By: Allison Weiner
Welcome to my 1st series of blogs I like to call Yeah, Nay, or Okay. It’s where I rate each of the Royal Rumble winners and explain why I give it that rating. I will only use the Royal Rumble winners from 1992 to 2022 as they had the opportunity to have a world championship match at Wrestlemania or have won a title from the Royal Rumble. Sorry Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Big John Studd, and Hulk Hogan. I will also be including my prediction of the 2023 Royal Rumble Winners. Here is a list below of the Royal Rumble Winners and my ratings.
1992: Ric Flair-Yeah (According to his book, “To be the Man,” he was never expected to be in the Royal Rumble, but when he did, he showed off his skills that people would only see in WCW and Jim Crockett)
1993: Yokozuna-Okay (Love the push they gave Yokozuna, but I would have loved to have seen a “Macho” win for Randy Savage)
1994: Lex Luger-Nay (Should have only been one winner, and that should have been Bret Hart)
1994: Bret Hart-Yeah (He was the real winner and was the only one out of the two co-winners to win the WWF title)
1995: Shawn Michaels-Yeah (Shawn Michaels proved himself as the #1 entrance and had a memorable win)
1996: Shawn Michaels-Yeah (Only due to seeing Michaels vs Hart feud at Wrestlemania 12)
1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin-Okay (Should have fought for the WWF title)
1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin-Yeah (Was the actually start for Stone Cold)
1999: Vince McMahon- Nay (He never used that opportunity right away for Wrestlemania and should had been Stone Cold Steve Austin winning it that whole time)
2000: The Rock-Yeah (I Was excited to see Rock vs Triple H at Wrestlemania 2000. Gave me Shawn Michaels vibe)
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin-Yeah (Provided the best match in the best Wrestlemania ever)
2002: Triple H-Okay (Surprised to see him return from injury, but it could have gone either way with Triple H and Kurt Angle)
2003: Brock Lesnar- Yeah (It was a great use to build Brock Lesnar during that year)
2004: Chris Benoit- Okay
2005: Batista- Okay (Really thought John Cena would win this Rumble.)
2006: Rey Mysterio- Yeah (Rey is someone who deserved that win, especially after the loss of his friend, Eddie Guerrero)
2007: Undertaker- Yeah (I was going to say okay, but the way it ended when it came down to him and Shawn Michaels)
2008: John Cena-Yeah (It was a surprise but was well worth it after suffering a pectoral injury)
2009: Randy Orton-Okay
2010: Edge-Yeah (Same as 2008, returning from an injury and not expecting him to make it)
2011: Alberto Del Rio-
2012: Sheamus-Okay (There wasn’t anything special about this Royal Rumble)
2013: John Cena-Okay
2014: Batista-Nay (Should had been someone else in general, CM Punk or Roman Reigns)
2015: Roman Reigns-Nay (I think everyone knows why. It should have been Daniel Bryan or Dean Ambrose. This was the start of corporate trying to overpush Roman Reigns as the next face of WWE)
2016: Triple H-Okay
2017:Randy Orton-Okay
2018: Shinsuke Nakamura-Yeah (Was the best choice to set him up against AJ Styles)
2018: Asuka-Yeah (To keep her undefeated streak alive during that time)
2019: Seth Rollins- Okay (There wasn’t a winner I would have thought to win, but this win was something to add to Rollins’s resume)
2019: Becky Lynch- Shocking Yeah (I thought Charlotte Flair was going to win, but the man’s storyline from there made her the superstar we saw in her)
2020: Drew Mcyntire-Yeah (A well deserved win and a way to set him up with Brock Lesnar during Wrestlemania)
2020: Charlotte Flair-Nay (She didn’t need the win. She should had won in 2019 to face Ronda at Wrestlemania)
2021: Edge-Okay
2021: Bianca Belair-Yeah (This was the push she needed to be a top star in the women’s division and to main event a memorable Wrestlemania)
2022: Brock Lesnar-Nay (He shouldn’t entered as #30, and yet he won the WWE title back at Elimination Chamber)
2022: Ronda Rousey-Nay (It was a shock to see, but I felt that she didn’t need the win)
Predicted 2023 Royal Rumble Winners: Cody Rhodes (Mens- Everyone wants the Rock, but I just don’t see it. I see him being the one to dethrone Roman Reigns.) and Becky Lynch (Womens- To finally see Becky vs Ronda as a singles match at Wrestlemania, or see Becky vs Charlotte Flair again in a stipulation match at Wrestlemania)
The Sports Insanity Network 
I feel in 2016 when Triple H won the rumble for the title you should have let Dean Ambrose win the title to set up him vs Roman at Mania for the title and that would have been a great main event that fans would have liked you turn roman heel cause at the time roman was terrible as a baby face at the time and Ambrose was on a role as one.
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