Historically, the Royal Rumble has created some of the most iconic moments in sports entertainment. In fact, the match has also kickstarted the careers of many WWE Superstars during its thirty-year history. Some competitors should have won the match, but instead, they were simply overlooked during this time.
Following its inception in 1988, not many could have expected the careers of many Superstars to have blossomed following victory at the Rumble down the years. Some winners are underserved, and more notably, some wrestlers should have been pushed during that period to claim success on the main event stage.
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It's considered by many as their favourite pay-per-view event, and it's not difficult to see why, but the mistakes the company has made during the history of the event is evident to the average supporter of the business.
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This weekend, the WWE Universe heads into the event looking back upon previous years wondering, what could have been? Victory in the Rumble would have either cemented their legacy even further or else given their career that main event push.
Without further ado, here are five stars who should have won the Royal Rumble match.
#5 Mankind
Mike Foley won everything in wrestling from achieving his dream of claiming the WWE title in 1999 and the first ever hardcore champion, but one honour that eluded Foley's illustrious career was the fact he was never considered a main event star until the final year of his stint as a full-time competitor.
As his rivalry with The Rock was intensifying in early 1999, surely allowing Mankind to win the Royal Rumble could have given him his deserved main event at Wrestlemania when he was so over with the fans.
Don't get me wrong. Wrestlemania XV produced one of, if not the best, main events of all-time, but a triple threat match including Mankind could have been much better for Foley - and the supporters - at that time.
McMahon winning the event made little to no sense and only highlighted the ego of the boss even further. Instead of pretending to be something he wasn't (a wrestler), the Chairman of the board should have allowed Mankind claim victory. Oh, what could have been.....
#4 Kurt Angle
For no reason other than the fact Kurt Angle’s career deserves a Royal Rumble win. The 1996 Olympic hero became an icon during his eight-year stint with the company between 1998-2006.
Angle's career has proven his legacy as one of sports entertainment's greatest competitors, and a Rumble win in either 1999, 2004, or 2006 would have been deserving for Angle. Following his rise to fame in 2000, Angle’s career blossomed on Smackdown! between 2003-2005, more so than any other period.
His intense rivalry with Brock Lesnar remains an iconic angle during Angle’s career and the Olympian remains one of the most underrated stars in the modern era. It's almost a case of what could have been for many Superstars, but there's no denying Angle's career didn't need a Rumble victory, but he was better suited than many other winners during his time in the WWE.
#3 Macho Man Randy Savage
When you look back at previous winners and see the names such as Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, surely Randy Savage was deserving of having his name mentioned as a Royal Rumble winner?
In 1988 the company should have pushed Savage to become the first winner of their new pay-per-view which would have intensified the pop on him in the lead-up to his title success at Wrestlemania IV. Nope, instead, McMahon decided 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan was more worthy of the victory, and not Savage.
Duggan’s career with the WWE was a case of what could have been, while Savage continued to defy the odds and become one of the more famous main eventers during this era. Duggan's career at the WWE was cut short when he was sacked just months later, after being arrested for possession of a class A drug.
#2 The Ultimate Warrior
Before Wrestlemania IV, the winner of the Royal Rumble wasn't necessarily guaranteed a main event match for the title at Wrestlemania. Maybe that’s the only valid reason the Warrior was not pushed to win the Rumble match in 1990 – considering how over with the fans at that time.
But the WWE missed a trick in 1990 when they allowed champion, Hulk Hogan, to win the 30 man Battle Royale for no reason. The 'Hulkster' hadn't won the previous two events and like a petulant child, he was almost craving the focus other wrestlers were receiving from winning the event.
Warrior should have won the match in 1990, which would have made him look even stronger going into the main event at Wrestlemania XI. Instead, Hogan looked more solid and barely allowed Warrior his fifteen minutes of fame.
#1 Mr Perfect
The man who most deserved a Rumble victory was Curt Hennig. The second generation star is widely considered the most underrated competitor in both WWE and WCW history and never really got a deserving push to the main event stage, despite having some of the most iconic matches of that era.
Allowing Perfect to win the Rumble at any stage between 1990-1996 would have catapulted him into the main event stage, and was there anyone more deserving of such a push during that period?
When various stars such as Sgt. Slaughter, The Ultimate Warrior and British Bulldog ( who was deserving, but not as much as Hennig) were pushed during this period, undoubtedly some genius inside WWE HQ could have allowed him his moment with the likelihood of failure remaining slim.
