{"id":122390,"date":"2024-01-27T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-27T13:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=122390"},"modified":"2024-01-26T20:58:51","modified_gmt":"2024-01-27T01:58:51","slug":"wwe-star-making-royal-rumble-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/01\/27\/wwe-star-making-royal-rumble-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Performers Who Had Star-Making Royal Rumble Matches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone who is anyone has won the Royal Rumble<\/strong><\/em>. The Rock<\/strong>, Roman Reigns<\/strong>, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin<\/strong>, The Undertaker<\/strong>, Hulk Hogan<\/strong>, Triple H<\/strong>, John Cena<\/strong>, Ric Flair,<\/strong> Becky Lynch<\/strong>, Ronda Rousey<\/strong>, and so on. Even Santino Marella<\/strong> nearly won it in 2011.<\/p>\n

But all these winners were bonafide stars when they won the match.<\/p>\n

Often, WWE<\/strong> uses the Royal Rumble to signal a major push for a superstar. Here, we look at wrestlers who had star-making Royal Rumble matches.<\/p>\n

Wheels in Motion For Rikishi At Rumble 2000<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bigger, blonder, and (ahem) ‘buttier’. Rikishi<\/strong> debuted as a bleach-blonde, thong-wearing monster with a side addiction to dancing with Too Cool<\/strong> two months before the Rumble 2000. After years of gimmicks that didn’t stick – such as The Sultan<\/strong>, Make A Difference Fatu, and Headshrinker Fatu<\/strong> – Rikishi finally found the gimmick that would lead to him becoming a WWE Hall of Famer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He truly arrived in the Royal Rumble match. Entering fifth, he eliminated Mosh<\/strong>, Christian<\/strong>, and D’Lo Brown<\/strong>. This left Rikishi and his tag team partner, Grandmaster Sexay<\/strong>, alone in the ring. <\/span><\/p>\n

Things looked bad for the Grandmaster. Then, entrant number six arrived. It was the third member of the Too Cool stable, Scotty 2 Hotty<\/strong>. Scotty gave Rikishi a pair of shades, and the three men gave Madison Square Garden one of its greatest WWE moments.<\/span><\/p>\n

The three men performed their signature dance, and the roof nearly blew off the garden. Rikishi then eliminated both his buddies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dance Break<\/h3>\n
\n

One of my favorite #RoyalRumble<\/a>\u202f\u202f\u202f moments! Rikishi and Too Cool dance at the 2000 Rumble. \ud83d\ude0e\ud83d\udd7a pic.twitter.com\/G3JGz8KeMR<\/a><\/p>\n

— 2000's WWE (@2000s_WWE) January 28, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n