5 Royal Rumble Winners Fans Loved (& 5 They Rejected)

The Royal Rumble is one of the biggest victories any wrestler can accomplish in their career. WWE tries to ensure only names already established as top stars or that they believe can become top stars will win the annual Rumble match. The prize of a world title shot at WrestleMania makes it a huge accomplishment for the short and long term.

There have been memorable moments of fans reacting poorly to a wrestler winning the Rumble match. WWE tries to tell the best stories, but they are quite hit or miss when it comes to fan support. We will look at both the winners loved and rejected from the fans. Wrestlers to win with fan love had a better road moving forward. The ones to receive a negative reaction struggled to turn things around. These are five Royal Rumble winners that fans loved and five they rejected.

10 Loved: Shinsuke Nakamura

The push of Shinsuke Nakamura in 2018 saw him win the Royal Rumble on the male side of the matches. Nakamura was quite popular at the time in his first year on the main roster still going. Fans wanted the Nakamura win for a dream match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.

The ovations for Nakamura eliminating Roman Reigns to win the match and naming Styles as his opponent each showed how much the audience was invested. Nakamura unfortunately had a weak showing at WrestleMania 33 and lost his chance at a top spot.

9 Rejected: Batista (2014)

Batista’s two Royal Rumble wins showed both sides of the reaction. Fans loved it when he was breaking out in 2005, but they hated it when he returned to the company in 2014 to instantly win the Rumble. WWE witnessed one of the most hostile reactions from fans when Daniel Bryan was not in the match.

The unhappiness with Bryan being removed from the equation and Batista getting such a major win in a part-time role led to anger. Boos and negative chants showed that fans had no interest in Batista winning. WWE eventually turned him heel and added Bryan to the WrestleMania main event.

8 Loved: John Cena (2008)

John Cena’s two Royal Rumble wins in his career saw the fans reacting extremely positive in shocking fashion back in 2008. No one expected Cena in the match with reported plans of him missing a few more months with a brutal injury.

The 30^th spot saw everyone stunned when Cena made his way to the ring beating the recovery process significantly faster than expected. Madison Square Garden usually booed Cena, but the surprise led to him getting a tremendous reaction as he won the match.

7 Rejected: Vince McMahon

One of the strangest choices in Royal Rumble history saw Vince McMahon win the match in 1999. The war between McMahon and Steve Austin saw Vince enter the match to try to stop his enemy. Both men brawled all over the venue after leaving the ring through the bottom ropes.

McMahon used a distraction to eliminate Austin last and win the match. The storyline would see Austin win the title shot back on the road to WrestleMania 15, but an actual heel wrestler getting this opportunity would have improved the program and helped build another star.

6 Loved: Becky Lynch

2019 was the year Becky Lynch took over the wrestling world. The start of the year for Lynch actually saw her lose the Smackdown Women’s Championship match to Asuka at the Royal Rumble event. Becky however would find her way back into the show when replacing an injured Lana in the Rumble match.

Fans reacted with huge cheers as Lynch was the hottest act in the wrestling industry. The win for Becky created excitement as fans realized the big match against Ronda Rousey was coming at WrestleMania 35. Lynch’s Rumble win started one of the most dominant years in WWE history.

5 Rejected: Lex Luger

WWE badly wanted Lex Luger to replace Hulk Hogan as the new face of the company. The physique of Luger and the patriotic gimmick didn’t find the same success as Hogan. Fans never responded to Luger as the major star WWE expected him to become.

The 1994 Royal Rumble win saw Luger losing more momentum as the co-winner with Bret Hart. Prior plans of Luger winning saw WWE hedge their bets by keeping Hart in the equation. Luger never fully won over the audience to take advantage of the win.

4 Loved: Bret Hart

The other half of the 1994 Royal Rumble winners saw Bret Hart get the honor after he and Lex Luger eliminated each other at the same time. Hart was the stronger fan favorite that organically found his way into the title picture.

WWE eventually realized the fans mostly preferred Bret over Luger and couldn’t deny that. The aftermath of the Rumble just raised the momentum of Hart as he won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 10. This was the night he became the face of the compay.

3 Rejected: Sheamus

Sheamus posing on turnbuckles as pyro goes off in the background

The return of Chris Jericho in 2012 saw fans wanting him to win the Royal Rumble match for a rumored title shot against CM Punk at WrestleMania 28. Despite the match still taking place, Jericho was eliminated by the Rumble winner Sheamus.

Fans were already slightly turning on Sheamus in the face role and this made it worse. Sheamus received more boos each week for entering a feud with the beloved heel that was Daniel Bryan. WWE might have found more success for Sheamus if he didn’t win the Rumble match.

2 Loved: The Undertaker

The Undertaker only won one Royal Rumble in his long and legendary career. Fans were all for Undertaker in the 2007 Rumble match. Other fan favorites like Shawn Michaels and the Hardy Boyz received support, but it was clear they wanted Undertaker to win that match.

WWE went with the hot hand and had Undertaker win by eliminating Michaels after an incredible ending. The win and road to WrestleMania 23 made Undertaker the most beloved star. Everyone wanted him to win the Rumble and that support only grew when defeating Batista at WM.

1 Rejected: Roman Reigns

WWE clearly mistimed the fan reaction to Roman Reigns when pushing him to the moon. Reigns received some of the loudest boos in WWE history in the 2015 Royal Rumble match. Fans were already livid when Daniel Bryan was eliminated early in the match.

The resentment grew harsher when the Philly crowd realized Roman was going to dominate the match after rumors broke out that he was Vince McMahon’s favorite. Reigns received boos in a horrible night for WWE. Even The Rock making a surprise appearance to raise Roman’s hand didn’t change the audience reaction that night.

NEXT: 5 Most Exciting No. 30 Royal Rumble Entries Ever (& The 5 Most Boring)