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Calling the first two entrants of a Royal Rumble match unlucky, and their chances of winning the Rumble improbable, is something we have heard from the WWE commentators every year during the Rumble season, and this is true to an extent as well. Fighting for almost an hour and overcoming the odds, and 29 other Superstars, is certainly not an easy task.
Those spots, however, are very much important. They not only create the buzz for the match but one of them, or maybe both, can end up being the cornerstone of the match. Much like the final two, the excitement among the fans is very high when there is a great pair of Superstars at #1 and #2 who can turn up the heat of the match from the very beginning.
This year, Brock Lesnar is already confirmed as the #1 entrant in the Rumble match, and it would be interesting to see who joins him at the start of the match. Till then, here are the 10 Best #1 and #2 entrants in Royal Rumble match history.
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Note: - The entry from 1999, where Steve Austin and Vince McMahon entered #1 and #2, was not considered as those slots were known before the match.
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Honorable Mentions:
Chris Benoit and Randy Orton (2004)
CM Punk and Seth Rollins (2014)
Elias and Jeff Jarrett (2019)
#10 Cactus Jack(1) and Chainsaw Charlie(2) (1998)
WWE has a certain obsession with tag team partners facing each other in high profile situations, such as making Tag Team Champions face each other at WrestleMania 21 and WrestleMania 23, and have had several tag partners come face to face in the Royal Rumble match.
However, there have been only two instances of tag teams starting the Royal Rumble match, and the one between Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie in 1998 stands out. While Ax and Smash of the Demolition starting the Rumble match in 1989 was a sight to behold, the 1998 clash between Jack and Charlie was something completely different.
Renowned for their hardcore style, Mick Foley and Terry Funk infused the Rumble match with foreign objects right from the get-go, much to the delight of the crowd. The two eliminated the next entrant with ease and continued targeting each other till the time Charlie managed to dispatch Jack from the match.
#9 CM Punk(1) vs Daniel Bryan(2) (2011)
There are some Royal Rumble showdowns that don't manage to generate as much animosity at that very time, but with time, it gains more and more value among the hearts and minds of wrestling fan. One such showdown happened back in 2011, when CM Punk and Daniel Bryan started the Rumble match opposite each other.
Back in 2011, neither of them were the bona fide Megastars they ended up being. Bryan was still trying to make a name in the mid-card, whereas Punk was slotted in a weird role as the leader of The Nexus. Yet, for the hardcore wrestling fans, this was something special, something that they had never witnessed in a WWE ring before.
This was the clash between two of the biggest stars of the independent circuits. Two Superstars who made a name for themselves in the Indies and broke all the boundaries in WWE. Just a year later, both of them entered Royal Rumble as World Champions, and the rest, as we all know, is history.
#8 Dolph Ziggler(1) vs Chris Jericho(2) (2013)
WWE's recipe of continuing an existing rivalry, or starting new ones, in a Royal Rumble match is well documented, and it has worked really well in setting up matches for WrestleMania season. What the company did in 2013 was something similar, yet completely different, and it happened thanks to a memorable return by a legend.
With Dolph Ziggler, #1 entrant in the match, cutting a typical heel promo, the returning Chris Jericho, making his first WWE appearance since his loss to Ziggler in a Loser Leaves WWE match in August 2018, appeared on the stage to a gargantuan reaction from the crowd. Ziggler, on the other hand, was not as happy as the crowd was to see Jericho
The interaction between the two rivals not only riled up the crowd for the match but also provided a stunning recap of their impressive chemistry. Unlike how they set up new rivalries, WWE used two old rivals for a grand start to the Rumble match.
#7 Sasha Banks(1) vs Becky Lynch(2) (2018)
When WWE announced the first ever Women Royal Rumble match for 2018, no one was sure how the fans were going to respond to this idea. WWE was hell bent on doing everything possible to make this match a grand success, and that included choosing two suitable candidates to open the match.
Guess what? They smashed it right out of the park with their selections, with Sasha Banks becoming the first ever entrant and Becky Lynch soon joining her in the ring. As two of the pioneers of the Women's Revolution, both Superstars had more than earned the right to be a part of this history making moment.
This interaction in this match was also special for the fact that, barring any tag team matches and their matches in NXT, this was their first one-on-one face-off in over two years, and the two wouldn't come face to face again for more than 18 months. Women's Royal Rumble match in 2018 was a success, and this choice was certainly one of the main reasons for that.
#6 Ric Flair(1) vs Bob Backlund(2) (1993)
If someone would have told a wrestling fan in late 1980s that Ric Flair and Bob Backlund, two Megastars who were the top stars of NWA and WWF in early 1980s, would come face to face in 1993 in a WWE ring, they would have either ignored that or shrugged off that thought by just laughing at that person.
However, WWE did the unthinkable when they not only had Backlund and Flair lock horns with each other, they had the two future Hall of Famers enter the Rumble match as the #1 and #2 entrants of the 1993 Rumble match in a highly memorable moment.
Being their only face-off under the WWE banner, this clash has gone on to attain a cult status among the fans. While Flair was on his way out of the company after winning the Rumble match the year before, Backlund resurrected his fading career with an Iron-Man style performance here that broke the longevity record set by, you guessed right, Flair in 1992.
#5 Triple H(1) vs Rey Mysterio(2) (2006)
It's quite ironic that despite being with WWE for almost a decade simultaneously, WWE never planned a long program between Rey Mysterio and Triple H given their legendary personas as 'The Ultimate Underdog' and 'The Power Hungry Heel'.
However, it won't be unfair to blame the organization for this as the two were always on separate brands throughout their full time careers. The only time we actually witnessed a 1-on-1 showdown between them was in the Royal Rumble match in 2006, and there's no doubt that it was as good as any other interaction we could have witnessed between them.
Entering the match at #1 and #2, the two were constantly at each other's neck for an hour, eliminating other superstars and simultaneously trying to throw each other over the top rope. The two actually made history by becoming the only pair to go over an hour in the same Rumble match, and went on to challenge for World Championships at WrestleMania 22.
#4 Shawn Michaels(1) and Chris Jericho(2) (2003)
In 2013, WWE used a returning Chris Jericho as the second entrant against his former nemesis to rile up the crowd for the Rumble match from the get go. Exactly 10 years before that, they also used Chris Jericho as the second entrant, this time to lay stone for what ended up being the best rivalry of the decade.
With Shawn Michaels entering his first Royal Rumble match in 7 years, Chris Jericho, who was portrayed as someone who idolized Michaels, planned a ruse with Tag Team partner Christian to attack The Showstopper from behind with a Low Blow. Michaels was beaten, ambushed, busted open and eliminated in just less than 3 minutes.
In just three short minutes of impeccable planning, WWE not only provided one of the best Royal Rumble opening moments, but also turned up the heat for Jericho and generated more and more sympathy for Michaels leading to their subsequent match at WrestleMania XIX.
#3 Eddie Guerrero(1) vs Chris Benoit(2) (2005)
Amongst the wrestling fans, Royal Rumble 2005 is fondly remembered as the night of change. Four fresh faces in the eventual winner Batista, John Cena, Edge and Rey Mysterio closed the show following a critically acclaimed stretch that had the glimpses of the legend each one of them went on to become in the coming years.
However, what most of the fans tend to forget is the way the Rumble match in 2005 started, as it was as good as the ending of the match. After sharing the spotlight with each other for the better part of their careers and standing beside each other a year ago at Mania XX, it was business time for two long time friends Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit.
Before they were joined by the subsequent participants of the match, the two had an intense staredown in the middle of the ring and raised the anticipation of the match even before trading even a single punch.
The fact that one of them passed away less than a year later, and the other a little over 18 months after that makes this showdown even more memorable in the eyes of hardcore wrestling fans.
#2 Shawn Michaels(1) vs The British Bulldog(2) (1995)
When Shawn Michaels and Davey Boy Smith were revealed as the first two entrants of the 1995 Royal Rumble match, not even a single person in the World could have predicted that they were about to be part of a history making moment. After all, they were just two upper mid card superstars, even if they were among the favorites to win the match.In
In what is till this date the only instance of two superstars starting as well as finishing the Rumble match, the two legends dispatched the subsequent 28 superstars to keep it to just themselves, and while the infamous 1 minute interval reduced the length of the match to just a little over 38 minutes, it was still a big deal at that time.
Even though this face off was not as highly anticipated as their much later bouts in 1997, over the years it has gone on to attain a cult status among the fans.
#1 The Undertaker(1) and Shawn Michaels(2) (2008)
Royal Rumble 2007 ended in the best way, with two of the cornerstones of the WWE, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, engaging in inarguably the best closing sequence in the Rumble match history. WWE wanted to keep the momentum going for the 2008 Rumble match as well, and who did they turn to that year? Taker and Michaels.
When The Deadman was announced as the #1 entrant of the Rumble match, fans knew they were in for something special. After all, Taker had never entered a Rumble match so early, and was easily the favorite to win the match. When Michaels music hit merely moments later, every single fan in the Madison Square Garden went into a state of frenzy.
Ignoring the two subsequent entrants in Santino Marella and The Great Khali, the two old rivals carried on with their acclaimed show closing clash from previous year for almost 5 minutes. In the end, Michaels successfully managed to eliminate Taker from the match, taking revenge for his heartbreak loss the previous year and ending two consecutive years of majestic performances by the two all time greats.
