Worst WWE Royal Rumble Match Winners in Recent History

The men's and women's Royal Rumble matches are the single-most overall entertaining contests in any given year. And when they go well, they are the stuff of magic.

In the past, epic 30-Superstar gauntlets saw icons like Shawn Michaels and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin create some of the best stories in WWE. More recently, there have been some amazing winners such as Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair and Drew McIntyre.

However, when WWE gets it wrong and botches the Rumble matches, it can leave some Superstars unable to recover from being set up so badly.

Let's address the worst of the modern-day Royal Rumble winners and examine what went wrong.

Batista in 2014, Roman Reigns in 2015: The 2 Daniel Bryan Fiascos

Credit: WWE

Many fans would go straight to choosing Batista's win in 2014 and Roman Reigns coming out on top in 2015 as their least-favorite events due to who didn't win the men's match: Daniel Bryan.

Fans were so adamantly behind Bryan nine years ago that when he didn't appear by the No. 30 entrant, the crowd booed Rey Mysterio out of spite. When it became obvious Batista was WWE's pick, the audience united behind runner-up Reigns to score an upset.

It all worked out by the time WrestleMania 30 came around three months later, though, as Bryan's Yes Movement propelled him to a match against Triple H that allowed him entry in the world title match, in which he tapped out Batista to win the championship.

By the following year, Bryan had had his reign cut short due to injury, and fans were clamoring for a redo at the Royal Rumble, only to be equally as upset.

WWE naturally assumed the positive response to Reigns in 2014 would carry over, but that wasn't the case. He was rejected so much that even The Rock was met with hostility just for standing next to him.

And there was no comeback for Bryan this time. Instead, Reigns was built up as the guy to beat Brock Lesnar—who had previously ended The Undertaker's undefeated streak—only to come up short when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 31.

Randy Orton, 2017

Randy Orton had an interesting Royal Rumble victory in 2009 alongside Legacy members Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase.

At the time, it made sense for all eyes to be on The Viper as the top heel, even if his WrestleMania 25 main event against Triple H wasn't exactly the top of the line.

Going back to the well with Orton once more in 2017, though, was a head-scratcher.

The hottest thing going at the time was Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. Either of them winning would have had the crowd bursting with joy.

Instead, WWE opted for a convoluted Road to WrestleMania, wherein John Cena lost his 16th world title just a few weeks after winning it to Bray Wyatt at Elimination Chamber, all so Orton could turn on his partner and have an underwhelming match at WrestleMania 33.

Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura, 2018

Credit: WWE

The Royal Rumble matches are a great way to turn a Superstar from talented prospect into true main event status.

It was great to see Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura put in that position in 2018, but both failed at the subsequent WrestleMania 34, rendering their Rumble victories disappointing.

Asuka was an unstoppable beast in NXT. Her undefeated streak had lasted over 900 days when she faced Charlotte Flair at The Show of Shows following her Rumble victory.

The Empress of Tomorrow seemed destined to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, but WWE instead set her up to lose to The Queen.

It was a baffling decision, which was made even worse by Asuka's Rumble victory being overshadowed by Ronda Rousey making her debut WWE appearance.

In Nakamura's case, his victory at the Rumble lead to a feud with AJ Styles that was built entirely on banking that fans wanted to see the match and nothing more. When the bell rang, though, it wasn't the all-time five-star perfect classic it was touted to be.

WWE dangled two carrots in front of Asuka and Nakamura in 2018, only to snatch them away.

Charlotte Flair, 2020

When the 2020 women's Rumble match came around, WWE decided again to experiment with Flair playing spoiler and derailing an up-and-coming star's momentum.

This time, The Queen won the Rumble bout and was pestered by Rhea Ripley to pick her for an NXT Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 36.

The Australian had been on a tear for months, finally dethroning Shayna Baszler to become the top woman on the black-and-gold brand in December 2019.

However, Flair beat Ripley at The Show of Shows, forcing her to tap out, lose her mystique and disrupt her push.

If the goal was to bump the ratings for NXT, it was a failure. Flair's presence did nothing to help.

To this day, Ripley still cannot get a solid, clean win over The Queen, though she has recently found her feet again as part of The Judgment Day.

Ronda Rousey, 2022

Ronda Rousey's 2022 victory in the women's Rumble match now looks to be another mistake.

Her return to WWE was always going to be interesting, as she's a marquee name who can draw big numbers.

However, the former UFC star failed to beat Flair at WrestleMania 38, likely just for a swerve, but did claim the belt a few weeks later at WrestleMania Backlash.

Rousey dropped the SmackDown women's title less than two months later to Liv Morgan at Money in the Bank, though she celebrated with her as if she was happy to no longer be champion.

The Baddest Woman on the Planet later won the title back and continued her lackluster reign until Flair randomly popped up on December 30 to get her win back over Rousey, win the title and render this all moot.

We can only hope WWE has better plans for the 2023 Royal Rumble winners come January 28.

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Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, Spotify and everywhere you find podcasts. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.