wrestling / Columns
Stew Ranks The Royal Rumble Matches
Image Credit: WWE
It’s Stew’s time to shine!
Every year for the past… I dunno… many (?), I have watched the Royal Rumble match[es], reviewed the Royal Rumbles, and ranked them all in order of my own preference. And now it’s time for the 2025 editions. We’re going to be breaking down the matches and figuring out where the new editions fit in the all-time rankings.
Let’s get right into it!
WOMEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
* Iyo Sky
* Liv Morgan
* Roxanne Perez
* Lya Valkyria
* Chelsea Green
* B-Fab
* Ivy Nile
* Zoey Stark
* Lash Legend
* Bianca Belair
* Shayna Baszler
* Bayley
* Sonya DeVille
* Maxine Dupri
* Naomi
* Jaida Parker
* Piper Niven
* Natalya
* Jordynne Grace
* Michin
* Alexa Bliss
* Zelina Vega
* Candice LeRae
* Stephanie Vaquer
* Trish Stratus
* Raquel Rodriguez
* Charlotte Flair
* Giulia
* Nia Jax
* Nikki Bella
-There is a fancy-dancy little ticker at the bottom of the screen that keeps track for me how many people are in the ring at any given time, how many people have been eliminated, and what entrant number is up next. It only took WWE 38 years to realize that nerds love statistics and to incorporate them directly onto our screen!
-Me, right as this Rumble was set to begin: “So the two women most likely to win this match are Iyo Sky and Charlotte Flair”.
*Iyo Sky introduced as entrant #1*
Me: “So like I was saying, the one woman who is going to win this match is Charlotte Flair”.
-Iyo puts on an acrobatic show in the early one-on-one stage, doing a handstand flip off of Liv’s back, then doing some flippity-flop flips off the ropes. She’s incredible.
-My official Woman Crush Of The Year 2024 Edition, Roxanne Perez, enters at #3. With Iyo extremely unlikely to replicate what Bayley did last year and Roxanne unlikely to last to the midway point in the match, I am DESPONDENT already.
-Roxanne Perez kips up. That’s one!
-Also, it’s adorable that Roxanne is so tiny that when she bounces off the ropes, she hits the middle rope to do it.
-Poor Lyra Valkyrie’s top strap of her outfit comes undone almost as soon as she hits the ring, putting a kibosh to her ability to enter the match and get all her stuff in. Liv Morgan attacks her to send Lyra into a far corner so the referees can help her stay clothed while the camera focuses on the other three. Good thinking by Liv to pull off the assist there. Lyra gets a cheer from the crowd when she is snapped back in and able to re-enter the fray. Back in the Attitude Era that would have earned boos. Good to see we have evolved.
-Quick, someone tell me if Chelsea Green’s music says “I’m a hotness” or “I’m a hot mess”. I can never tell.
-Regardless, Chelsea pulls the old Santino Marella spot where she throws everyone over the top rope and celebrates, even though every single person she tossed saved themselves and was not eliminated. They all re-enter the ring and gang attack her which draws a chorus of boos because everyone loves Chelsea.
-It’s reported as B-Fab’s second Royal Rumble, and even I don’t remember her ever being in one before.
-Zoey Stark kips up. That’s two!
-Zoey Stark kips up again. That’s three!
-Lash Legend kips up. That’s four!
-It’s not until after Lash Legend’s arrival at #9 that we FINALLY get an elimination in this Rumble when Chelsea Green pitches B-Fab after Lash Legend pump kicks Fab. Massive pop for Chelsea getting the elimination.
-Bianca Belair kips up. That’s five!
-Bianca has a fun corner segment where she mounts Iyo for ten count punches, then Ivy Nile charges in, but Bianca backflips out of the way, then mounts Nile. This repeats SEVERAL TIMES with other opponents like Zoey Stark, Lash Legend, and Liv Morgan. That woman is crazy athletic, and I know it’s sad to say this about someone who is a champion, but she should really have more to do. Can’t wait for Jade Cargill to come back so Bianca can be in a story again.
-Bianca kips up again. That’s six!
-Commentary reminds us that Shayna is still tied for most eliminations in a Rumble for when she tossed eight opponents in 2020. And MAN how far she has fallen. I know she’s not a spring chicken, but come on. They could be doing more with her.
-Lyra Valkyria kips up. That’s seven!
-Bayley enters the bout and goes right at her current nemesis Roxanne Perez, continuing their feud and building towards their upcoming NXT Women’s Title match with Giulia.
-Bayley then faces off with last year’s Wrestlemania opponent, Iyo Sky, but before they can fight, Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark attack both of them.
-Michael Cole notes, “This is not the NFL; our refs are good”. And while I appreciate any dig at NFL officiating, HAVE YOU SEEN WWE OFFICIATING, COLE?! In kayfabe, they’re nightmarishly bad at their jobs!
-Maxine Dupri kips up. That’s eight!
-Dupri gets a respectable segment where she battles her rival, Ivy Nile, then eliminates her. She is, in turn, tossed by the Pure Fusion Collective triumvirate (DeVille, Baszler, and Stark), but still… the fans were cheering for Maxine, and that’s pretty good considering where we were with her a few months ago. Nice of WWE not to lean into making her pathetic joke like they did with Lana a few years back.
-Speaking of PFC, they are all pitched at the same time shortly thereafter, as Iyo takes out Sonya, Bayley tosses Shayna, and Naomi and Bianca eliminate Zoey after all hitting their finishers on the gang members.
-Jaida Parker, Lash Legend, Bianca Belair, and Naomi all decide to make friendly mid-match and start celebrating together. Chelsea Green wants in on it, but gets beat down for her trouble to another round of boos… until there is a miscommunication between Parker and Lash, which allows Chelsea to throw out Legend.
-Jordynne Grace shows up at #19, and she is officially announced as part of WWE this year. No longer a TNA import! And she gets her first ever Royal Rumble elimination, bumping out Jaida Parker.
-Grace hits a Death Valley Driver effortlessly on Piper Niven, and Pat McAfee just screams “HOLE-EE SHIT!”. Stay classy, Pat.
-Grace and Naomi embrace when they see each other, and the green-eyed monster of envy takes hold of Bianca Belair, who pulls them apart by Grace’s hair and shouts at Naomi. But it was okay a few minutes ago when they wanted to be allies with Jaida and Lash Legend? Bianca is confusing tonight.
-Alexa Bliss returns to WWE (for at least the Rumble) at #21, and for a few moments, commentary lets the return speak for itself. Then Cole gets on about “The Internet said she wasn’t coming back!”. Shut up, Cole.
-Zelina hits a SUPER Code Red on Jordynne Grace!
-When Trish Stratus enters at #25, there are FIFTEEN WOMEN legal in the match because Nia Jax and Charlotte haven’t entered yet and HEAVEN FORBID we let anyone else look good. Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez have been in since basically the beginning and have thrown out a combined zero opponents. Iyo Sky was #1 and only has one elimination.
-When Raquel enters at #26, there are SIXTEEN WOMEN LEGAL, and I am pretty sure we just hit a Rumble record regardless of gender. I remember one time counting up to 15 in one of the earlier Men’s Rumbles. But even that was, if I recall correctly, momentarily.
-Liv Morgan eliminates Alexa Bliss pretty innocuously, and I wonder if Bliss will be back full time, and if so, is Liv going to be her first rival. It would give Liv something to do that isn’t harass Rhea. Huge boos for Liv getting Alexa out, anyway.
-Charlotte gets pyro for her entrance in case you weren’t sure who actually matters.
-I’m never sure how long Charlotte would have to be gone for me to miss her, but I can tell you it hasn’t been long enough yet.
-Charlotte kips up. That’s nine!
-Giulia comes out at #28 to no reaction, poor lass. Even Stephanie Vaquer had a big pop, so I thought these fans were more well-versed in NXT. Even worse news for Julia: she doesn’t even get the “Enter, Hit All Your Stuff” spot that EVERYONE gets! She just gets into a short stand-off with Iyo until they each knock each other down.
She does get to eliminate Jordynne Grace, though!
-There is an NXT Vs WWE Mainstays stand-off, as Roxanne, Giulia, and Vaquer square up with Bayley, Charlotte, and Bianca.
-Nia Jax is having the women’s version of Big Show’s Royal Rumble career where she just gets to enter late, be scary, and get the “OMG she is so big and fresh who can possibly get her out?!” push from commentary.
-Nia only needs one elimination to become the all-time leader in women’s RR eliminations… and she gets it immediately by pulling Vega out before Jax even gets into the ring.
-Nia Jax kips up… no, I’m just kidding. But I wouldn’t be surprised this match.
-Me, as the countdown starts for #30: “Oh man, who could this be? Becky Lynch?! A returning Asuka? AJ Lee? Jade Cargill, out to go after whoever injured her? So many great choices!”
Music: “You can look but you can’t touch!”
Me: “Okay; that, too, I suppose”.
-My disappointment in #30 aside, there is a BIG pop for Nikki, so good for the fans in attendance, I guess. I got worked up thinking of other options. I’ve never been a particularly big Bellas fan. That’s on me.
-Nia Jax bumps out a ton of people at once: Bianca, Vaquer, Iyo, Raquel, Liv, Naomi. Fun fact, though: despite getting credit for it, Raquel was already on the floor by the time Nia charged everyone, so THAT ONE SHOULDN’T COUNT! And again, god forbid anyone else get to look good in this match.
-Roxanne Perez gets Giulia out, so at least she got one for her tenure.
FINAL FOUR:
Nikki Bella (eliminated by Nia Jax)
Nia Jax (eliminated by Charlotte, but I’m giving an assist to Roxanne because I am biased and Roxie had a grip on Nia at the time)
Roxanne Perez (eliminated by Charlotte)
WINNER: CHARLOTTE FLAIR WINS (lol)
-Nikki is BARELY a part of the final four, as she goes out right after Bayley.
-The rest of the Final Three isn’t particularly noteworthy, either. Roxie and Charlotte get Nia out pretty easily, and then Charlotte just kicks Perez off the apron.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Not a great Rumble! When you let 16 superstars build up at once because you are too allergic to letting your mid carders do any work and only want two women to look strong, that’s pretty stupid and boring booking. Nothing here really stood out. It’s not anywhere near an all-time bad Rumble or anything, but it was adequate at its absolute best. A boring, predictable winner in Charlotte (who is back to being miscast as a babyface when she is direly ill-suited for that role). I don’t know; this just didn’t do it for me.
On the plus side, Roxanne Perez set the longevity record at over 67 minutes, so great for her! But even then… Bayley had the record for one year, then THREE DIFFERENT WOMAN (Perez, Iyo, and Liv) all broke it. That’s just lazy, repetitive booking.
MEN’S ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH
* Rey Mysterio
* Penta
* Chad Gable
* Carmelo Hayes
* Santos Escobar
* Otis
* Bron Breakker
*
* Sheamus
* Jimmy Uso
* Andrade
* Jacob Fatu
* Ludwig Kaiser
* The Miz
* Joe Hendry
* Roman Reigns
* Drew McIntyre
* Finn Balor
* Shinsuke Nakamura
* “Main Event” Jey Uso
* AJ Styles
* Braun Strowman
* John Cena
* CM Punk
* Seth “Freakin’” Rollins
* “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio
* Sami Zayn
* Damien Priest
* L.A. Knight
* Logan Paul
-Penta comes out in a light blue number, causing all of my friends to call him “Manta Ray Man” all night.
-Penta Cero Miedo’s in Rey’s face, and Rey tries to come back with a 6-1-9 hand motion thing, but the fans have no idea what he’s going for, and only a few pick up on it by the 9 part.
-Penta and Rey brawl near the ropes and have a near-double elimination spot where the entire world is pretty sure Penta’s feet both touched. You know what, though? Despite the fact that WWE refuses to show a highlight (never a good sign), it actually DOES look to me like only one foot hits the ground. If his second hit, it was barely a tip-toe that did.
-Chad Gable at #3, and he has allegedly been going through anti-luchador training from a contact that Dom Mysterio gave him.
-Rey and Penta pull off a double team splash maneuver that ends up looking like Rey crushes the knees of Master Gable. Not a great landing there!
-Santos Escobar hits the ring with his Steal A Move meter full, because he hits a 619 on Rey and a Mexican Destroyer on Penta. Then he DX chops the crowd for booing him.
-Big pop for Otis’ debut into the match, as he remains the most over guy that WWE refuses to do anything but comedy skits with.
-Bron Breakker comes out at #7, and I tell my friends “Some people are about to get thrown out”. True to my words, he gets out Melo and Escobar pretty much right away.
-So Tozawa is supposed to be #8, but he is completely debilitated by a single punch from Carmelo Hayes. The camera follows him to Gorilla Position, where Triple-H tells IShowSpeed that he has to take Tozawa’s spot.
So here’s the thing: I’m a 45 year old dude. I have no fucking clue who IShowSpeed is. Indy pops well enough for him, so either I’m SUPER out of touch, or he’s a hometown boy. Or both!
Either way, I’ve never heard of this guy until this match.
-Speed embarrassingly is part of tossing poor Otis, with Breakker’s help. Bron then Spears the being out of Speed! If you’ve seen the non-WWE camera angle on this one, it’s POTENT. Speed is then pitched into the waiting arms of Otis, then fallaway slammed onto the announce table.
So look… whoever this guy is? Credit to him for taking those bumps. They would MurderDeathKill me.
-After Speed is out, we’ve had four eliminations already, and it feels like it took the women’s match half an hour to hit that point.
-The fans POP for Jimmy Uso’s “U-SO!” in his song before quickly realizing it’s the Janetty Uso and not who they initially expected. They quiet down right quick.
-Jacob Fatu is here at #12, and I warn my friends that more people are about to get pitched.
-Jacob hits a double Samoan Drop on Rey and Penta. I know they aren’t the heaviest guys in the ring, but it’s still a great spot.
-Fatu gets out Gable, Rey, and Andrade. There is then a great camera shot–to be fair, the camera spots were stellar all night at getting some over-the-shoulder moments–of Bron staring down Fatu as the latter turns to face him.
-Kaiser bolts to ringside, then slows down and refuses to enter the ring. He waits at ringside for several moments until finally entering, whereupon he is quickly tossed back out by Penta. Cole and McAfee wonder if Kaiser set the record for shortest in-ring time despite the fact that he was easily in for five or six seconds, not the one second Santino once had.
-Miz busts out a hurricarana from the top rope onto Penta! Not very Miz-like! Then he tries a sprinboard cross body to Fatu, but is caught in a Samoan Drop in a sick spot.
-Joe Hendry appears at #15 to a massive ovation, so if WWE was testing the waters to see if their more casual fans know the guy, they got their answer. He storms the match and gets his stuff in while Sheamus hilariously just stands in the corner and watches him with bemusement. Jacob Fatu cuts off Hendry, and Sheamus yells “Hey, I was enjoying that!”
-Roman Reigns (with pyro!) is out relatively early for a main eventer at #16, and he starts clearing the ring, INCLUDING pitching Hendry, to my dismay because if you scout my socials, you will see that my Bold Royal Rumble Prediction was that Joe would make the Final Four and eliminate at least one actual WWE guy.
This is why I don’t gamble.
Anyway, shortly after Reigns’ entrance, we get down to just three legal men: Roman, Jacob Fatu, and Penta.
-Finn Balor has terrible new music, and the fans are dead quiet because they have no idea who is supposed to be coming out.
-Drew McIntyre orders Nakamura to attack Roman Reigns, saying “Beat his ass, he’s too blame for all of this”, and you have to wonder what Shinsuke has to blame Roman for. He’s probably standing there thinking “Okay, whatever, weirdo”.
-Jey Uso enters down the aisle instead of through the crowd.
-AJ Styles gets pyro for his entrance!
-Braun Strowman resumes his rivalry with Jacob Fatu by easily throwing out the Samoan Werewolf! That was a bit of a surprise.
-In a short span, we get Jey Uso, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, John Cena, CM Punk, and then Seth Rollins; it’s a murderer’s row of talent all coming out in a stretch in the 20’s. The ring fills up with main eventers at this point. And who is out next? Dominik Mysterio to earn the fans’ ire. Great, great booking.
-Sami Zayn is out at 27 to return the Rumble to a parade of big names. And say what you will, this is one of the best line-ups inside a Rumble match ever. We’re talking 1992 level talent all in the ring.
-Even Damien Priest at #28 is a former world champ. And L.A. Knight at #29 is formerly a white hot popularity guy. And still has the fans behind him.
-Sami Zayn is taken out of the Rumble by an accidental superkick from Jey Uso, and that feels very weird because Sami was one of the focal guys in the weeks building up to the Rumble. He was very center stage, but his run in the match itself was pretty innocuous.
The story here might be that he got put on the apron after helping up Roman, so Sami was AGAIN thinking of others when he should have been watching out for himself. But we will see what comes of all of this.
-Logan Paul is a great #30 because you build the fans up thinking they might see a big name or a huge surprise, and then… it’s a guy they hate and are happy to jeer for multiple reasons.
-Logan Paul gets the Kofi-style Rumble save by jumping from the apron to the commentary table. On his way back into the ring, he eliminates AJ Styles mid-Phenomenal Forearm.
-Another fantastic camera shot catches Roman Reigns over Seth’s shoulder. I love these angles tonight! Keep it up!
FINAL FOUR:
CM Punk (eliminated by Logan Paul)
Logan Paul (eliminated by John Cena)
John Cena (eliminated by Jey Uso)
-Let’s focus on the Final Six as it spills into the Final Four, then very quickly a Final Three.
After decimating everyone else, mortal enemies Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns are the only two standing. They have a mini-contest that gets them close to the ropes, allowing Punk to flip them both out. Punk, taunting them, is then thrown over the top by Paul.
Rollins hits an absolutely DEVASTATING looking double-footed stomp to Roman onto the floor, then he and Punk brawl. After superkicking CM, Rollins returns his attention to Roman. He flips off an incensed Paul Heyman, then Stomps Roman onto the steel steps. Then he goes back to brawling with Punk.
So many roads to WrestleMania for all of these guys, and long-term storylines abound and keep paying off!
-In the ring, Logan Paul is in the final three for the second time in three years, if I recall my Rumbles correctly.
-Cena and Uso have a typical Rumble mini-match that ultimately sees Jey Uso shove him out to win the Rumble!
WINNER: Jey Uso
FINAL THOUGHTS: I’ve seen some consternation online in the follow up to this year’s Royal Rumble, and I know there are a lot of negative opinions out there about the match and the winner. But you know what? For me? FANTASTIC Rumble match! We had an absolute run of killers and potential winners in the 20’s. They built Penta up as a star, while also refeuling the rockets strapped to Bron Breakker and Jacob Fatu. The Punk/Rollins/Reigns drama after they were eliminated was great. Long-term storylines paid off with stuff like Roman/Drew and Roman/Fatu. And we top it all off with a surprise winner.
If there’s a weakness to this Royal Rumble match, it’s that there isn’t loads of drama early on. But we get the “Remember, anyone can go out anytime!” elimination of Ludwig Kaiser (a guy who isn’t hurt by it), and some big spots for Bron and Jacob.
I really struggled with where to put this Rumble. It’s either the best of the 8/10’s or the worst of the 9/10’s. But 9/10 puts it in some rarified air. Does it really deserve that?
Screw it. It does!
UPDATED RANKINGS
BEST OF THE BEST (10/10):
2001 (Austin III)
TRULY EPIC RUMBLES (9/10):
-2010 (Edge I)
-2004 (Benoit)
-1992 (Flair)
–2025 (Uso)
THE GREAT RUMBLES (8/10):
-2007 (The Undertaker)
-2019-W (Lynch)
-2023 (Rhodes I)
-1997 (Austin I)
-1998 (Austin II)
THE QUITE GOOD RUMBLES (7/10):
-2008 (Cena I)
-2018 (Nakamura)
-2024 (Rhodes II)
-2021-W (Belair)
-2002 (HHH I)
THE ABOVE AVERAGE RUMBLES (6/10):
-2018-W (Asuka)
–2023-W (Ripley)
-2005 (Batista I )
-2016 (HHH II)
-2020 (McIntyre)
-2017 (Orton II)
THE AVERAGE, HO-HUMBLES (5/10):
-2024-W (Bayley)
-2003 (Lesnar I)
-1989 (Studd)
-1996 (HBK II)
-2018 Greatest RR (Strowman)
-2019 (Rollins)
-2011 (Del Rio)
TOO MANY BELOW AVERAGE RUMBLES (4/10):
-1990 (Hogan I)
-2022 (Lesnar II)
–2025-W (Charlotte II)
-2022-W (Rousey)
-1993 (Yokozuna)
-1999 (McMahon)
-2020-W (Charlotte I)
-1994 (Hart/Luger)
-2013 (Cena II)
-2009 (Orton I)
THE ACTIVELY BAD RUMBLES (3/10):
-2012 (Sheamus)
-1991 (Hogan II)
-2014 (Batista II)
-2006 (Mysterio)
-2000 (The Rock)
-2021 (Edge II)
THE TERRIBLE RUMBLES (2/10):
-1995 (HBK)
-1988 (Duggan)
THE WORST OF THE WORST (1/10):
-2015 (Reigns)
