4 Times the wrong person won the WWE Royal Rumble

Royal Rumble has been a staple in WWE for nearly four decades. The specialty match debuted in the 1980s and has been a yearly event ever since. Thanks to the introduction of the Women's Royal Rumble Match, there are now two each year.

The bout is always a highlight for wrestling fans. They are incredible matches with a lot of drama and intrigue and can feature big returns or exciting debuts. Hot rivalries can be born out of the bout.

Some of the biggest stars have won the Rumble Match in the past, ranging from Hulk Hogan to Rhea Ripley to Stone Cold Steve Austin to John Cena. It has almost been exclusively big stars before or after their win to have accomplished the feat.

Unfortunately, the person who won the Royal Rumble wasn't necessarily the right choice. Some poor decisions have been made in the past. This article will examine four stars who were the wrong picks to win the Royal Rumble Match.

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#4. Vince McMahon winning the 1999 Royal Rumble was pointless

WWE held the 1999 event on January 24. Over 14,000 fans were in attendance, a far cry from the stadium-sized shows we see today. The event was instead held at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim in Anaheim, California.

Shockingly, Vince McMahon won the 1999 match. The WWE Chairman eliminated Stone Cold Steve Austin, though he obviously had a lot of help.

This was just stupid. While Vince was one of the best heels ever, he didn't even go on to challenge for a world title at WrestleMania. He lost the title match back to Austin, making his entire win pointless. Austin should have just won the whole thing to begin with.

#3. WWE fans did not want to see Roman Reigns win the 2015 Royal Rumble

The second entry on this list covers the 2015 Royal Rumble. 17,000 fans attended the event in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for one of the worst Rumbles in history.

Roman Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble Match, but it wasn't without controversy. The WWE audience desperately wanted Daniel Bryan to win. Instead, he had a boring elimination, and the rest of the match fell apart.

Reigns was such a poor choice as the winner that not only did fans turn on him and the match, but they also booed The Rock. The People's Champion showed up and saved Roman from a post-match attack, only to be flooded with boos for raising Roman's hand—a truly bad pick.

#2. Shinsuke Nakamura winning the Men's Royal Rumble Match was unnecessary in retrospect

WWE held the 2018 event on January 28. The show was live at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Around 17,000 fans were in attendance for what was actually a good show.

The winner of the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble Match was Shinsuke Nakamura. After great success in Japan, he joined WWE through NXT, and fans were excited to see him pushed to the top of the card. Unfortunately, his victory was ultimately a mistake.

In this instance, Nakamura wouldn't have been a bad choice had he been pushed heavily afterward. Instead, he had a mid-card WrestleMania match with AJ Styles, lost their feud, and never truly broke out as a main event star. It was kind of a waste having him win based on that booking.

#1. Brock Lesnar shouldn't have won the 2022 Rumble Match

The final entry on this list is the 2022 Royal Rumble, which WWE held in front of over 44,000 fans on January 29. The program was held at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

As bad as the 2015 edition was, WWE may have outdone itself with the 2022 edition. Both matches arguably had the wrong winner, but this was especially true of the men's bout, as Brock Lesnar was a surprise entrant and won the entire thing.

Lesnar lost his world title to Bobby Lashley earlier in the same show. He later won the belt back from Bobby and fought Roman Reigns in a unification match at WrestleMania. Their match wasn't good; the two titles being unified was pointless and damaging, and it ultimately failed. AJ Styles, Drew McIntyre, and even Randy Orton were better options.