The 30 Best Wrestlers to Never Win the WWE Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble is not only one of the most entertaining gimmick matches WWE has to offer, but it’s a bit of a rite of passage to win. Considering how the winner is supposed to get a title opportunity at WrestleMania, it makes sense that it’s supposed to be yet another way to paint wrestlers as a big deal. It’s an exclusive club, won by just a couple of dozen wrestlers.

There are some wrestlers who never get to win, but they do pretty damn well for themselves. Maybe they last a long time or eliminate a ton of opponents or make it to the very end. Maybe all of the above! This list is about celebrating the Royal Rumble participants who couldn’t quite pull it off in the end, but certainly made their impact.

A couple of notes to get started:

First, Big Show’s not on the list because I’m counting his Royal Rumble 2000 “victory.” For those who don’t know or don’t remember, he lost at the end to the Rock, but had the decision overturned at a later date. Many years later, Rock conceded that Big Show was the real winner. So the way I see it, they both won.

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Second, Kofi Kingston’s not on the list either. Yes, he’s done some cool shit over the years, but he never really accomplished anything outside of being memorable at the match. He staved off elimination only to be eliminated a minute later. It’s a moot point.

30. SANTINO MARELLA

On one hand, as the go-to comedy character, Santino will go down in history as one of the worst Rumble competitors. Not only does he have the record for quickest elimination, but almost all of his runs in the Rumble have lasted for mere moments, and the only elimination he’s pulled off in his entire career is Ricardo Rodriguez.

Unfortunately, based on a technicality, I have to include him on this list because he came very, very close to winning the 2011 Rumble. Upon entering the ring, he got knocked out and rolled to the floor. He came to after Del Rio cleared the ring of Randy Orton, seemingly making Del Rio the winner of the match. Santino snuck back in, delivered the Cobra, took too long celebrating, and ultimately got thrown out when trying to capitalize.

That’s right. Guys like Daniel Bryan aren’t even on this list, yet this goofball is.

29. ANDRE THE GIANT

Andre competed in only two Royal Rumbles: 1989 and 1990. In 1989, he dominated the ring for a good fifteen minutes, even fighting off both members of Demolition on his own. He eliminated three men in the match (Smash, Ronnie Garvin, and Jake Roberts) and only lost because Jake came back later to throw Damien into the ring, causing the frightened Andre to run out over the top rope and eliminate himself.

Of course, the real reason was that Andre was so broken down that even being there for fifteen minutes felt like a herculean task. Regardless, he was the first guy in Rumble history to truly feel like he owned the ring.

Honorable mention goes to Bill Goldberg, who also dominated the ring, took out three guys, and lost unfairly back in 2004. Unlike Andre, he lasted only two minutes before getting dumped out.

28. BRAUN STROWMAN

In the 2016 Rumble, Braun showed up as part of the Wyatt Family. It took the basic concept of the Rumble monster and turned it on its head. Usually, the other competitors have to team up to overwhelm the big guy. This time, the big guy is part of the big team-up. Helped out by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, Braun took out a total of five opponents.

That comes with an asterisk, as Braun only took out Brock Lesnar after already having been eliminated and as being part of a four-on-one attack. Even then, the big man took out the likes of Kane, Big Show, Mark Henry, and...Sami Zayn. Wow, those two have been at it for a while.

27. BAM BAM BIGELOW

On the night of January 22, 1994, Bam Bam Bigelow was a very busy man. He spent eight minutes wrestling Tatanka to open the show. Then he reappeared later on to help lynch the Undertaker along with the other heels. Once that was done, he made his first and only Royal Rumble match appearance and did quite well.

Bam Bam went for about a half hour and during that time helped eliminate some of the bigger threats like Diesel, Mabel, and Crush. He also took out his two rivals at the time, Doink and Tatanka. Yes, Bam Bam was doing all right for himself up until Lex Luger smashed him with his metal arm and Bam Bam ate shit on the arena floor.

26. MABEL

Big Daddy V was a Royal Rumble regular, getting nine appearances to his various names from 1994 to 2008. While never treated as a main event monster (at least in January), he always had a spot as the dynamic big guy who was never going to win, but he’d always make his victorious opponents look better due to his size. It took nine people just to get him out of the ring in 2007!

His best showing was in 1999, where he beat up Mosh and stole his spot. In less than a minute and a half, he cleansed the ring of Dan Severn, Steve Blackman, Tiger Ali Singh, Blue Meanie, and Droz.

Goddamn, that’s the most 1999 list of wrestlers imaginable.

The only reason Mabel stopped crushing folks was because the Ministry of Darkness beat him up, dragged him over the top rope, kidnapped him, and turned him into one of their own.

25. RANDY SAVAGE

When it comes to the Royal Rumble, Randy Savage is a lot like Santino. The difference is Santino is a comedy character whose ineptitude is played up while Savage is a main-eventer and all-time great who is just not that good at this match. His performances were okay at best, but he never left his mark.

But at least there’s Royal Rumble 1993. Savage entered at #30 and ended up as Yokozuna’s final victim. By moving out of the way of a running Yokozuna at the right moment, Savage caused Yokozuna to fall to the mat for the first time in the sumo’s career. Savage smartly followed with an elbow off the top rope, then stupidly followed with a pin attempt.

Snap into a silver medal.

24. CRUSH

There have been so many iterations of Crush in WWF alone that it’s interesting to watch him evolve through his Rumble appearances. Too bad we never got Surfer Dude Crush to make a Rumble appearance. I really liked him.

Crush had done fine in these kind of matches, but his showing in 1995 was a rather interesting aberration. Crush had left the company for a few months and was fated to be arrested shortly after his reappearance, so they give him a boost in the 1995 Rumble that would never amount to anything. Coming out at #30, he took out five opponents, which was more than British Bulldog did despite being there for the entire match. Crush eliminated Fatu, Adam Bomb, both Smoking Gunns, and helped Shawn Michaels get rid of Lex Luger.

Crush ended up in third place, as Bulldog got the best of him.

23. THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR

Warrior has only been in two Rumbles with just one worth mentioning. The 1990 Rumble was won by Hulk Hogan, but it was a vehicle to get Warrior over just a little bit more and setup the main event for WrestleMania VI. Warrior appeared at #21 and mixed it up with the full ring of wrestlers, showing no signs of taking damage. Once Hulk Hogan arrived a few spots later, the two cleaned out the ring within moments. Warrior eliminated six men and then went head-to-head against Hogan.

Warrior got thrown out several minutes later, but at least he looked pretty damn unstoppable for a man who lasted 14:29.

22. SETH ROLLINS

So far, Rollins has only been in one Rumble. He drew #2 in 2014 and lasted for 48:37. It’s a good showing and all, but fell into the background. For one, CM Punk lasted longer. Second, not only did Roman Reigns get all the focus for getting 12 eliminations and breaking that record, but two of Rollins’ eliminations were team efforts (namely Rusev and Great Khali).

At least Rollins got the biggest pop of the match for taking care of that pesky Rey Mysterio. That’ll teach you to not be Daniel Bryan!

21. DOLPH ZIGGLER

Ziggler’s Rumble career had a rough start. When he showed up in the 2009 match, he immediately introduced himself to Kane and offered a handshake. Kane happily dumped him out and Ziggler was out in twenty-one seconds. While he’s gradually improved over the next couple years, Ziggler’s Rumble exploits have for the most part been pretty tame.

That is, except 2013. Ziggler stepped in at #1 and was surprised to see his old rival Chris Jericho make his return at #2. The two played out their rivalry through the whole match. Near the end, Ziggler got the better of Jericho and eliminated him. Ziggler’s success then came to a close as Sheamus took him down. Ziggler went for 49:47, which is nothing to sneeze at.

Hit the next page for entrants 20-11 in our Rumble of also-rans!