Still, sometimes the Rumble’s most impressive workers are those who don’t win.

You see it a lot in the Royal Rumble - someone comes in and dominates the field, but is then shockingly eliminated either to the chagrin or the delight of the audience. Rikishi did it in 2000, The Great Khali did it in ‘07, and Braun Strowman did it in 2016. It’s an often used Rumble narrative, but it’s an effective one nonetheless.

But sometimes, someone doesn’t even need to eliminate that many people to have a huge impact on the match. Sometimes, all it takes is lasting a long time. Bob Backlund lasted over an hour in 1993, and he only threw out two people. Dolph Ziggler went over 49 minutes and made it to the Final Four from the #1 spot in 2013, and he only eliminated two as well. Davey Boy Smith lasted the entire length of the match in 1995 and came infamously close to winning the whole thing, and he only tossed out three people. See what I mean?

With that, I have narrowed down the list of the 5 best Royal Rumble competitors to never win the match. A few factors influenced my decision making, such as how many total eliminations they have, how much cumulative time they’ve spent in the Rumble, as well as some related statistics from individual Royal Rumbles (i.e. a year where they eliminated an exceptional number of superstars, a year where they lasted a very long time, etc.).

I would like to give an Honorable Mention to Kofi Kingston before I begin, as his elimination avoidance strategies have become things of legend over the years. Unfortunately, his overall numbers just weren’t impressive enough to crack the Top 5, but he does deserve a mention nonetheless. If you think there’s someone I missed, go ahead and mention them in the comments.

Anyway, onto the list!

#5 Cody Rhodes

This entry may be a bit surprising for some given how largely misused Cody was in WWE, but if you take a look at his numbers it may make a lot more sense to see him here.

Cody Rhodes entered a total of eight Royal Rumble matches, six as himself and two as Stardust. In his first go in 2008, he lasted a fairly impressive 23:14. The next year, he did even better, going 36 minutes and 59 seconds and even tossing out two competitors. 2010 was, unfortunately, his worst year; he only went 7:53 and didn’t eliminate anyone.

However, he very much redeemed himself in 2012 by putting on his best performance to date - he entered at #4 and tossed out 5 people (more than anyone else that year) in 34 minutes and 57 seconds. The next year, he did almost as well, as he entered at #3, went 27:27, and eliminated four guys. In his last appearance in the Rumble under the Cody Rhodes name in 2014, he once again entered at #4, going 20:51 and having a hand in eliminating the debuting Rusev.

His last two appearances as Stardust were nothing to write home about, though he did manage to exceed 12 minutes on both occasions.

In total, Rhodes racked up 12 eliminations in 8 entries, meaning he averaged 1.5 eliminations per Rumble. His cumulative time in the match was 3 hours, 8 minutes, and 30 seconds, the sixth longest ever and the third longest out of anyone who never won. He was even one of the final three competitors in the 2009 Royal Rumble. Not too shabby.

#4 The Big Show

“How can anyone possibly eliminate The Big Show?!”

Yes, I know that this banal commentary has become somewhat of a meme among the wrestling community, as someone has always managed to eliminate The Big Show from the Royal Rumble. Still, we cannot discount The Giant’s impressive overall performance in the match.

In every Rumble he’s entered, Big Show has been rightfully built up as a threat, both by commentators and wrestlers. While his cumulative time of 1:18:27 is nothing special, especially considering he’s tied for second most Rumbles ever entered (12 times), his dominating history of eliminations more than makeup for that.

So far, Big Show has eliminated 31 people from the match (the sixth most ever and the second most out of anyone who hasn’t won), meaning he averages about 2.5 eliminations per entry. This also means he’s eliminated more people than there are entrants in one Rumble.

He is also pretty consistently among the final men in the match. In his 11-minute, 12-second performance in 2000, he threw out four men and was the runner-up to The Rock. He was the runner-up once again in 2004 and, though he eliminated the same number of men that year, he more than doubled his time from 2000.

But perhaps his most dominant performance was in 2009 when he took out 6 people (the most of anyone else that year) in just over 9-and-a-half minutes. He would once again end up in the Final Four in both 2012 and 2015, giving him the second most all-time appearances in the Final Four (4 times). His two appearances in the Final Two also give him the distinction of most Final Two appearances without having won. Still, he only went over 10 minutes twice and only went over 20 minutes once.

But hey, at least he got to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal that one time…

#3 CM Punk

For only having appeared in six Royal Rumbles, CM Punk’s numbers are pretty remarkable.

Punk lasted a total of 2 hours, 39 minutes, and 6 seconds, never once going under 10 minutes. His worst time was ten minutes and three seconds in 2010, but that was also the year he delivered his famous “Sermon on the Mount,” where he boasted that he would be the first straightedge Royal Rumble winner. He eliminated five people that year and spent almost the entire first third of the match as the only person in the ring.

His performances in his other five Rumbles weren’t too bad either. He holds the distinction of being the only person on this list to have eliminated at least one person in every single Royal Rumble he entered. Punk managed to throw out a grand total of 18 competitors in his six appearances, giving him an average of 3 eliminations per Rumble. This means that, on average, CM Punk eliminated a tenth of the field in every Royal Rumble he entered.

His last two Royal Rumble appearances proved the most fruitful for his numbers. In 2011, he went 35:11 and eliminated 7 men (more than anyone else that year) alongside his Nexus brethren. As of this writing, he is one of only 16 men to have eliminated 7 or more people in a single Rumble. Finally, in 2014, Punk entered at #1 and made it all the way until the Final Four, going an astonishing 49 minutes and 11 seconds, the 17th longest of all time. This also makes him one of 13 men to have entered at #1 or #2 and lasted until #30, as well as one of just 11 men to have made it to the Final Four from said position.

Maybe he was right when he called himself “The Best in the World”…

# 2 Chris Jericho

In the 31 year history of the Royal Rumble match, no one has spent more time in it than Chris Jericho.

Across his 10 appearances in the match, the Ayatollah of Rock-and-Rollah has lasted an astonishing 4 hours and 56 minutes total. In these 10 appearances, he has only gone under 20 minutes four times, he has only gone under 10 minutes twice, and he has exceeded a full half an hour on five separate occasions.

He has gone “coast-to-coast” (entered at #1 or #2 and made it all the way to entrant #30) twice, once in 2013 (which saw him return as a surprise entry) and again in 2017. Two of his Rumble times are in the Top 20 longest times spent in a single Rumble; his one hour and 13-second performance in 2017 comes in at #5, while his 50 minutes, 50 second run in 2016 ranks at #13. He has appeared in the Final Four on two separate occasions and even made it to the Final Two in 2012.

Aside from his penchant for longevity, Y2J has a decent elimination record as well. In total, he’s eliminated 18 men, which gives him an average of 1.8 eliminations per Rumble. 2003 gave him the biggest boost to this number, as he threw out a fifth of the field (6 competitors; more than anyone else that year). The only time he entered without eliminating anyone was in 2010 when he entered at #28 went just 2:24 before being eliminated by the returning and vengeful Edge (who was the eventual winner). Even still, he just barely missed the Final Four that year.

You know what happens when you rack up numbers like that in the Royal Rumble, Jericho? Huh? You know what happens? YOU JUST MADE THE LIST!

#1 Kane

Many have called the Royal Rumble “Kane’s match,” as it’s pretty commonly agreed upon that Kane is the greatest Rumble competitor to never actually win the match.

Kane has entered a total of 19 Royal Rumbles in his career, 17 of which under the mask, 1 as Isaac Yankem in 1996, and 1 as “Diesel” in 1997. He has 7 more total Rumble entries under his belt than the two people tied for second most Royal Rumble appearances (Big Show and Shawn Michaels). Now, the smarta** in you may be thinking, “how can Kane possibly be so great at the Royal Rumble if he’s entered way more times than anyone else and never won?” And if you are, don’t worry, because the smarta** in me said the same thing.

Here’s why -

Now, I shouldn’t have to go through much further elaboration after I say that he has thrown out a total of 44 competitors so far in Royal Rumbles, more than anyone else ever has. He’s averaging around 2.3 eliminations per Rumble, which is especially noteworthy considering he’s been in 19 of them. An entire quarter of this astronomical number of eliminations comes from just one Rumble; the 2001 Royal Rumble, to be precise.

Kane threw out 11 superstars (over a third of the field), a record that would remain in place for 14 years. On top of that, he lasted 53 minutes and 46 seconds, the tenth longest time spent in a single Rumble. That is no easy feat, especially for a man of his size and stature.

As of now, Kane has spent a total of 3 hours, 38 minutes, and 46 seconds in the Royal Rumble, which gives him the fourth longest cumulative time in history. He has been in the Final Four on six separate occasions (more than anyone else), five times as Kane and once as “Diesel” in 1997. To add yet another accolade to his now-legendary performance in 2001, he ended up being in the Final Two that year.

And if you take a look at who else was in that match (Stone Cold, The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, Big Show, Drew Carey, etc.), you know that that was one of the most stacked iterations of the match in history.

Though he has had a few short go’s and though he has largely been a victim of the “giant man gets eliminated to put someone else in the match over as a major contender” trope that the WWE uses in just about every Royal Rumble, he has always rightfully been treated as a big deal whenever he enters the fray. For that, he is the all-time best Royal Rumble competitor to never win the match.

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