The Royal Rumble is one of the most iconic matches in the history of the WWE. A multi-person battle royal where the object is to be the last man standing in the ring. Eliminations occur by throwing your opponent over the top rope and having both of their feet hit the floor. This is one of the most highly-anticipated PPV events of the year. Below is a list of all of the Royal Rumble winners in the history of the WWE and where they entered from. We have also included where the event took place.
Here is the list of all Royal Rumble winners in WWE history
Royal Rumble 1988
The first ever Royal Rumble took place in 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. The match featured only 20 competitors. Hacksaw Jim Duggan last eliminated One Man Gang to win the match.
- Winner: Hacksaw Jim Duggan (Entry #13)
Royal Rumble 1989
The second Royal Rumble match took place in 1989 at The Summit in Houston, Texas. This time, the match featured 30 participants, which has become the standard for the match. Big John Studd last eliminated Ted DiBiase to win the match.
- Winner: Big John Studd (Entry #27).
Royal Rumble 1990
The third ever Rumble took place in 1990 at the Orlando Arena. Hulk Hogan would enter the match late and would go on to win after last-eliminating Mr. Perfect.
- Winner: Hulk Hogan (Entry #25).
Royal Rumble 1991
The 1991 Rumble took place at the Miami Arena. Hulk Hogan would become one of the few back-to-back Royal Rumble winners in WWE history. This time he last eliminated Earthquake to win.
- Winner: Hulk Hogan (Entry #24).
Royal Rumble 1992
The 1992 Rumbles is one of the most popular of all time. It took place at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York. Ric Flair lasted over an hour to win the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship. He last eliminated Sid Justice for the victory.
- Winner: Ric Flair (Entry #3)
Royal Rumble 1993
The 1993 Rumble took place at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. The winner earned a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania IX. Yokozuna entered the match later and eliminated Randy Savage to earn the victory.
- Winner: Yokozuna (Entry #27)
Royal Rumble 1994
The 1994 Rumble took place at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. This match ended in controversy as both Bret Hart and Lex Luger hit the floor at the same time. As a result, they were both announced as co-winners.
- Winner(s): Bret Hart (Entry #27) and Lex Luger (Entry #23).
Royal Rumble 1995
The 1995 Rumble took place at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. The winner earned a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XI. Shawn Michaels won the match after last eliminating the British Bulldog. This was the first time that a competitor started the Rumble in the number one spot and went on to win.
- Winner: Shawn Michaels (Entry #1)
Royal Rumble 1996
The 1996 Rumble took place at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. This was the second time in history that someone won the Rumble in back-to-back years. Shawn Michaels last-eliminated Diesel to earn a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XII.
- Winner: Shawn Michaels (Entry #18)
Royal Rumble 1997
The 1997 Rumble took place in front of over 60,000 fans at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Stone Cold Steve Austin would last-eliminate Bret Hart to win the Rumble and earn a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 13.
- Winner: Stone Cold Steve Austin (Entry #5)
Royal Rumble 1998
The 1998 Rumble took place at the San Jose Arena. This marked the third time that someone has ever won back-to-back Rumble matches. Steve Austin last eliminated the Rock to win the match and a Title shot at Wrestlemania XIV.
- Winner: Stone Cold Steve Austin (Entry #24)
Royal Rumble 1999
The 1999 Rumble took place at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. The match was won by Mr. McMahon who last eliminated Stone Cold Steve Austin.
- Winner: Mr. McMahon (Entry #2).
Royal Rumble 2000
The 2000 Rumble took place at Madison Square Garden. The winner earned a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania 2000. The Rock would go on to win after last-eliminating the Big Show.
- Winner: The Rock (Entry #24)
Royal Rumble 2001
Stone Cold Steve Austin would make history in 2001, winning his third Rumble match. The event took place at the New Orleans Arena. Austin would eliminate Kane to win the match and earned a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania X-Seven as a result.
- Winner: Stone Cold Steve Austin (Entry #27)
Royal Rumble 2002
The 2002 Rumble took place at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Triple H won, after last eliminating Kurt Angle. As a result, he earned an Undisputed WWF Championship match at WrestleMania X8.
- Winner: Triple H (Entry #22).
Royal Rumble 2003
2003 was the first Rumble under the ‘WWE’ banner instead of ‘WWF’. It took place at the Fleet Center in Boston. Brock Lesnar would enter the match late and would go on to win after eliminating the Undertaker.
- Winner: Brock Lesnar (Entry #29).
Royal Rumble 2004
The 2004 Rumble took place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. This marked only the 2nd time that someone has won the Rumble after entering at number 1. Chris Benoit lasted over an hour to win the match. He last-eliminated the Big Show. This is the only one of the Royal Rumble winners that you shouldn’t expect to see WWE advertise based on what happened with Benoit.
- Winner: Chris Benoit (Entry #1).
Royal Rumble 2005
The 2005 Rumble took place at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Batista last-eliminated John Cena to earn a World championship match at WrestleMania 21.
- Winner: Batista (Entry #28)
Royal Rumble 2006
The 2006 Rumble took place at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Rey Mysterio would enter the match at the number two spot and would go the distance to win the match. Mysterio last-eliminated Randy Orton to earn a World championship match at WrestleMania 22.
- Winner: Rey Mysterio (Entry #2).
Royal Rumble 2007
The 2007 Rumble took place at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. The Undertaker would go on to win the match after last-eliminating Shawn Michaels. He earned a World Championship match at WrestleMania 23 as a result.
- Winner: The Undertaker (Entry #30)
Royal Rumble 2008
The 2008 Rumble took place at Madison Square Garden. This Rumble will be remembered by the surprise return from John Cena, who was out of action with a torn pectoral muscle. Cena would last-eliminate Triple H to win the match.
- Winner: John Cena (Entry #30)
Royal Rumble 2009
The 2009 Rumble took place at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Randy Orton would win the match after last-eliminating Triple H. Orton earned a World Championship match at WrestleMania XXV for his victory.
- Winner: Randy Orton (Entry #8)
Royal Rumble 2010
The 2010 Rumble took place at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. Edge entered the match later and eliminated John Cena to win. As a result, Edge earned a World Championship match at WrestleMania XXVI.
- Winner: Edge (Entry #29)
Royal Rumble 2011
The 2011 Rumble took place at the TD Garden in Boston. This was the first Rumble to ever feature 40 competitors. The match was won by Alberto Del Rio, who last-eliminated Santino Marella. For his victory, Del Rio earned a World Championship match at WrestleMania XXVII.
- Winner: Alberto Del Rio (Entry #38)
Royal Rumble 2012
The 2012 Rumble took place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Sheamus entered the match at number 22 and would go on to win. Sheamus last-eliminated Chris Jericho to earn a World Championship match at WrestleMania XXVIII.
- Winner: Sheamus (Entry #22)
Royal Rumble 2013
The 2013 Rumble took place at the US Airways Center in Phoenix. John Cena last-eliminated Ryback to earn a World Championship match at Wrestlemania 29.
- Winner: John Cena (Entry #19)
Royal Rumble 2014
The 2014 Rumble took place at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. Batista last-eliminated Roman Reigns to win the match. As a result, he earned a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania XXX.
- Winner: Batista (Entry #28)
Royal Rumble 2015
The 2015 Rumble took place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Roman Reigns last-eliminated Rusev to win the match. This event is probably best-known for the negative reaction from the Philly crowd to Reigns winning the match.
- Winner: Roman Reigns (Entry #19)
Royal Rumble 2016
The 2016 Rumble took place at the Amway Center in Orlando. Roman Reigns was forced to put his WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line in the match. Triple H would last-eliminate Dean Ambrose to win the match and the Title.
- Winner: Triple H (Entry #30)
Royal Rumble 2017
The 2017 Rumble took place at the Alamodome in San Antonio in front of over 50,000 fans. Randy Orton last-eliminated Roman Reigns to earn a World Championship match at Wrestlemania 33.
- Winner: Randy Orton (Entry #23)
Royal Rumble 2018 (Men’s)
The 2018 Rumble took place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Shinsuke Nakamura won the Men’s match after last-eliminating Roman Reigns. Nakamura earned a World Championship match at Wrestlemania 34.
- Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura (Entry #14)
Royal Rumble 2018 (Women’s)
Asuka ended up being the winner of the first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble match. She last-eliminated Nikki Bella to earn a Women’s Championship match at Wrestlemania 34. Ronda Rousey also made her WWE debut after the match.
- Winner: Asuka (Entry #25)
Greatest Royal Rumble 2018
In 2018, WWE put on the ‘Greatest Royal Rumble’ event. It took place at the King Abdullah Sports City’s International Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The match featured 50 participants for the first time ever. The match was won by Braun Strowman.
- Winner: Braun Strowman (Entry #41)
Royal Rumble 2019 (Men’s)
Seth Rollins ended up winning the 2019 Men’s Royal Rumble match. He last-eliminated Braun Strowman to do so.
- Winner: Seth Rollins (Entry #10)
Royal Rumble 2019 (Women’s)
Becky Lynch ended up taking the place of the injured Lana in the Women’s Royal Rumble match. Becky went on to eliminate Charlotte Flair, giving her the victory.
- Winner: Becky Lynch (Entry #29)
Royal Rumble 2020 (Men’s)
Drew McIntyre won the 2020 men’s Royal Rumble match. This came after he last-eliminated Roman Reigns.
- Winner: Drew McIntyre (Entry #16)
Royal Rumble 2020 (Women’s)
Charlotte Flair ended up winning the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble match. This came after she last-eliminated Shayna Baszler.
- Winner: Charlotte Flair (Entry #17)
Royal Rumble 2021 (Men’s)
Edge won the 2021 Men’s Royal Rumble match. This came after he last-eliminated Randy Orton.
- Winner: Edge (Entry #28)
Royal Rumble 2021 (Women’s)
Bianca Belair won the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match. This came after she last-eliminated Rhea Ripley.
- Winner: Bianca Belair (Entry #3)
Royal Rumble 2022 (Men’s)
Brock Lesnar won the 2022 men’s Rumble match. This came after he last-eliminated Drew McIntyre.
- Winner: Brock Lesnar (Entry #30)
Royal Rumble 2022 (Women’s)
Ronda Rousey won the 2022 women’s Rumble match. This came after she last-eliminated Charlotte Flair.
- Winner: Ronda Rousey (Entry #28)
Royal Rumble 2023 (Men’s)
Cody Rhodes won the 2023 men’s Rumble. This came after he last-eliminated Gunther.
Winner: Cody Rhodes (Entry #30)
Royal Rumble 2023 (Women’s)
Rhea Ripley won the 2023 women’s Rumble. This came after she last-eliminated Liv Morgan.
Winner: Rhea Ripley (Entry #1)
Royal Rumble 2024 (Men’s)
Cody Rhodes won the 2024 men’s Rumble match. This came after he last eliminated CM Punk.
Winner: Cody Rhodes (Entry #15)
Royal Rumble 2024 (Women’s)
Bayley won the 2024 women’s Rumble. This came after she last-eliminated Liv Morgan.
Winner: Bayley (Entry #3)
Thank you for reading the list of Royal Rumble winners! Make sure to let us know which of these matches was your favorite in the comment section below or on Twitter. You can also be sure to check out the list of Elimination Chamber winners.
