WWE Royal Rumble: The Dream List of 30 Contestants

If you're like me, you have created characters for your Smackdown vs. Raw video games so that you can have the most realistic Rumble possible.

Although if you're also like me, the 2008 version of the Rumble for SvR is the best one there is, the more recent versions have that silly bar where someone can be thrown out almost immediately. Only complaint.

There have been some articles up as of late on who we think or want in the Rumble match, and virtually all of them have filled the 30 slots with the current roster, but what if you didn't have to?

I myself have built a time machine that allows me to draw upon any superstar within the WWE of the current or past time.

Future superstars were not available, nor were those who have yet to be in WWE. My time machine only goes to the past and it doesn't care for TNA. 29 superstars of my choosing and one celebrity guest as always.

I understand that you might include some others in this Rumble Match and if you think of someone I missed or would like to suggest a swap, please feel free to offer that in the comments.

Otherwise sit back as I put together the most incredible Dream Rumble of all time.

Spot #1 Goes To Shawn Michaels

There is only one man who should always start in the No. 1 position.

Mr. Shawn Michaels.

But not just any Shawn Michaels; this is HBK of 2008!

No not Rockers Shawn, not Clique and not Screwjob.

Two years ago, HBK had some of his greatest matches of his career.

You want a younger Shawn with fringe and bleach-blond hair? Build your own time machine.

#2 Goes To Chris Jericho

Just like in the past, Jericho would insist that if HBK is coming in at No.  1, Jericho is coming in at #2.

This is not Y2J, or silly hair Jericho, this is the ruthless tactician Chris Jericho we have seen in the past couple of years.

Until the next contestant arrives, Jericho and Michaels just tear each other apart.

Trading blows, chops, suplexes, not even thinking of tossing one another out yet, they are hell bent on just maiming one another.

#3 Pulled From 2001 Stone Cold Steve Austin

The glass shatters and from the past comes Stone Cold Steve Austin of 2001.

Ten years ago, Austin was tearing apart the WWE and dominating the Royal Rumble match.

There is no good blood between any of these three men and what was just a two man battle has become a triple threat of mayhem.

#4 If You Smelllllll

Finallly! The Rock has come back to the Royal Rumble.

I went with choosing the Rock just at the end of his run with WWE.

A much leaner, more tattooed up Rock.

I thought the Brahma Bull and him weighing another 50-100 pounds could stay in the past, it would be interesting to see this Rock in action with the group of people.

The match however has turned sour for Jericho as Rock and Stone Cold are sick of hearing how he beat them both in one night and HBK still holds onto Chris punching his wife.

Jericho fights to stay alive and is saved by the next contestant to enter.

#5 Is Just Perfect

From 1988, Mr. Perfect.

Curt Hennig walks down the ramp ready to hit his perfect-plex on anyone in the ring and pretty much do everything... perfectly.

Sporting a towel on his shoulder and chewing gum, he enters the fray and assists Jericho to have their first-ever team up of two of the most cocky individuals in all of wrestling history.

#6 It's About To Get More Rowdy

From even further in the past in his strongest heel run ever, Rowdy Roddy Piper fresh off his first two stints in Wrestlemania 1 and 2 travels to us from the year 1985!

Piper joins in with Mr. Perfect and Jericho to take on The Rock, Stone Cold and HBK making the most epic 6 man match the world has seen.

Eye pokes, clotheslines, and plenty of talking trash amongst the men in the ring taking on some of the biggest powerhouses WWE has ever seen, but things are just warming.

#7 The Big Show

The Big Show enters the ring at No. 7, always a favorite, never a winner, this year he is ready to be the man standing at the end of it all.

Jericho wonders at first if this is his tag team partner of Jerishow or the lovable giant Knucklehead we've seen of late.

A deafening chop to his chest answers that question as the giant teams with the faces and takes on the loud obnoxious cocky heels in the ring.

#8 Show Might Be Big, But This Guy Is a Giant

The thunderous steps and the mouth of his Manager, Bobby Heenan, is all that can be heard as the participants of the match have all taken pause waiting for the eighth wonder of the world to step over the ropes.

He does and walks straight to the other man wearing the singlet, The Big Show.

The other superstars wait to see what happens. Hoping to God a handshake doesn't happen and they have a partnership of two giants to take on. Luckily that is not the case.

The ground shakes as the Giant and Show begin to exchange punches, each going for a slam, each unsuccessful! Everyone else just watches in wonder as Godzilla and King Kong do battle in the ring.

#9 GONG!

What could possibly put fear into two monsters going at it?

A Deadman! But not just any Deadman: an American Bad Ass Deadman.

Who would have no fear of these two goliaths in the ring?

The Undertaker driving to the ring on his fire-breathing motorcycle takes off his leather coat, adjusts his gloves and gets ready to throw fists with the other big men while the others continue their battle as well.

#10 Cue The Pyro!

Fire erupts and The American Bad Ass awaits for his brother to show his face.

But no, Kane isn't showing his face today.

This is Kane from the past, the madman, the Big Red Machine that went on fits of destruction without cause or provocation.

Kane hits the ring and choke slams everyone up until getting to Andre, the giant puts Kane in his place and stops his slamming rampage.

#11 Time For More Fire, Dragon's Fire!

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat dashes to the ring joining forces with the others who have now turned all their attention to The Big Show and Andre.

This is Ricky Steamboat straight after his amazing Wrestlemania match against Macho Man.

The Dragon, teamed up with his future rival, Chris Jericho, jumps into action with The Great One as The Rock tries to once again eliminate The Big Show from the Rumble.

But they just don't have the strength!

#12 Somebody's About to Get Their Ass Kicked!

The music hits and the World's Strongest Man, Mark Henry, makes his way to the ring.

While you might question with so many legends and power houses throughout the history of the WWE, why choose Mark Henry?

The man lifted a car using his shoulders and bent a frying pan in half in the ring!

Its not a Rumble without Mark Henry.

You don't mess with Sexual Chocolate.

#13 Have a Nice Day!

It has turned into a struggle of the big men versus... the VERY big men.

Who's crazy enough to take on Taker, Kane and the other giants of the ring.

Mankind!

I debated picking the destructive force of Cactus Jack or even just Mick Foley, not once did Dude Love cross my mind.

But Mankind, the man who dropped from Hell in a Cell and then got back up, got my pick.

#14 Big Sexy

One more big man to the mix.

But he's assisting the smaller guys, not only due to his good friend Shawn Michaels, but the master manipulator that he is, he knows if he can work with them to take out the biggest threat, they'll all be easy pickings afterwards.

Welcome Kevin Nash of 1996.

#15 Bam Bam

The late, great Bam Bam Bigelow makes his way to the ring.

Sadly, Bam Bam is no longer with us, but his appearances in the Rumbles of the past were just fantastic.

He has to be one of the fastest moving big guys there ever was in wrestling.

Imagine Bam Bam vs. Mankind or Stone Cold or The Rock, the power and the speed of one of WWE's greatest legends running through the other greats he never got to take on.

#16 The Big Boss Man

An odd pick?

I think not.

Growing up with wrestling, The Big Boss Man was always one of the most intimidating men I thought ever to hit the ring.

He struck me as one you saw in the ring tearing guys apart and would be exactly the same way outside of the ring.

The Big Boss Man wrestled every big major contender of the 80s and 90s, while he may have never been a champion other than Hardcore or Tag Team, he was one that any time a champ got in the ring with him, they were lucky to make it out.

#17 Truly Hardcore

Just like Boss Man, Hardcore Holly was just a destructive force both in and out of the ring.

Holly often caused injuries in the ring, not because he didn't know how to wrestle and he would miss a spot or perform a bad move. If you got injured in the ring with Bob Holly it was because he wanted to hurt you.

In 2006 he had a match that resulted him having to get 24 stitches across his back. He received the cut at the beginning of the bout, he continued on and finished the match.

Chuck Norris holds the door open for Bob Holly.

#18 You Think You Know Me

The Rated R Superstar hits the ring and with that, people start to be eliminated.

Edge before getting in the ring pulls the rope down to have Kane and The Big Show both eliminated from the bout.

With that happening, the tide turns and the big guys are being picked off one by one.

Andre has sat down in the corner, however, after taking beating after beating from The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin!

#19 Christian

Who better to help Edge eliminate the legends from the ring than his former tag team partner Christian.

I'm not a huge Christian fan, but him working with Edge is some of his best work, so putting them together again was a big reason as to why to pick Captain Charisma to enter the ring.

Roddy Piper is eliminated by Jericho.

Steamboat is eliminated by Mr. Perfect.

Nash is eliminated by Mankind.

The Rock is getting ready to eliminate Undertaker when he is surprised by the next combatant. 

#20 The Rock Don Murraco

This man was built like a tank!

There are barrel-chested guys and then there are giant industrial drum guys, Don Muraco was just a massive powerful man.

I would love to see The Rock vs. The Rock. I have a feeling The Great One would have a difficult time against one of the greats of the 80s.

The first Rock, Don Muraco, former Intercontinental champion was a beast of the past. He's arrived from 1986 ready to attack everyone there is left in the ring.

The Final 10: #21 Ohhhh Yeah! Dig IT!

As a kid, Randy Savage was one of my all-time favorites.

I would want him in this match to watch him go up against the likes of HBK or even Edge.

Their tactics in the ring are all very similar. Imagine the battle of flying elbows from Savage and HBK on the lying victims on the mat.

Watching 1989 Macho Man snap into the stars of today would be outstanding!

#22 Turn Up The Heat: Latino Heat

Who better to throw in this mix and watch him go at it with the legends of the past and to see him wrestle one more match Eddie Guerrero.

We're talking Latino Heat Eddie.

The guy who was trying to date Chyna, partnered with Chavo and went on to become a great World Champion.

We miss you, Eddie.

#23 The Game Changes Everything

Time to play the Game! 

The guttural sound of Motorhead's voice hits and Triple H walks out of the archway!

The Game has returned.

I wasn't sure to go with a modern HHH or maybe the Helmsley McMahon era TRIPLE H.

Both are very dominating and with his entry he starts tossing bodies with his former tag team partner Stone Cold Steve Austin.

They eliminate:

Mr. Perfect

Christian

Hardcore Holly

The Big Boss Man

HBK then joins up with them and they take out:

Bam Bam and Mark Henry.

#24 Booyaka Booyaka

The underdog Rey Mysterio explodes from the stage and makes his way to the ring.

He eliminates Randy Savage right off the bat.

Taker and The Rock take out Don Muraco.

Triple H takes out Mankind.

The battle continues!

#25 Sparks Drop From The Ceiling

GOLDBERG.....GOLDBERG....GOLDBERG...

Bill Goldberg arrives, snorts his smoke and runs to dive into the mix.

He's met by the fists of The Rock and Stone Cold bouncing him back and forth until finally Jericho lands the dropkick and sends Bill flying to the ground.

Austin is then ambushed by Triple H and two of the most dominating icons of all time wage war and pick up their feud. Who could possibly come between these two!

#26 Stand Back There's a Hurricane Coming Through!

That's right Gregory Helms aka The Hurricane!

Why The Hurricane, why in at No.  26?

Because its my dream Rumble and not yours.

Plus the moment in this photo is one of my favorite moments of any Rumble ever.

Hurricane attempted to choke slam both Austin and HHH, sadly he came up short.

#27 Whooooooo!

The man the myth the legend, Ric Flair.

But not current TNA Flair!

AND not Four Horseman Flair.

Nor is it bleach-blond-hair crazy 90s Flair.

No, I'm going with Evolution Flair.

The man was a great in every decade over the past three, but when he hit this last run with the WWE and still had great matches at his age and even became a tag team champion, that's when I had more respect for him than ever.

#28 The Champ Is Here!

What would happen if you put the Superman known as John Cena into this mix? Actually can I make it The Marine John Trident aka John Cena?

I'll tell you what would happen.

He would eliminate Andre The Giant by picking him up, giving him an Attitude Adjustment and then throwing him over the top rope.

Jericho eliminates Rey.

Flair eliminates Eddie.

Rock eliminates Hurricane.

#29 Kurt Angle

Maybe arriving to the scene in the milk truck, in the No. 29 slot is the Olympic champion, Kurt Angle!

He almost didn't make my cut, I was going to leave him out for the whole TNA thing, but I changed my mind last minute.

Welcome to the party, Kurt!

Let's start eliminating people before No. 30 hits the ring.

HBK takes out HHH.

Flair takes out HBK.

Taker takes out Flair (again).

Goldberg takes out Taker (Wrestlemania match is born).

Cena takes out The Rock (The crowd boos).

Edge takes out Cena (The crowd cheers).

Angle Takes out Edge!

Austin takes out Angle!

The clock hits zero; here comes No. 30!

#30 John Kindelan

The celebrity guest arrives in the favorable No. 30 spot!

John Kindelan!

Writer for Bleacher Report! Author of the latest Road to Rumble Article

Here: The Road To the Royal Rumble Begins Now

Writer on Wrestleslam Digital Magazine!

Creator, writer, artist on The BOOM Page!

Author of the ongoing fictional blog: Mr. 100 Days

Four men standing, one in each corner, and suddenly John and Jericho attack Goldberg!

A spear from John, a code breaker from Jericho and bounces him into a stunner!

Austin tosses him over the top rope, three men left.

As Austin gives his salute to the whining Goldberg, he's rushed again by Kindelan and Jericho as the two of them catch him off guard and flip him over the top rope.

Kindelan vs. Jericho

We move to the center of the ring and press forehead to forehead... a pause and then... a mutual smirk. We shake hands and I walk to the ropes, grab the top rope and catapult my self over the top rope to the apron on the other side, and I drop to the floor, leaving Chris Jericho the winner and heading to Wrestlemania.

The Road To Rumble Continues

Hope you enjoyed and my different take on picking the 30 participants of the Rumble match.

Sure I left off some guys like Randy Orton, The Miz, Morrison and even new guys like Sheamus and Alberto, but this was to be the best of the best to pick throughout time.

Ah yes, but I did leave off Hulk Hogan, but again, as I've said throughout, my list, my time machine.

Would you swap some out? Who?

Comment below.