5 Royal Rumbles that happened on WWE RAW or SmackDown

Royal Rumble is always the most exciting pay-per-view on the WWE calendar, with anticipation building for the titular match. As a concept, it is simple yet so effective. It is an annual tradition to have a Royal Rumble Match - two now - at the end of January to set the stage for WrestleMania in two months.

However, there have been a few matches born out of the Royal Rumble concept that happened on free TV. Aside from Royal Rumble events and Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, WWE has booked five unconventional Rumble matches on RAW or SmackDown.

A lot of them were made in relation to that year's Royal Rumble Match, either as part of the build to it or in its aftermath. There have also been several non-televised Royal Rumbles that happened at house shows, but this list will focus on those Rumble matches that took place on normal episodes of WWE.

Here are five Royal Rumbles that happened on RAW or SmackDown.

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#5 Tag Team Royal Rumble won by Kane and Mankind (WWF RAW 15/6/1998)

Kane and Mankind won a #1 Contender's Tag Team Rumble match.

The only match on this list not to be based around that year's Royal Rumble Match in January, this number one contender's tag team Royal Rumble. It was an express version of the Rumble, with teams entering in 30-second intervals and only one member of each team needing to be eliminated.

This match included such 'staple' tag teams like LOD 2000, The Headbangers, and The Disciples of Apocalypse. However, it was the Kane and Mankind show. They entered first and dominated their way through the field, last eliminating Terry Funk and 2 Cold Scorpio.

As a result, the masked pair earned a WWE Tag Team Championship match against The New Age Outlaws. This match came directly before their Hell in a Cell challenge against 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and The Undertaker, as it was during the build to the infamous King of the Ring 1998 pay-per-view.

That show proved to be quite a memorable night for both Kane and Mankind, for very different reasons. One won his only WWE Championship, while the other nearly fell to his death. As for the title shot they earned by winning the tag team Royal Rumble, Kane and Mankind became Tag Team Champions in July 1998.

#4 Corporate Royal Rumble won by Chyna (WWF RAW 11/1/1999)

WWE had an emphasized focus on the 1999 Royal Rumble Match, with the story between 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Vince McMahon being the primary one. In fact, it was pretty much the only story that consumed the match and its build. One of the more fun moments of it came on the January 11th RAW.

Austin was already set to enter first, in an attempt from McMahon to stop him from winning three Royal Rumbles in a row. Meanwhile, there was a Royal Rumble Match between members of the Corporation and DX to see who would get the number 30 spot in the main event match at the pay-per-view.

While it seemed like Triple H was the last man in the match, the buzzer sounded, and out came a jacked Vince McMahon. He eliminated his future son-in-law and thought he had won the match, but the buzzer sounded again. It was revealed that Chyna was also part of the Corporate Royal Rumble.

She ended up eliminating Vince McMahon and winning the match, with some major help from Stone Cold. As a result, Chyna became the first woman to enter a Royal Rumble Match. However, the Chairman of WWE would have the last laugh. He won the 1999 Rumble Match from number 2.

#3 Mini Royal Rumble won by Hornswoggle (WWE RAW 14/1/2008)

Hornswoggle had a warm-up match prior to the 2008 Rumble.

This Royal Rumble Match was truly weird. The entire story of Hornswoggle being Vince McMahon's illegitimate son was weird. However, WWE persisted with it going into 2008. The little man even entered that year's Royal Rumble Match. The actual thing.

Before the event, on the January 14th RAW, Vince McMahon decided to give Hornswoggle a warm-up match before his 'big' appearance. It was a six-man mini-Royal Rumble, which featured mini versions of legendary Superstars like Kane, Mankind, and Batista.

Hornswoggle was able to eliminate all of them and dominated the match, at least until The Great Khali entered. However, before the Punjabi giant could hurt him, Finlay ran out to protect his little friend. He sent Khali packing, which technically meant that Hornswoggle had won the match.

He entered the actual Royal Rumble at number 9 and immediately went under the ring. He came out in brief moments after that and even pulled The Miz out at one point, but did not officially get eliminated. Funnily, Hornswoggle is one of only three WWE Superstars to be a part of Royal Rumble matches featuring 30, 40, and 50 men.

#2 15-man Royal Rumble won by Eddie Guerrero (WWE SmackDown 29/1/2004)

The 2004 Royal Rumble Match saw Chris Benoit win the entire match from number 1. It was an incredibly spirited performance, one worthy of the main event of WrestleMania. Initially a SmackDown Superstar, Benoit shifted to RAW to challenge World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H.

As a result, Paul Heyman's Blue brand was without a number one contender at the start of WrestleMania season. So what did he decide to do? Well, of course. He held a full-blown 15-man Royal Rumble Match to determine a number one contender for Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship at No Way Out.

Eddie Guerrero won the match after last eliminating Kurt Angle, who had stayed in the match from the very beginning. This was the beginning of Latino Heat's ascent to the top of the WWE mountain. Guerrero lied, stole, and cheated his way to an improbable victory over Lesnar at No Way Out.

This is probably the highest-profile Royal Rumble on this list, particularly for its size and what happened next. The fact that Eddie Guerrero won this unique contest makes it all-the-more special. The final two of this match, Guerrero and Angle, would go on to have a WWE title classic at WrestleMania 20.

#1 7-man Royal Rumble won by Jerry Lawler (WWE RAW 31/1/2011)

The most recent Royal Rumble Match to happen on RAW or SmackDown happened nearly ten years ago, following the biggest Rumble in the pay-per-view's history. That is because 2011's 40-man Royal Rumble was topped by the 50-man Greatest Royal Rumble Match in 2018.

Anyway, one night after SmackDown's Alberto Del Rio won the actual one, RAW hosted a seven-man Rumble where the winner would face The Miz for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber. Jerry Lawler was part of this match and ended up winning the entire thing.

He last eliminated Sheamus, with some help from John Cena. The remaining six Superstars in the match all entered the Elimination Chamber, with the winner facing the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 27. Meanwhile, Lawler's title shot led to a pretty compelling world title match with The Miz at the pay-per-view.

The King may have lost, but he was as close as a commentator would get to winning the WWE Championship. Unfortunately, this led to his awful WrestleMania match with Michael Cole which he did not even win. Anyway, his seven-man Royal Rumble victory was the biggest in his latter days as an in-ring competitor in WWE.