WWE Royal Rumble 2012: Who Is the Greatest Royal Rumble Winner in WWE History?

Even with winners the likes of Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, the Undertaker and others during the 25 years of the WWE's January pay-per-view staple, the greatest winner of the Royal Rumble was actually the smallest winner of the 30-man battle royal, Rey Mysterio.

While some of you that read that last line are either interested in my reasoning or angry because you didn't like my choice, let's get to the reasons why the former WWE and world heavyweight champion is the greatest superstar to win the Royal Rumble in WWE history.

The first and most obvious reason is the size difference between Mysterio and the most of the other competitors in the Royal Rumble.

At 5'6" and weighing around 175 pounds, Mysterio overcame a very tall uphill battle throughout the match with other people much bigger than him. He was able to hold off the attacks of the larger Triple H and Randy Orton in the final three. 

The biggest reason, however, is the amount of time that Mysterio spent in the Royal Rumble in 2006.

The former WWE and world heavyweight champion has spent the most time in a single Royal Rumble of any other winner, as Mysterio lasted longer in his victory by 42 seconds over Chris Benoit's hour, one minute and thirty second effort in his victory in 2004.

While Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit both won the Royal Rumble coming as the No. 1 entrant in their respective years, the argument between entering first and second should be a non-issue, since there isn’t a great deal of difference between the two entrant spots in the Royal Rumble.

While not as successful as the Big Red Machine with eliminations in the Royal Rumble, Mysterio was able to be effective in 2006. He was a part of seven eliminations in his win, equaling the amount of other former winners like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Yokozuna over the years. 

So Bleachers, who is your choice for the greatest Royal Rumble winner ever? Do you agree with Mysterio as the greatest or is there another winner that deserves that accolade?

Chris Humphrey is a featured columnist for BleacherReport.com. He has covered everything from college football, college basketball, UFC, NFL, NBA and the WWE in his short time writing for the website. You can become a fan of him on B/R and follow him on Twitter @_CBH_.