5 most important Royal Rumble matches in history

The Royal Rumble is a seminal event on the WWE calendar. Since 1993, the winner of the eponymous match has usually been awarded a title shot at WrestleMania.

The match is therefore of immense importance to WWE, as it sets up the most prominent storylines on the programming going into WWE's biggest event and beyond. Royal Rumble winners have often catapulted into standard-bearing superstars for the company.

These five Rumbles in particular saw results that would echo through the company for years afterwards.

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#5: 1994

Two winners, one outcome at WrestleMania.

Though little-remembered today, the 1994 Royal Rumble was instrumental in setting up the New Generation era in the years to come. The concept of giving a WrestleMania title shot to the winner was still a new one, having only been established a year earlier, so it was also important in setting that precedent.

The finish was muddled, as Bret Hart and Lex Luger were declared co-winners. Lex Luger would fail to claim the championship at WrestleMania, while Bret Hart would succeed. Luger would soon exit the company.

The 1994 event laid the groundwork to move on from the 80's era of larger than life wrestling physiques in favour of a more technical style. It was an era that Bret Hart would spearhead.

#4: 2015

A bigger disaster couldn't be imagined.

The 2015 edition of the Royal Rumble is often regarded as the worst match in the event's history. After a terrible setup that saw Daniel Bryan eliminated early on and other fan favourites like Dean Ambrose dumped out unceremoniously, Roman Reigns stood tall at the end, receiving a tsunami of boos that even The Rock couldn't abate.

The match was a disaster, but it was important nonetheless. Roman Reigns was to be the next big project for the WWE and this was the moment that was supposed to catapult him into superstardom. The fact that it didn't has left long-term booking implications that still haven't been resolved.

The shadow cast by this match over Roman Reigns' career has been enormously influential in WWE programming for the last three years. Case in point, this year's upcoming WrestleMania main event, a rerun of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns from that year's WrestleMania, wouldn't be happening had it not been for this match.

#3: 2001

Stone Cold's bloody triumph was iconic and foreboding.

Great changes had taken place in the WWF during the year 2000. It was arguably the company's peak year creatively and would have been its most profitable had it not have been for the XFL disaster. The Monday Night Wars were winding down as WCW was on its last legs. The Rock had fully emerged as the top star in the company while the Attitude Era's standard bearer, Stone Cold Steve Austin, was on the shelf for most of the year.

As 2001 began, it was an open question which man was the top star in the company. The story was that Stone Cold needed to prove himself after his long recovery. He began that process by winning this match.

In the end though, despite his victory at WrestleMania that year, the course of events would prove clearly that his peak had passed. The Rock had eclipsed him at roughly that time, though he was passed his 2000 peak as well.

And with the passing of their peaks, so had the peak of the industry passed. WrestleMania 17 was the greatest of all, but WWF/E would never again reach such heights. The Monday Night Wars were officially over and wrestling would never be so prominent in the cultural zeitgeist again.

2001 was a year of seismic shifts, and the Rumble that year began the transition into a new era.

#2: 2005

The torch was passed to these two starting on that night.

Before 2005, WWE was in a weird place. It hadn't yet fully found its footing after the end of its Attitude Era peak. Its two megastars disappeared. Stone Cold Steve Austin had retired. The Rock left for Hollywood. To make matters even more difficult, the man who was supposed to lead it into the next era, Brock Lesnar, had left a year earlier to try his hand in the NFL.

In 2004, meanwhile, Batista and John Cena were rising stars on RAW and SmackDown, respectively, and the company made the momentous (and correct) decision to go all in on them. They were the final two contenders in the 2005 match. In controversial fashion, Batista won. Both would go on to become their respective brand's world champions at WrestleMania 21, an event seen as a changing of the guard.

Though he lost the match, John Cena would go on to become the bigger star of the two. WWE had finally found its next "guy." He would go on to lead the company for a decade.

#1: 1998

The WWF would stand tall once again with Austin leading the way.

The WWF was in a dark place in 1996 and 1997. For a while, it was doubtful if the company would survive. With the nWo and a heel Hulk Hogan leading the charge, WCW was at its peak in popularity. nWo shirts were a common sight during those years and Nitro was beating RAW week in and week out in the ratings. Things looked so bad that there was the talk of the WWF holding events solely in its northeastern homeland. Moreover, Vince McMahon couldn't afford to keep his top star, Bret Hart.

Backstage issues and dissension compounded the financial problems. Things looked grim indeed.

Vince McMahon didn't then have a star of the calibre of Hulk Hogan or Sting, who were heading into what was being billed as the "Match of the Century," but there was one bright spot. Since his "Austin 3:16" promo in June of 1996, Stone Cold Steve Austin was getting incredibly over. His widely-praised match with Bret Hart saw him turn babyface and plant the seeds for the megastar that he would become. Even in 1997, Stone Cold Steve Austin was the top merchandise seller in the entire industry.

In December of that year, WCW showed its vulnerability by botching the highly-anticipated Hogan/Sting match at Starrcade. Vince McMahon wasted no time in pouncing. The next month, he pulled the trigger on Stone Cold's mega push by anointing him as the Royal Rumble winner for the second year in a row, and this time, he'd be getting his title shot at WrestleMania.

In came Mike Tyson to get him that much more over. Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship and was cemented as the top star in the company. It was an unambiguous changing of the guard. The New Generation Era was out. The Attitude Era was in.

The ratings would soon turn in the WWF's favour and the balance of power would change drastically. By the end of 1998, the WWF had a decisive advantage in the Monday Night Wars, and to make matters better, its peak still hadn't come. WCW would go on to make tremendous mistakes the following year, while Stone Cold Steve Austin would only take the WWF higher.

The strategic situation had completely changed and the Royal Rumble match of 1998 was a vital ingredient to making it happen. It isn't a stretch to say that its outcome saved the company and began the end for WCW.