The Royal Rumble was initially set up as a contest for bragging rights, similar to that of King of the Ring and the winner never received any reward for their victory. This changed in 1992 when the vacant WWF belt was awarded to the winner of the Royal Rumble, Ric Flair, and in 1993 the WWF decided to crown the winner of the Royal Rumble the number 1 contender and would go to main event Wrestlemania for the belt. This was the case until 2006 when Rey Mysterio won the Royal Rumble. Despite his heroic efforts, and the emotional dedication of his victory to his fallen friend in Eddie Guerrero, Rey and his title match was pushed down the Wrestlemania card, a trend that has since been set as the new normal.
Due to the brand split and the creation of the World Heavyweight Championship in 2002, winners of the Royal Rumble were able to choose which champion they would face at Wrestlemania.
Only Chris Benoit in 2004 and Asuka in 2018 have used their Royal Rumble victories to switch brands and challenge for the other brand’s title. Chris Benoit used his Royal Rumble victory to cross from Smackdown to Raw and challenge Triple H for his Heavyweight title. While Asuka crossed from Raw to Smackdown to challenge Charlotte Flair for her Smackdown women’s title.
You can see the other entries in this series below:
Part 1 is here; Part 6 is here
Part 2 is here; Part 7 is here
Part 3 is here; Part 8 is here
Part 4 is here; Part 9 is here
Part 5 is here
#5 Sami Zayn (2018) - Eliminated 5th - 0 Eliminations
Initially scheduled to be Tye Dillinger for the second year in a row, Dillinger was jumped by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
Zayn and Owens had lost a match earlier in the card against AJ Styles for the WWE championship. Taking out their frustrations on Dillinger, Zayn would then take the number 10 spot in the rumble and try to get another right to challenge AJ Styles for the title again.
Needless to say, Zayn was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the Royal Rumble, lasting just shy of the 7-minute mark and eliminating none of the other superstars.
Zayn, much to Kevin Owens’ dismay, was eliminated by eventual winner Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura would go on to face AJ Styles for the title at Wrestlemania, while Owens and Zayn would face Shane McMahon and the recently medically cleared Daniel Bryan in a tag team match at the show of shows.
#4 Ted DiBiase Jr. (2010) - Eliminated 14th - 0 Eliminations
A year after assisting Legacy stablemate, Randy Orton, to win the Royal Rumble from the number 10 spot. Ted DiBiase Jr once again found himself entering the Royal Rumble at the 10th entry. Once again, Ted DiBiase came to the ring with Triple H in the ring in the Royal Rumble, but this time he was without Randy Orton and the ring was significantly emptier.
However, DiBiase would form an alliance with the then Intercontinental champion Drew McIntyre against the ‘Game’, Triple H. Before long DiBiase was joined by his tag team partner Cody Rhodes. The two were eliminated by Shawn Michaels, who would come to the ring as the 18th entry.
Both Rhodes and DiBiase had been attacked earlier in the event by Randy Orton after Rhodes had interfered in Orton’s WWE Championship match against Sheamus, which allowed Sheamus to retain via disqualification. Orton attacked Rhodes and when DiBiase came to make the save, he too was attacked by the Legacy leader.
#3 Test (2000) - Eliminated 17th - 1 Elimination
Andrew Martin, better known as Test during his time at the WWF, was one of the best known of the Midcard talents on the WWF roster. He had been involved in a storyline relationship with Stephanie McMahon and defeated the Big Boss Man for the Hardcore Championship six days before the Rumble Event.
Martin came in at the number 10 position and would perform the Ironman performance of the Royal Rumble lasting 26 minutes and 17 seconds, and being involved in eliminating Rikishi with a group of other wrestlers, as Rikishi had eliminated 7 wrestlers before he was taken out.
Martin’s performance was his best at the Royal Rumble and he was eventually eliminated by the Big Show.
Unfortunately for Martin, he passed away four days shy of his 34th birthday, having just announced his retirement from professional wrestling.
#2 Tye Dillinger (2017) - Eliminated 8th - 0 Eliminations
The man synonymous with the number 10, Tye Dillinger, made his debut at the Royal Rumble, unsurprisingly at the Number 10 spot. It was the most expected of surprise entries that the Rumble has experienced, with rumors of Dillinger’s appearance at the obviously apt 10th spot.
Unfortunately for Dillinger, he ran right into the waiting arms of Braun Strowman who was in the middle of the ring. Dillinger lasted just over 5 minutes against Strowman as he was quickly eliminated by the big man. For Dillinger, it wasn’t his performance in the ring at the Royal Rumble that made this memorable, but the appearance of NXT’s Perfect 10 at the 10th spot of the Rumble was perfection.
Especially considering the fact that Dillinger was in the midst of an intense rivalry with Sanity in NXT, having lost to leader Eric Young at Takeover: San Antonio the previous night.
#1 Ted DiBiase Jr. (2009) - Eliminated 27th - 1 Elimination
Coming in at the number 10 Entry of the 2009 Royal Rumble, Ted DiBiase joined his Legacy stablemate, and they would later be joined by the final Legacy member, Cody Rhodes, in order to help Randy Orton win the Royal Rumble. DiBiase came two entries after Legacy stablemate Randy Orton and three after runner-up Triple H.
Ted DiBiase came close to eliminating both JTG and John Morrison within his first minute in the Royal Rumble and battled the rest of the entrants that came to the Rumble. It was only when Orton and DiBiase were joined by the third member, Cody Rhodes, did they really start to work together as a unit in the Rumble. The three men systematically went around attacking everyone in the ring and managed to eliminate Kane.
The final four would come down to the three members of Legacy against Triple H, but Triple H would eliminate Rhodes and DiBiase before Orton managed to eliminate him. At the end of his time in the Rumble, DiBiase lasted just over 45 minutes.
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