Royal Rumble: Most Dominant Performers of the Past 5 Rumbles

The Royal Rumble is rapidly approaching and it is one of the most popular events among wrestling fans everywhere. It is an event that takes 30 men and leaves one in the ring at the end to headline WrestleMania, the biggest event in pro wrestling.

Every year, a different person steps up and dominates the rumble. They may not necessarily win the rumble, but they leave their mark with the amount of work they do.

Here are the most dominant performers of the past five rumbles, based on length of time in the ring and number of opponents eliminated. 

2008: Triple H

Duration: 11:21

Number of Eliminated Opponents: 6 

Most of the dominant performers of the past five rumbles also had among the longest time spent in the ring. Triple H was the exception in 2008.

Entering at No. 29, Triple H entered the ring in dominant fashion. He quickly eliminated Batista, Cody Rhodes, Kane, Mick Foley, Elijah Burke and Big Daddy V.

One could argue John Cena was more dominant because he won and also eliminated many men in a short time, but the quality of men Triple H tossed out was more impressive.

2009: Triple H

Duration: 49:55

Number of Eliminated Opponents: 6

Triple H followed up his most dominant performance in 2008 by doing it again in 2009. He spent almost 50 minutes in the ring, was the seventh man in the match and the second-to-last to be tossed out.

The list of his victims thrown out were John Morrison, Vladimir Kozlov, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, The Miz and The Brian Kendrick. Not as impressive as the resume the year before, but nevertheless dominant.

That made it two years in a row he was tossed out second-to-last.

2010: Shawn Michaels

Duration: 20:45

Number of Eliminated Opponents: 6

Not many men of the 2010 Royal Rumble had super-long outings in the Royal Rumble match, but several men eliminated their fair share in the process.

Shawn Michaels undoubtedly had the best night of the bunch. Sure, he didn't win, but he eliminated Triple H, Drew McIntyre, Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, Cody Rhodes and Carlito. 

Michaels was the old dog you couldn't teach a new trick. His career has seen him eliminate many men in the Rumble and 2010 was no different.

2011: John Cena

Duration: 34:17

Number of Eliminated Opponents: 7

John Cena and CM Punk both had dominant Royal Rumble showings in 2011, but Cena was more impressive.

CM Punk spent about a minute longer in the ring and eliminated the same amount of opponents, but he did so with the help of the New Nexus. Cena did it by himself (go figure).

Cena tossed out the likes of Punk, Michael McGillicutty, David Otunga, Mason Ryan, Tyson Kidd, Heath Slater and Alex Riley.

The only reason Cena was eliminated is because The Miz snuck in the ring and tossed him out, even though he wasn't in the Royal Rumble match.

2012: Cody Rhodes

Duration: 41:57

Number of Eliminated Opponents: 6

The Miz spent the most time in the 2012 Royal Rumble match, but he did not do the most damage. That honor lies with Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes spent over 40 minutes in the battlefield, eliminating Mick Foley, Santino Marella, Jerry Lawler, The Great Khali, Booker T and Jim Duggan. 

He is definitely one of the more surprising "most dominant" performers of all time.