For most wrestling fans, the Royal Rumble immediately brings up great memories and the excitement that comes with a match with 30 open spots, allowing for returns, debuts, and all manner of shocking events. The now-official beginning of the Road To WrestleMania is one of the few events that even non- or lapsed wrestling fans will sit down and watch with their friends. Over the 30 plus years of the event’s history, there have been a ridiculous caliber of Hall of Fame and legendary talents that have won the match, but as wrestling fans, we are also programmed to wonder, “what if?”

We look at some of the greatest talents who never won a Royal Rumble and absolutely should have at some point in their storied careers.

Mr. Perfect

In the early years of the Royal Rumble, it was not a one-way ticket to the main event of WrestleMania like it would later become. In fact, while the first official Rumble was held in 1988, it was not until 1993 that the winner would receive a World Title match at WrestleMania. So the early years of the match, while still exciting and a great way to see some of your favorite wrestlers lock up that never would otherwise, the match was more of a glorified battle royal, just laid out much better. It was in the early years that many have argued that Mr. Perfect should have won the 1990 Royal Rumble. The two previous years had seen inaugural winner Hacksaw Jim Duggan launched to superstardom and the following year’s winner Big John Studd had similar plans rumored for him but he would leave the company over disagreements overpay. Going into the 1990 Rumble, Mr. Perfect had been on the ‘Perfect Streak’ and would remain undefeated until that year’s WrestleMania. While he was one of the final two alongside the eventual winner Hulk Hogan, there is not a soul on earth who could truly believe that Hogan needed the rub more than Perfect. Many people point to Mr. Perfect as one of the greatest talents to never hold the World Championship (not counting his run with the AWA World Title) and while it is hard to have seen him hold the title during the reigns of Hogan and Ultimate Warrior, a Royal Rumble victory would have been a great consolation prize.

Macho Man Randy Savage

Another one of the greatest talents to ever step foot in a wrestling ring, it’s almost unfathomable to believe that Randy Savage never won a Royal Rumble. For many of the early years, he would either already be World Champion, or it could be argued that he never needed the rub (though that didn’t stop Hogan). When looking at Macho’s history in the Royal Rumble, he was usually involved in another storyline that took precedence over his winning the Rumble, such as in the 1989 Rumble, where the continued implosion of the Mega Powers was the focal point of the match. A similar situation would occur in 1992 when Savage would be more laser-focused on his rivalry with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts than winning the match. The closest Savage would ever come would be when he was the runner-up in the 1993 Royal Rumble, last being eliminated by that year’s winner Yokozuna, the first man who punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania. Imagine if WrestleMania IX's main event was Bret Hart and Randy Savage. No disrespect to Yokozuna, but the match would have been infinitely better, and something also tells me that Hogan would not have meddled in the event and walked out as champion. 

Razor Ramon

In the early years of the WWF’s New Generation era, it would be hard to argue for a more popular superstar than Scott Hall’s portrayal of Razor Ramon. Already having cut his teeth in the AWA and WCW, he was a full package by the time Hall became the Tony Montana-inspired character in 1992. He could go in the ring, especially for a man of his size, with great mic skills and one hell of a presence. While Hall has admitted in the years since that wins and losses didn’t matter to him as long as the check cleared, it’s still insane to think that beyond a one-and-done World Title match at (oddly enough) the 1993 Royal Rumble against Bret Hart, that Ramon was never a bonafide main eventer. While picking a year for ‘The Bad Guy’ to win the Rumble can be bounced around to whichever year you feel would work best, a 1995 win could easily have worked within the confines of ‘The Kliq’s reign of political dominance at the time. There is no denying that a WrestleMania main event between Diesel and Razor Ramon would have been a big-money match and likely also could have been played upon in their later years as the New World Order.

Eddie Guerrero 

Moving into more recent years, a Royal Rumble win always eluded Latino Heat, unless you were to count the 15-man Royal Rumble on SmackDown in early 2004 that led to Guerrero’s crowning match against Brock Lesnar. In many ways, there is no doubt that WWE wishes that they had put Benoit in that slot and had Eddie win the Royal Rumble properly. It would undoubtedly remark on two men (now three, thanks to Edge’s 2021 win) entering at Number One and going the distance. Eddie Guerrero was another talent much like Razor Ramon, who was a total package, able to go in the ring and on the mic. But Guerrero could also wrestle several different styles, just as easily sliding into a match against a luchador as he could a giant like Brock Lesnar. At the time, it would have seemed that Guerrero would not fit in with many past Rumble winners, but take a look at the history of who has won the match and try to tell yourself that Eddie doesn’t belong on that list. For more on Eddie, check out my article on the WrestleMania Dream Match Snatched Away By Death.

CM Punk

I am sure this one will be divisive. Many fans, especially now, have a love-or-hate relationship with CM Punk and even so, there is no denying that he is one of the biggest superstars in WWE history. While he carved out his niche on the different brands for years, even leading one of the most underutilized stables in company history with the Straight Edge Society, it was when he sat on the ramp in the summer of 2011 that everything changed. While WWE would constantly stumble over their feet in his booking, from ruining the hottest angle they had in years with the New Summer of Punk by injecting Kevin Nash and having him drop a match to Triple H, they would get it right with his historic title reign. One of Punk’s most significant gripes with WWE was that he never got the proper respect he deserved and a WrestleMania main event spot. A Royal Rumble win, something now akin to winning a World Title on its own, could easily have salvaged that point, but all we can do now is wonder. Just imagine had he come out and won the 2013 Rumble after losing the title to The Rock, and we got that fabled Triple Threat between Cena, Rock, and Punk. After all, like Hogan in the 80s, Cena didn’t need that victory.

Daniel Bryan

If there was ever a runaway contender for this article, we all know it’s Daniel Bryan. Not only one of the greatest wrestlers of his generation, but Bryan is also simply one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot in any wrestling ring. The response from the fans at the 2014 Royal Rumble when Rey Mysterio entered at 30, dashing every hope of each fan in the building alone, should speak wonders, as should the response the following year when Bray Wyatt eliminated Bryan. Bryan could have won either of those matches though it can very easily be argued that Bryan may be the one wrestler in history who got moreover by not winning a Royal Rumble match. That alone is almost more enduring than going through a 30-man gauntlet.

Sasha Banks or Bayley

This one is a little more difficult, as the Women’s Royal Rumble has only been around since 2018, and in almost every case, the correct winner was chosen each time. While there is no taking away from Asuka, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, or Bianca Belair, the only ones that would make sense to depart from would be Asuka or Charlotte. In Asuka's case, winning was indeed the end of her dominance as she would challenge and lose to Charlotte at WrestleMania, which started a downward spiral that she has only recently emerged. With Charlotte, if there is one woman on the roster who didn’t need the win, it would be her, but she also used it to elevate the NXT Women’s Title and her opponent, Rhea Ripley. With a few more years of Women’s Royal Rumbles, we could make this decision a little easier, but the choice of Sasha Banks or Bayley needs to be solidified. More so than almost any talent (maybe Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, or Randy Orton) those two were the solid bedrock that elevated WWE programming during the early period of ‘pandemic wrestling’, and that alone should give them a win. But both have been at the top of their game, especially Bayley with her new character.