And so our ranking of every WWE Royal Rumble entrant arrives at its conclusion—the top 20. This elite tier is almost exclusively Royal Rumble winners, including the lowest ranked multi-time winner, the first second-generation winner, the top-ranked non-winner in history, all four back-to-back winners, and the only three-time winner ever. Full-on Rumble royalty, with the cream of the crop at the very end.
#20: Drew McIntyre and Nia Jax (Tie)
Drew McIntyre and Nia Jax is as oddball a pairing superficially as they are in terms of how they each racked up 176 points to tie for 20th place. For McIntyre, the story centers on his 2020 Royal Rumble showing. His first of six eliminations saw him Claymore Brock Lesnar right over the top rope. Lesnar was not only his usual monster self, but was reigning Universal Champion and had an especially dominant run of tallying 13 eliminations before McIntyre entered at 16. McIntyre would go on to win the whole Rumble to set him up to unseat Lesnar for the title at WrestleMania. In The Scottish Warrior's seven other Rumble appearances, he recorded just under two hours more ring time and twelve more eliminations.
For Nia Jax's part, she's the highest ranked woman to have never won a Royal Rumble. She was only the fourth woman to enter a men's Rumble and the only person to ever work both the men's and women's Rumbles in the same night. Despite only getting a little over an hour of cumulative ring time in seven Rumble appearances, the biggest story for The Annihilator comes down to eliminations as she's credited with 29 over her career—enough to best John Cena and place ninth overall across men and women for most eliminations ever (and second most overall among wrestlers to have never actually won the Rumble).
#19: Bianca Belair
Bianca Belair's run in the 2021 Royal Rumble is about as traditional as a WWE rags-to-riches story can get. Often overlooked and underutilized, The EST went from just another face in a field of 30 women to lasting 56 minutes to emerge victorious in the Rumble from the #3 entry spot, before converting this triumph into winning a WrestleMania main event and her first world championship.
That performance alone would elevate Belair to Rumble royalty. She has worked four other Rumbles to date too, though, to accumulate just shy of four hours of total ring time in the match, not to mention sixteen career eliminations. Belair has every chance of winning another Rumble at some point or another in her career, but even if she doesn't, her endurance and power make her a real threat to put in further marathon performances and keep adding to her elimination total for years to come.
#18: Bayley
While Bayley stans won't hesitate to point out the ways in which Bayley has been under-utilized despite being among the greatest performers in WWE history, her steady space as one of the top names in the women's division has allotted her six Royal Rumble appearances, and, most remarkably, she has averaged over 30 minutes per outing. That substantial ring time facilitated her racking up 18 career eliminations to date.
Of course, the biggest story for Bayley comes down to 2024 when she lasted 63 minutes from the #3 entry position to win it all, last eliminating Liv Morgan, who had entered at #30.
#17: Batista
The 9 years that passed between Batista's two Royal Rumble victories are a testament to just how big a star he was in the world of professional wrestling. It's also fun to look back at the two victories in consideration of how different they were. In 2005, The Animal was an up-and-comer. Though he was a Rumble favorite, he was also very unproven as a singles talent, let alone a main eventer or babyface. A muddled finish with fellow rising star John Cena may not have added much confidence, but to Batista's credit, he saw his story through with an epic babyface turn against Evolution and unseating Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania to become a viable main eventer for years to follow.
Batista comes out the lowest ranked multi-time Rumble winner on this countdown, but that's largely on account of efficiency—winning two Rumbles in only five tries, with under 78 minutes in the ring total. His 13 eliminations are noteworthy, but not all that remarkable in comparison to other individuals who won it all twice.
#16: Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins represents an interesting case in Royal Rumble history. 2019 saw him do a lot of traditional things—be a top-performing, lowkey underdog babyface with a groundswell of support, win the Rumble from an early entry position (10), and go on to beat a top heel for a world title at WrestleMania.
The odd part is that, while this journey was as classic as could be, it also came well after Rollins was an established star—indeed, four years after he'd won his first world title at a WrestleMania. Just the same, that victory was the key element of The Visionary's seven Royal Rumble appearances to date, complete with nineteen eliminations and just a shave under three full hours of ring time.
#15: Rhea Ripley
Rhea Ripley is, by the numbers, an incredibly complete Royal Rumble performer. Her four outings have yielded one victory, an average of over 34 minutes in the ring per Rumble, and an average of 5 eliminations per Rumble.
The biggest story for The Eradicator naturally comes down to 2023 when she not only won, but did so from the #1 entry spot, lasted over an hour, and registered seven eliminations. That's an objectively great showing that readily enters the conversation for best Rumble performances ever.
#14: Rey Mysterio
When Rey Mysterio entered the 2014 Royal Rumble, a surprise #30, he got booed because fans wanted Daniel Bryan in the ring and, even among those fans who liked Mysterio, it was a letdown to see a veteran with no real chance of winning enter the fray.
Rewind eight years, and the story couldn't have been more different for the Luchador. That year saw Mysterio win the Royal Rumble from the #2 entry spot, going just about wire-to-wire with Triple H, and tallying 6 eliminations, including no lesser names than Helmsley and Randy Orton. The hour and two minute performance was a proving ground for Mysterio en route to winning his first world title at WrestleMania 22. By 2014, Mysterio's status as a main event guy was well established, but in 2006, this was the victory that elevated him from beloved underdog to top-tier star for WWE.
This history combines with Mysterio working a total of 13 Rumbles, accumulating over four hours in the ring, and 14 eliminations total.
#13: Charlotte Flair
In 2020, Charlotte Flair became half of not only the first father-daughter pair to have won a Royal Rumble, but the first nuclear family pair of any gender permutation to win Royal Rumbles (Mr. McMahon and Triple H as a father-in-law and son-in-law, or Anoa'i cousins Yokozuna, The Rock, Roman Reigns, and Jey Uso are probably the next closest things to this milestone otherwise).
Even more impressively, The Queen became the first woman to ever win the Royal Rumble twice when she did it again in 2025. She has 143 minutes of ring time and 15 eliminations to her name as well in four Rumbles. All that spells a .500 record in winning Rumbles she enters, besides the noteworthy bit of trivia that in the years she didn't win she was either first or second runner-up.
#12: Roman Reigns
The story of Roman Reigns's Royal Rumble trajectory is pretty interesting. Though he has only won the Rumble once, he has been a major factor in all six appearances in the match, drawing enormous reactions—for better and for worse—from fans.
In The Big Dog's Royal Rumble debut, he registered a then-record 12 eliminations in just under 34 minutes and finished first runner-up. Reigns had the fans behind him with the excitement of an upstart having a huge performance, besides fans actively rooting against a win for a returning Batista. A lot changed in a year, as Reigns won the 2015 Rumble to nuclear heat in front of a hostile Philly crowd. The 2016 Rumble saw Reigns defend the WWE Championship in the match, to notably lukewarm reactions, as it was all too predictable Triple H was going to screw him in the late stages of the bout.
2017, 2018, and 2020 saw markedly similar stories play out around Reigns as he entered very late and looked as though he might steal the victory—finishing first runner-up each time—and giving Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Drew McIntyre, respectively, big boosts for overcoming him. As it stands, OTC is probably the biggest WWE star of the last 40 years not to have won two Royal Rumbles. A main eventer in peak physical condition, though, there's every chance he'll still pick up that second victory before he hangs up his boots.
#11: Hulk Hogan
From a modern day perspective, fans take it for granted the Royal Rumble is one of the biggest matches of the year and that to win it is an honor quite arguably on par with winning a world championship. That wasn't always the case, though. The first two televised Rumbles were more novelty matches in which Jim Duggan and Big John Studd, respectively, winning was less a signal they were getting main event pushes than an affirmation of them as popular babyfaces whom fans would be happy to see win at the end of a fun battle royal variant.
Hulk Hogan played an enormous role in legitimizing the Royal Rumble. He won the match in 1990 as the reigning WWE Champion and again in 1991 as a springboard to challenging Sgt. Slaughter for the title at WrestleMania 7 (though there was no title shot officially on the line in that, the last Rumble with zero title implications). In so doing, Hogan contributed to this piece of WWE history like he did to so many others, establishing the Rumble as a match that top tier stars participated in and won, along the way becoming the first-ever back-to-back Rumble winner. It's worth noting that in just four Rumble appearances, he tallied no fewer than 27 eliminations.
#10: The Undertaker
The Undertaker is a defining icon of WWE history, but he isn't exactly synonymous with the Royal Rumble. Indeed, while The Dead Man had his WrestleMania streak, main evented SummerSlam with opponents ranging from Bret Hart to Edge to Brock Lesnar to an evil version of himself, and both debuted and commemorated his retirement at Survivor Series, the Rumble doesn't stand out as much on The Phenom's resume.
That said, The Undertaker did win it all in 2007, besides working a noteworthy 11 different Rumbles, credited with 40 eliminations across those years. It's also worth mentioning that every single time he entered the Royal Rumble, he was a credible threat to win it all.
#9: John Cena
John Cena's farewell tour of 2025 was littered with callbacks to his career as he tussled with some of his most iconic rivals, often as not putting a new spin on old moments. This was quietly the case in the Royal Rumble, his first match of his final year. Much like 20 years before, he found himself in the final two, and much like 2005, a very close finish emerged out of which Cena got the short end of the stick, only to wind up winning his way to a WrestleMania title shot anyway at the next PLE.
Between those runner-up bookends, Cena also finished in second place in the 2010 Rumble. More noteworthy, though, he was a two-time Rumble winner. In 2013, he emerged victorious to punch his ticket to a 'Mania rematch with The Rock. It's the 2008 performance that was particularly iconic, though, as Cena had a Mt. Rushmore surprise entry at #30, in Madison Square Garden, to win it all. Cena had been forced to vacate his WWE Championship due to a torn pec the preceding October, and even the most generous reports suggested he'd be out for six months. Seeing him back in the Rumble was a legitimate shock and seismic shift to the main event picture at the launch of WrestleMania season.
Cena's 277-point total owes to nine Rumbles total, nearly two and a half hours in the ring, and 28 career eliminations.
#8: Randy Orton
There's something quite fitting about Randy Orton and John Cena placing just one spot, seven points apart as career-long rivals and peers as defining faces of two decades-plus of WWE history. Orton also won two Royal Rumbles and did so several years apart, in The Viper's case collecting victories in 2009 and 2017.
Orton edged out Cena despite tallying three fewer career eliminations because he worked four more Rumbles and nearly an hour and a half longer in Rumbles. Indeed, these numbers bespeak Orton maintaining more of a full-time schedule while Cena transitioned to off-and-on part-time status in his last decade as a pro wrestler.
#6: Brock Lesnar and Edge (Tie)
Brock Lesnar and Edge have a lot of differences between them, but they share a space as two out of only three wrestlers with over a decade in between their Royal Rumble victories. Edge went 11 years, including a nearly 9-year layoff when he thought his career was over, between winning the match again. For his part, Lesnar holds the record at 19 years between wins, which encompasses 8 years away as he pursued MMA and other interests outside of WWE.
The numbers diverge from there, with Edge working 9 Rumbles to Lesnar's 6 and, in the process, accumulating over two-and-a-half hours more ring time. For The Beast's part, though, eliminations are the name of the game with a total of 32 to Edge's 25.
Lesnar's most memorable Rumble performance actually didn't fall in either year he won it all, but rather 2020, when he entered at number one, threatening to run the gauntlet as he did, in fact, score 13 straight eliminations—a record both for consecutive eliminations and most eliminations overall in a single Rumble—before Drew McIntyre spoiled his run.
2020 was also an iconic Royal Rumble year for Edge as he made the single greatest surprise return in Rumble history, nearly a decade after fans had accepted they'd never see him work a match again.
#5: Kane
Six wrestlers who never won a Royal Rumble nonetheless cracked the top 30 on account of how many times they entered the match, volume of eliminations, or minutes spent in the ring. Nia Jax stood out from that pack in making it to number 20. Only one non-winner placed higher than that, though, and most remarkably of all, made it all the way to the top 5, ahead of the overwhelming majority of people who actually won Rumble matches over the years. To quote Jim Ross, "That's gotta be Kane!"
The Big Red Machine famously holds the record for most eliminations (47, 5 more than the closest runner-up, Shawn Michaels, and, adding in The Undertaker to the mix, one of only three men to ever clear 40 career eliminations). Kane also holds the record for most Rumble appearances (20, 4 more than top runner-up, The Miz). Perhaps most surprising of all, Kane places second all-time for most Royal Rumble minutes without having won the match (behind Chris Jericho), and places 8th all-time overall in this category.
The funny thing is that Kane was never that serious a threat to actually win the Rumble, a three-time world champion (but only if one counts his ECW Championship reign) and often a main event level guy, but never really positioned as the guy. In some ways, that makes it all the more impressive that he remained a Rumble wrecking ball whom, even if fans didn't expect to win, nonetheless all but guaranteed some carnage once he hit the ring. This was the case, in particular, in 2001 when he tallied a then-single-night record of 11 eliminations and finished second only to Stone Cold Steve Austin.
#4: Triple H
It's no surprise that Triple H would crack the top five of this list given his longevity and especially his longevity as a main event guy in WWE. He worked 9 Royal Rumbles all told (a figure that would probably have been much higher had he not also worked 6 singles title matches at the Rumble PLE). Along the way, his 32 career eliminations were enough to tie him for fifth all-time, and with 231 minutes he also finished 5th all-time for time spent in Royal Rumble matches.
The Game's two Rumble victories each tell their own story as well. In 2002, he was a conquering hero—a babyface returning from a legitimately catastrophic injury to pick up the inspirational win and get right back to WrestleMania main eventer status. By contrast, when he won again 14 years later, it was a predictable swerve that saw him enter at #30, a heel authority figure returning from a kayfabe injury to spoil Roman Reigns's good time.
Triple H's placement on this list says a lot about what he meant to WWE as an in-ring performer—an all-time great and major star who hung with WWE through thick and thin to remain relevant working Rumble matches in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.
#3: Cody Rhodes
Were it not for the numeric-formula-driven nature of this list, some readers would surely call recency bias and hold it against Cody Rhodes. The numbers speak for themselves, though, as not only two-time, but back-to-back Royal Rumble winner status immediately placed The American Nightmare in the rarefied air of Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and Steve Austin (only one of whom he has topped).
Indeed, while Rhodes was never a serious contender to win the Rumble in his first WWE tenure, he did assemble noteworthy numbers, staying in the ring for long stretches and picking up his share of eliminations. Things went to a different level for him after returning to WWE in 2022, though. Winning first from the #30 entry spot (with a not-too-shabby 15 minutes in the ring and 5 eliminations), then from #15 (43 minutes and 4 eliminations) proved he was here to stay as a main event guy.
It's unlikely anyone is going to supplant the top two guys on this countdown anytime soon, but—particularly if he were to win a third Rumble—Rhodes is the current star who could feasibly make it happen before he retires, given 58 points separate him from the number one spot.
#2: Steve Austin
There's a real case to be made that no wrestler is more synonymous with the Royal Rumble than Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin was the first and remains the only wrestler to date to have ever won the match three times. Moreover, his smashmouth, chaotic style was a near-perfect fit for the Rumble environment that, in his heyday, invited a huge pop when he hit the ring only to unleash a fury of offense, stunning anything that moved en route to elimination after elimination. Add on that, besides winning the 1997, 1998, and 2001 Royal Rumbles, Austin was the first runner-up in 1999 and made the final three in 2002.
The Texas Rattlesnake's every Rumble outing was memorable as well. A controversial finish saw a still-heel Austin manipulate a referee's distraction to steal the victory from Bret Hart in 1997. In 1999, the Rumble match revolved around Stone Cold's war with Mr. McMahon. Austin also memorably dispatched of a dominant Kane at the end of the 2001 edition and an upstart young star in The Rock to win in 1998.
A vocal contingent of WWE fans speculated John Cena might tie Austin's three Rumble victory mark in 2025, but in WWE not going there—giving the sentimental win to its biggest stars on his retirement tour, when he was headed for a WrestleMania main event anyway—it seemed like a testament to WWE seeing Austin's position as the only three-time winner as sacred and a mark unlikely to be matched, let alone exceeded, for a very long time.
With 36 eliminations (fourth most ever), The Bionic Redneck's efficiency also bespoke a downfall, though, as only working five Rumbles, despite logging two and a half hours in the ring, left him three points short of another performer's totals.
#1: Shawn Michaels
Call him Mr. WrestleMania. Cite his myriad great performances at SummerSlam. Note that, particularly in the second act of his career, he established himself as an elimination tag team match great at Survivor Series. Take all that into account, but Shawn Michaels also made a formidable case to be called the greatest Royal Rumble performer of all time.
HBK's Royal Rumble resume is incredible as the first man to win the Royal Rumble from the number one entry spot and just the second person to ever win back-to-back Rumbles (not to mention that he was the first to win back-to-back in the era of WrestleMania title shots being on the line). He was only the third heel to win the Rumble and the first wrestler to ever win it as both a heel and a babyface. When he wasn't winning, he had three other final four appearances.
With 42 eliminations to his name, Michaels is second only to Kane in that department, and his 225 minutes in the ring place him 6th all-time. All of that happened across twelve Royal Rumble appearances ranging from 1989 to 2010.
With an accumulated 388 points via the established scoring system, Michaels' longevity, talent, stamina in the ring, and ability to deliver exciting performances across eras all served him startlingly well. Many consider him the greatest professional wrestler of all time, and now he gets his just due, recognized as the greatest to ever enter the Rumble.
Series Complete
You've reached the end of our ranking of every WWE Royal Rumble entrant ever!