AJ Styles and others have become stars from the WWE Royal Rumble match in recent years.
AJ Styles broke into WWE at the 2016 Royal Rumble match, creating one of the most memorable moments of the year. He didn’t end up winning, though, as Triple H ended up taking home the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
What Styles did was be created into a star right off the bat, something that WWE has done with other Superstars over the years. He went on to have a WrestleMania match, multiple title shots, and a WWE Championship run that has lasted into 2017.
In general, the Royal Rumble has turned a man that may have been on the rise into a main event talent, or giving him momentum heading into WrestleMania season. Will this be the case again in 2017?
The 2017 Royal Rumble could be the opportunity for more stars to breakout. This includes Baron Corbin, Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman, and others that may see the spotlight in San Antonio, TX. Will any of them go down in history for their Rumble performances?
When it comes to WWE doing this in recent years, it will seem like this has been few and far between, in some cases. However, certain stars have broken out with their respective performances that put them on the map; some of them have been highlighted more than others, including from 2014’s match.
Recent matches may suggest that we will see this happen on January 29. Who were some of the top stars from recent years?
5. AJ Styles – 2016
We’re going to start with AJ Styles from the 2016 Royal Rumble. Did he dominate the match? Not quite. He survived 28 minutes, eliminated two people, and had Kevin Owens eliminate him. This doesn’t exactly scream “star-making performance.”
However, there’s one thing in favor of Styles here—this was his WWE debut.
When the Phenomenal One’s new music started playing, the Amway Center seemed confused as to who this would be. Then they say “I am phenomenal” on the titantron and erupted in excitement for the main roster arrival of Styles, who had been with ROH, TNA, and NJPW for the majority of his wrestling career. This turned him into a global star, someone who WWE fans were well aware of.
What also helped was the rumors that WWE spread on their website about Styles potentially joining the company. This created an almost daily, “Will AJ Styles debut at the Royal Rumble?” headline.
Styles debuting at the Royal Rumble would trigger his immediate superstardom in WWE. He’s now the WWE Champion heading into the 2017 version of this show. It’s been quite the 365 days for him, which will come full circle on Sunday.
4. Chris Benoit – 2004
Chris Benoit, despite being stricken from the WWE record books, had one of the greatest Royal Rumble performances ever. What he did pushed him into the main event scene, something he climbed through the ranks of WWE’s roster to do.
Benoit entered the 2004 Royal Rumble match at No. 1 and played the role of survivor throughout, dodging every big-name Superstar that came after him. He would end up surviving for over one hour to claim the victory and move on to headlining WrestleMania 20 at Madison Square Garden. This saw him defeat two of WWE’s all-time greatest stars, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, in the main event for the World Heavyweight Championship.
This permanently placed the Rabid Wolverine into WWE’s main event scene, which automatically made him a star. It helped that the fans were behind him too, something that started with his in-ring work and not looking like your typical WWE Superstar. Of course, things have changed since then, but Benoit had once been one of the most popular members of the roster.
3. Roman Reigns – 2014
The Shield had begun to show cracks during the end of 2013 and into 2014. It looked like Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins were getting selfish toward wanting the Royal Rumble win to receive a title shot at WrestleMania 30. There were other signs of tension about the potential “leader” of the group, which started with Ambrose, then moved to Rollins, and finally Reigns before they eventually split.
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During the 2014 Royal Rumble match, the Big Dog certainly looked like the Shield’s top guy. A footnote of this is him making a fool out of Ambrose and Rollins by eliminating them at the same time. But that was far from the only thing he did.
Reigns tore through the competitors, eliminating 12 total, breaking Kane’s record of 11 from 2001. Topping a mark set by a future WWE Hall of Fame is an incredible feat, the first of what would be many accolades for him.
The second part would be standing face-to-face with Batista as the final two Superstars left in the match. These two, despite the controversial winner, had a fun back-and-forth performance. It even looked like the former Georgia Tech player would win this, but he got dumped over the ropes to finish a close second.
This benefited Reigns after the Shield split in June, because as Rollins and Ambrose feuded with each other, the former FCW and NXT star jumped into the main event scene. He challenged for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank, and would be vaulted into Royal Rumble contention by the end of the year.
Three years later, Reigns stands tall as one of the top stars in WWE. He has this 2014 star-making performance to look back on as one of the reasons for this.
2. Kane – 2001
Reigns may have broken Kane’s elimination record in 2014, but when looking back on it, the original star-making performance gets the nod here. He had already been a marquee name within WWE too—this just put him on the map more than ever as he became a star of the mid-2000’s.
Kane entered the 2001 Royal Rumble at No. 6 and proceeded to just rip through everyone in the ring and those who entered after him. He ended up eliminating entrant No. 7 to 12 within minutes of them joining the match. This was followed up by Tazz within seconds, Albert, Crash Holly, Scotty 2 Hotty, and the Rock. He even scared Drew Carey out of the ring, which didn’t count as an elimination.
The Big Red Machine looked dominant and seemed to be in line for the Royal Rumble win. Then came Stone Cold Steve Austin, who entered at No. 27 and eliminated Kane to walk out victorious.
Given his size and presence, Kane has always been booked as a force in battle royal matches. WWE never pulled the trigger on him winning a big one, though, and often fell just short. He and Big Show faced this problem for years, until the latter won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal in 2015.
Kane never quite became a bonafide main event star from this, having always played second fiddle to the Undertaker. However, this all-time great performance solidified his status as one of the most dominant stars in WWE.
1. Stone Cold Steve Austin – 1997
Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of WWE’s greatest stars, if not the top Superstar in the company’s history. His anti-heel persona transcended the professional wrestling landscape in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. To get there, he needed to have the fans behind him via WWE making him look like a big deal, which happened plenty of times in 1996 and 1997.
There would be the “Austin 3:16” promo from King of the Ring 1996 that everyone talks about, or the double turn with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13. In the middle of that was the 1997 Royal Rumble match.
First, Austin entered at No. 5 and proceeded to last 45 minutes, which had been one of the top Iron Man times. He also held the elimination record before Kane and Roman Reigns with 10, another star-making quality for his performance.
Throughout this match, fans were getting on the side of Austin’s with cheers, something that had begun somewhat prior to the show. This would be the case when he checked the “watch” on his wrist after eliminating someone and being a fresh face in an otherwise stale period for WWE. So, the fans got behind the Rattlesnake, which was aided by the company giving him the Royal Rumble win in 1997. This jumpstarted his push into WrestleMania season and turned him into the top babyface that the Attitude Era fans exploded for as the 1990’s closed.
Steve Austin, Kane, Roman Reigns, Chris Benoit, and AJ Styles all had star-making performances, or ones that affirmed their status in WWE at the Royal Rumble. Who else had similar outings?
