The Royal Rumble event is one of the biggest shows in WWE. It is where the road to WrestleMania begins. Usually, the show closes with the infamous Royal Rumble matchup. There were years when the Royal Rumble match involved the WWE Championship being defended. Sometimes, the event ends with championship matches alone.
Whenever the World Championship bout closes the show, it is usually due to it being the bigger story or building one itself. There are only five Royal Rumble PLEs where a championship match main-evented the show. Here are the five ranked main event championship matches in Royal Rumble history.
#5: Kurt Angle vs. Mark Henry – World Heavyweight Championship (Royal Rumble 2006)
If there was a championship match that shouldn’t have main evented a Royal Rumble, it’s this match between Kurt Angle and Mark Henry. A few weeks earlier, Angle won a battle royal for the vacant World Title. This win led to him defending his championship against Henry, who was the number-one contender. Understandably, this was the final match of the show due to the aftermath.
It was rough to watch as Henry was just back wrestling in the main roster, while Angle was a mega heel, who turned babyface out of nowhere. Angle did the best he could, carrying this match by toggling and employing a strategic approach against Henry. The finish was a simple way to protect Henry as a super heavyweight by having Angle cheat to win.
The post-match ended up being bigger than the actual match. It became clear that Angle versus Henry closed the show, because a return of The Undertaker followed it. Undertaker made it known that he wanted the World Heavyweight Championship. He made his statement by staring down Angle and striking lightning above the ring.
