almost-27 minute long street fight for the WWE Championship that rivaled the Rumble match itself for the most exciting thing on that year's card. It was one of the most violent matches aired on WWE pay-per-view at the time, even as WWE was well into its infamous Attitude Era by that point. From the use of a bared wire two-by-four, to steel chairs, steps, and even thumbtacks, which weren't often seen in WWE even at that time, the violence shocked the crowd in Madison Square Garden.

Foley and Triple H's feud, as well as this brutal bout at the Rumble, helped cement Triple H as a main event supervillain, and not just the storyline husband of Stephanie McMahon in the McMahon-Hemsley era. The couple had been targeting Foley and The Rock's Rock 'N' Sock Connection team, as Foley's Mankind character was vocal about the injustices he believed Triple H and McMahon were committing in the company. The feud even led to Mankind being fired after losing a match against his partner at one point, though he was reinstated to set up the match against Triple H for the title as Cactus Jack.

Cactus Jack took a wicked unprotected chair shot to the head toward the beginning of the bout and the violence only ramped up from there. It didn't take long for the match to spill out of the ring and into the crowd at the Garden, where the pair found a set that looked like an actual alley and went to battle with trash cans and wooden pallets. Back in the ring, both men battled with the barbed wire two-by-four, which eventually busted Triple H open across his forehead, but he was already bleeding from a nasty gash on his calf. "The Game" utilized a pair of handcuffs to try and get the upper hand, but eventually, a freed Foley introduced thumbtacks, spilling them across the canvas. Despite the best efforts of Foley's alter ego, it was Triple H to get the victory with a Pedigree on top the tacks.

Triple H may have retained his title, but he took an absolutely brutal beating at the hands of Cactus Jack, even after the bell had rung. Foley forced Triple H off of a stretcher post-match and hit him with the barbed wire-covered bat once again. Despite not winning the gold, Foley could do no wrong in the eyes of the fans, and his involvement in one of the most legendary street fights of all time further cemented him as "The Hardcore Legend."

Written by Daisy Ruth

When Chris Jericho or Kurt Angle is asked about their favorite matches, there's always an awkward bit of hemming and hawing, as neither man is really allowed to answer honestly, as both men have had true classics with the infamous family annihilator, Chris Benoit, whose accomplishments have rightly been relegated to the dustbin of WWE history. Let's start with Jericho.

Jericho has said how much he loves what he and Chris Benoit accomplished in their ladder match at the 2001 Royal Rumble. It's a car crash of a match. It is reckless. It is irresponsible. It is an absolute spectacle of human misery. There is simply nothing like it. Jericho is adamant that Benoit, no matter how awful his crimes, should not be removed from wrestling history, and it's understandable, considering how much of that history involved Jericho. To erase Benoit from WWE history would remove a number of Jericho's best matches. Jericho will often bring up his WrestleMania 19 match with Shawn Michaels, or their later ladder match in 2008, but Jericho simply never had a dance partner like Benoit

Angle is a little luckier. Like Jericho, he can point to a WrestleMania classic against Shawn Michaels. He had his tremendous run in TNA, where he put on masterpieces with Samoa Joe, but you can always kind of tell he wants to talk about Benoit. Like Jericho again, Angle never quite had an opponent like Benoit. No one quite matched Angle's intensity and his grappling prowess. To watch his 2003 Royal Rumble match against Benoit is to watch two of the best grapplers of all time trade holds with the ferocity of wild beasts.

Wrestling Inc. never quite knows what to make of Benoit's legacy. WWE doesn't talk about him, and all of his records have been covered over with more sanitary choices, but he's never been truly excised from wrestling history. One would assume that someone who did the things he did would be relegated to DailyMotion bootlegs and the Internet Archive, but even in the blackest infamy, Benoit made the leap from the WWE Network to Peacock to Netflix with no edits other than the usual music licensing edits. Thus, his Royal Rumble classics are still easily available to anyone building a watchlist like this — though it's understandable if you'd rather avoid them.

Written by Ross Berman

The Undisputed WWF Championship was defended at only one Royal Rumble, before the first-ever brand split saw the "undisputed" dropped from the title name, and its first-ever champion, Chris Jericho, defended the gold against The Rock at the 2002 edition of the event. The belt had just been unified weeks earlier, when Jericho defeated both Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at Vengeance Day.

It was Jericho's first run as a main eventer in the then-WWF, and he was able to pull out an impressive victory in a solid match against Rock, who had grown to prominence as a top babyface in the company over the years, who held the WWF Championship numerous times himself at that point. The pair had been linked from the start of "Y2J's" time in WWF, as it was Rock's in-ring promo he interrupted when Jericho's countdown clock hit zero on "Raw" and he officially debuted in the company.

The Rock defeated Booker T to become number one contender for the title, and it was at the peak of how many fans of a certain age remember "The Brahma Bull" the best, in his "size 14 boot up your a**," "if you smell what The Rock is cooking" era, though he warned Jericho he wasn't taking him as a joke. The crowd was behind him throughout the almost-19 minute match, chanting "Rocky" at various points.

The match was one of Rock's when he was at his best and he kicked off the match hot after the heel Jericho taunted him to "just bring it" to start things off. Jericho took the turnbuckle cover off quickly, which would come into play at the end. Jericho hit two lionsaults and the crowd exploded when Rock got an arm up to kick out. The champion's buddies, Lance Storm and Christian interfered in the match, causing referee Earl Hebner to miss a Jericho tap out to Rock's sharpshooter. 

In a huge spot, The Rock cleared the Spanish announce table, but it was Jericho who looked for the Rock Bottom on top of the desk first, though Rock reversed it to land his own move. The challenger looked to have the match won for a moment before having to fight out of the Walls of Jericho and overcoming a ref bump. With Hebner down, Nick Patrick, a heel referee, came down, and wouldn't count Rock's fall on Jericho.

In the end, it was Jericho to hit a low blow and send Rock face-first into the exposed turnbuckle. He used the ropes as leverage where a still-downed, yet counting, Hebner couldn't see, and pinned Rock for the big victory, one that oftentimes gets overshadowed by Triple H's first Royal Rumble win.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Two classics ten years apart for two completely different reasons. Off the heels of John Cena's retirement at the end of 2025, everyone has gone back and combed through Cena's career with a fine toothcomb to see what were some of his best performances, and two of them came at the Royal Rumble.

Let's start with the Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship in 2007 against the "Samoan Bulldozer" Umaga. This match didn't make to the John Cena watchlist we published at the end of last year, and I wholeheartedly apologize on behalf of Wrestling Inc. because this match shouldn't have just been included, it should have been near the top. A classic David vs. Goliath tale where both men, even the unstoppable Umaga, are dragged into the deepest waters to find out what they are truly made of. Cena came into this one with an injured rib, but once the blood started flowing, he tapped into a primal version of himself that even the deadliest of monsters would have found difficult to beat.

The chaos on the outside of the ring was actually escalated by the time they both got back in the ring when the top rope became a weapon Umaga had intended to use, only for Cena to turn it on to his opponent. He choked the life out of the "Samoan Bulldozer," letting out a primal scream in the process to showcase just how desperate he was to win, and how much he will do to gain that win. Truly one of the best matches of Cena's career, the best match of Umaga's career, and one of the best matches in WWE history.

A decade later, there was no chaos in the ringside area. In fact, the WWE Championship match between Cena and AJ Styles didn't even leave the ring. This match has rightly been talked about as one of the best of the last 10 years or so as it was two guys operating on a level few wrestlers ever reach. Styles was at the peak of his powers, while Cena had become a completely new man through working with all of the fresh talent that was brought to WWE in the mid-2010s. Styles obviously had the advantage given his two previous victories over Cena, but this was a big match situation that Cena thrived in better than anyone. 

The closing stretch has people in the crowd gasping for air they've been cheering that much, but in the end it was Cena who emerged with his 16th world title, equalling Ric Flair's record in style. If these two matches have taught me anything, it's that John Cena truly was one of a kind.

Written by Sam Palmer

Twice at the Royal Rumble have Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt faced one another — first in a traditional singles match in 2014 and then six years later in a Strap match — and they still rank among some of the best contests to take place outside the eponymous match in the Rumble event's history. 

The first time they met came after a feud in which the Wyatt Family was attempting to recruit the former WWE Champion, with Bryan having fallen short of the title to Randy Orton and in the beginnings of his run to WrestleMania 30. Bryan lost to the group in a three-on-one handicap match at TLC before joining them in what turned out to be a ruse; Bryan turned on Wyatt after a tag team match between them and the Usos to establish their match – with the added caveat that Bryan would be added to the Rumble with a win. 

They opened the show that night and got the crowd warmed up, with Erick Rowan and Luke Harper being ejected from ringside early on by the referee to leave it just the men in the ring. Wyatt targeted Bryan's head and drove him into the ringpost, wearing him down before Bryan rallied back with a DDT to the floor, later cinching in the Yes Lock for the first time. 

Wyatt broke out that submission by biting Bryan's hand, rolled out of the ring to avoid the Busaiku Knee, and then caught Bryan on a tope suicida for a Sister Abigail into the barricade. He then finished up with a final Sister Abigail in the middle of the ring to get the pinfall, simultaneously handing Wyatt a significant singles win and somewhat inadvertently lighting the fuse for Bryan's run to the main event of WrestleMania. 

Much had happened in their respective careers before they met again in a Strap match in 2020; Wyatt had become a multi-time WWE World Champion, holding the Universal Championship at the time as "The Fiend," while Bryan had retired, returned, and held the WWE Championship into the year before. This time around, Bryan was challenging Wyatt for the second time after being beaten at Survivor Series, having returned with a buzz cut in response to Wyatt ripping his hair out, and they would be fighting while connected at the wrists.

This was a little more violent than their maiden Rumble bout, with Bryan showing more of the "American Dragon" against his supernatural opponent. Ultimately, though, the result turned out to be the same and Bryan was beaten with a Mandible Claw-to-Chokeslam combo. 

Twice at the Rumble has Bryan faced Wyatt, and twice did they put on a performance in a match to remember. 

WWE kicked off their pay-per-view schedule in style with the opening match of the 2016 Royal Rumble event as Dean Ambrose defended the WWE Intercontinental Championship against Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match. It was clear that the company saw big things in both men, after all they would both win their first world titles in WWE later that year, and are now both considered two of the most beloved main event talents of the last 10 years.

We've already seen a Last Man Standing match in this watchlist with the John Cena vs. Umaga match from 2007, and obviously the company had to move away from the blood and the chair shots. However, the chaos remained, at least in this match, as Owens and Ambrose beat the snot out of each other for 20 minutes in one of the best matches of 2016. 

It obviously helps that both men are more than happy to go the extra mile when it comes to taking risks. While the "Lunatic Fringe" gimmick that Ambrose had was one that made him look more like a cartoon character then an actual lunatic at times, his history of painting the independent scene blood red was allowed more of the spotlight against a man who had also put his body through hell in places like ROH, PWG, and CZW. If anything, the landscape of the business at the time meant that two "internet darlings," as WWE would call them, tearing the house down was a perfect way to open this show.

Owens is at his arrogant best here. Arguing with the crowd while setting up tables, covering up miscommunication by ragging Ambrose around the ring and screaming "You're going to go my way," and reveling in his own destruction by putting his feet up while Ambrose tries to make to his feet. As for Ambrose, while he isn't as vicious as he is these days in AEW as Jon Moxley, he is so over with the crowd that any time he picks up a chair or a Singapore cane, the arena comes unglued and Ambrose lets each moment breath and get its moment to shine.

So many spots in this one look excellent, such as the Cannonball that breaks the barricade, the Fisherman's Buster from the top rope through a table, and the match winning push Ambrose gave to Owens, who tumbled through the stacked tables on the outside he set up at the start of the match. This is more than just the standard by-the-numbers WWE car crash plunderfest, this is an absolute war from start to finish that, for me at least, doesn't get nearly enough respect for how good it is.

Written by Sam Palmer

While much is rightly made about Seth Rollins or Brock Lesnar being the arch-rivals to Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, and especially in the case of the Royal Rumble chronology, has to be considered up there. Three times have they faced one another at the event, all three with the Universal title on the line. The first came in 2017 when Owens held the title in it's red-belted form and was aligned with Chris Jericho.

Owens faced Reigns in their first match with Jericho suspended above the ring in a shark cage, aiming to circumvent any interference from the author of the "List of Jericho" by dangling him above the action unfolding below. Jericho did manage to get involved by passing brass knuckles to Owens, allowing him to borrow Reigns' signature for a weaponized Superman Punch, but it would ultimately be the interference of Braun Strowman – kick-starting another iconic Reigns rivalry – that handed Owens the win in their maiden Rumble bout. 

It took four years but they met again for the blue-belted Universal title in 2021, a Last Man Standing match serving as the rematch to their bout at TLC just the month before. Owens and Reigns once again took weaponized chaos to the next level in a bout going through much of the ThunderDome, with Owens outright mowed down by a caddy and thrown through all manner of debris. 

This bout will unfortunately be remembered as the time Reigns technically should have lost his title, with Owens handcuffing him to a girder for the count of 10; Paul Heyman struggled to get the cuffs of Reigns as the count was being made, leaving Reigns to pull the referee into the girder to break up the first count. Before long, the count had been stopped while efforts were made to ensure Reigns could actually finish the match as planned. And that finish was a guillotine choke to incapacitate Owens, equaling their Rumble record at 1-1. 

Two years after that, they met again within the same historic reign, this time in a traditional singles match. In the absence of weapons and unsanctioned violence, there was the story of Sami Zayn's increasingly strained place within The Bloodline. Reigns obliterated Owens in this match, making a point of stamping him down as his best friend watched on, hoping to break Zayn's prior loyalty to fall in line. And Owens ... Owens didn't really get the chance to do much but take the beating. Three spears and a lot of begging on Zayn's part for him to give up, Owens was finally kept down for the count and the title was retained. 

After the match, Reigns handed Zayn a steel chair and told him to affirm his commitment to The Bloodline. He didn't, slamming the chair into the back of the "Tribal Chief" instead, and the rest was history.

Written by Max Everett

Women have made history at the Royal Rumble, but for impactful singles competition, look no further than the 2019 Royal Rumble. Asuka's "WWE SmackDown" Women's Championship and Rousey's "WWE Raw" Women's Championship were up for grabs that night, and challengers Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks' responding performances pushed the envelope for women's wrestling in the midst of the division's ascension. For that reason, they deserve to a spot on your Royal Rumble watchlist.

Just a month prior to their Rumble match, Asuka controversially snatched the "SmackDown" Women's Championship from Lynch via a Triple Threat match at Tabbers, Ladders & Chairs 2018. Both champion and challenger walked in with everything to prove, which showed in their delightfully fast-paced, hard-hitting, and limb-twisting contest. While Lynch walked out without the title, her match with Asuka laid the path for her to walk into that night's Women's Royal Rumble, and take wrestling by storm.

Over on "Raw," fellow Four Horsewoman Banks contested Rousey's world title. Rousey's entire in-ring career has been plagued by lackluster performances, which the trash-talking Banks capitalized on with agitating remarks — ones that fired Rousey up beyond imagination. Banks pushed Rousey to the limit, but Rousey, in a rare display of wrestling brilliance, countered the technician Banks' last-ditch Bank Statement into Piper's Pit to miraculously retain.

To this day, both of these matches are considered the best from Royal Rumble 2019. Asuka's match with Lynch set "The Man" up to win it all at WrestleMania 36, while Banks finally gave "The Baddest Woman on the Planet" some in-ring legitimacy. In a sea of historic female Royal Rumble winners, Asuka, Lynch, Banks, and Rousey altered the course of history with their singles matches. That alone is reason enough to watch these two matches back.

Written by Angeline Phu

Kevin Owens might be the king of non-Royal Rumble matches, as his ladder match with Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at the 2025 Royal Rumble technically marks the Canadian's fifth appearance on this collection. Rumble king reputation or not, Owens' 2025 contest against former friend Rhodes stands on its own, and this gut-wrenching ladder match deserves to be watched again and again.

New fans may be confused as to why Owens, the challenger, walked in to Lucas Oil Stadium with the vintage Winged Eagle Championship. For the final part of 2024, Owens and Rhodes were embroiled in a feud like no other, where Owens, after snapping on Rhodes and mutual ally Randy Orton, claimed himself to be the genuine world champion of "SmackDown," while Rhodes was no more than an backstabbing excuse for a titleholder. The slightly-delusional Owens and irate Rhodes looked to a gruesome Ladder match to finally settle the score in Indianapolis, and both men — risk-taking wrestlers, especially in the company of other risk-taking wrestlers — left it all in the ring.

Owens and Rhodes put their emotions, raw, hurt, and angry, on full display as they fought over their broken friendship and ego-fueled solo title ambitions. Spines were realigned as both men chose to use the provided ladders (of which there were many) for the express purpose of hurting their former friend, rather than ascending the ladder for the win. When they weren't using ladders, Owens and Rhodes were brawling through the crowd, striking each other stiffly and shouting their grievances at each other. The WWE Title become secondary. This was war.

Owens and Rhodes' 2025 match is equal parts ladder spotfest and in-ring poetry, and has yet to be replicated to do this day. For that, it deserves a spot on your Royal Rumble 2026 watchlist.

Written by Angeline Phu