{"id":150160,"date":"2026-01-08T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=150160"},"modified":"2026-01-08T11:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:50:06","slug":"5-times-a-royal-rumble-match-winner-didnt-main-event-wwe-wrestlemania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/08\/5-times-a-royal-rumble-match-winner-didnt-main-event-wwe-wrestlemania\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Times a Royal Rumble Match Winner Didn&#8217;t Main Event WWE WrestleMania"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Since 1993, the winner of the WWE Royal Rumble match has earned a world championship match at WrestleMania. That highlights the importance of winning the Royal Rumble. However, whilst Royal Rumble match winners are guaranteed world championship matches at WrestleMania, they are not guaranteed a spot in the main event of WrestleMania. Headlining WrestleMania is the last match of the show, and that&#8217;s a huge privilege in itself.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"0HKV6vNsSV\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/05\/wwe-ruthless-aggression-era-every-world-heavyweight-championship-at-the-royal-rumble-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\">WWE Ruthless Aggression Era: Every World Heavyweight Championship At The Royal Rumble, Ranked<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;WWE Ruthless Aggression Era: Every World Heavyweight Championship At The Royal Rumble, Ranked&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/05\/wwe-ruthless-aggression-era-every-world-heavyweight-championship-at-the-royal-rumble-ranked\/embed\/#?secret=BTJwkpX5fC#?secret=0HKV6vNsSV\" data-secret=\"0HKV6vNsSV\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match was added in 2018, and only Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair are the two female winners of the women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match that headlined WrestleMania. Nevertheless, since 2020, WrestleMania has become a two-night extravaganza.<\/p>\n<p>There are more opportunities for wrestlers to headline WrestleMania, but it doesn&#8217;t guarantee that the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s Royal Rumble matches winners will close out WrestleMania. Several non-title matches and other major world title matches not involving the Royal Rumble match winner have prevented Royal Rumble match winners from seeing their match go on last.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Bayley<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: IYO SKY vs. Bayley \u2014 WWE Women&#039;s Title Match: WrestleMania XL Sunday\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZCqtv0iSbDw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Bayley entered the 2024 women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match from the third position, and she produced a record-breaking performance. The Role Model lasted one hour, three minutes, and three seconds, the longest time spent in a women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match at the time. However, despite <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/07\/every-wwe-womens-royal-rumble-match-winner-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Bayley winning the women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match<\/span><\/a> and opting to challenge IYO SKY for the WWE Women&#8217;s Championship at WrestleMania 40, she didn&#8217;t go on last.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150131\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-150131\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-150131 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/Bayley_WrestleMania_XL_in_2024_3-1024x819.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of Women's WWE Royal Rumble winner, Bayley.\" width=\"640\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/Bayley_WrestleMania_XL_in_2024_3-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/Bayley_WrestleMania_XL_in_2024_3-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/Bayley_WrestleMania_XL_in_2024_3-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/Bayley_WrestleMania_XL_in_2024_3-1536x1229.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/Bayley_WrestleMania_XL_in_2024_3.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-150131\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: By <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=159776800\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">diegofernandophotography<\/a> &#8211; https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/202213156@N02\/54306052812\/, CC BY 2.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=159776800<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bayley and her former Damage CTRL stablemate had a good build-up heading into WrestleMania 40. However, it was always going to be a struggle for their match to go on last. Roman Reigns and the 2024 men&#8217;s Royal Rumble match winner Cody Rhodes headlined both nights in two different types of matches.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, Bayley and SKY tore the house down, and WrestleMania 40 meant a lot to Bayley as it was her first singles match at WrestleMania. Bayley dethroned SKY to become a four-time WWE Women&#8217;s Champion.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>4. Edge<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"WrestleMania in 60 seconds: WrestleMania XXVI\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rovfB38b3XY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Edge tore his Achilles tendon in 2009, when he was one-half of the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions alongside Chris Jericho. However, after six months on the sidelines, The Rated-R Superstar made a surprising return in the 2010 Royal Rumble match. Edge eliminated his former tag team partner, Jericho, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/13\/every-major-john-cena-vs-edge-match-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">and his former rival, John Cena<\/span><\/a>, to win the Royal Rumble for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n<p>For the third WrestleMania in succession, Edge competed in a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 26. He challenged Jericho for the Big Gold Belt as Y2J won the World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, a month before their WrestleMania showdown.<\/p>\n<p>It was going to be a tall order for Edge vs. Jericho or the WWE Championship match between Batista and John Cena to go on last ahead of The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels&#8217; blockbuster clash. Ultimately, Edge was unable to clinch the World Heavyweight Championship from Jericho.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>3. Seth Rollins<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rollins rewatches WrestleMania classic vs. Lesnar: WWE Playback\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0CR50aK2RYc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Seth Rollins&#8217; resume is impressive, and he added to his legendary resume by winning the 2019 men&#8217;s Royal Rumble match. Rollins opted to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35. Emanating from MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Rollins&#8217; debut WrestleMania appearance was at MetLife Stadium at WrestleMania 29, where he also opened up the show. However, Rollins and Lesnar&#8217;s Universal Championship match didn&#8217;t go on last. They took a backseat to the historic first-ever women&#8217;s WrestleMania main event.<\/p>\n<p>Rollins&#8217; wife Becky Lynch, featured in the triple threat Winner Takes All match for the Raw and SmackDown Women&#8217;s Championships against Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey. The Man prevailed in that contest, and Rollins wouldn&#8217;t have minded missing a &#8216;Mania main event as his wife was involved.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Rollins and the Beast Incarnate&#8217;s match didn&#8217;t last too long, but it was a good match. The Architect slayed the Beast, and he won the Universal Championship for the first time. It was the second time in five years that Rollins curtailed one of Lesnar&#8217;s title reigns at WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>2. Shawn Michaels<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: Diesel vs. Shawn Michaels \u2013 WWE Title Match: WrestleMania XI\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t9NdOtdg_AA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Shawn Michaels entered the 1995 Royal Rumble match from the unenviable number one position. The Heartbreak Kid had a dominant performance by eliminating eight wrestlers en route to winning his first Royal Rumble match. Michaels set his sights on his former bodyguard Diesel in a WWE Championship showdown at WrestleMania 11. The Heartbreak Kid was bidding to win his first WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Michaels and Diesel&#8217;s WWE Championship match didn&#8217;t get the nod to close out WrestleMania. The Million Dollar Corporation&#8217;s Bam Bam Bigelow clashed with the NFL&#8217;s Lawrence Taylor in the main event.<\/p>\n<p>However, it was a travesty that Michaels and Diesel&#8217;s WWE Title match, which saved an underwhelming WrestleMania 11 card, didn&#8217;t close out the show. Ultimately, the Boyhood Dream was postponed for a year as Big Daddy Cool beat Michaels to retain the WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>1. The Undertaker<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH - Batista vs. The Undertaker \u2013 World Heavyweight Title Match: WrestleMania 23\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZWOXJokJe5k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Royal Rumble match eluded The Undertaker for 16 years after his debut appearance in the 1991 Royal Rumble match. However, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/31\/the-5-greatest-wwe-royal-rumble-matches-in-history\/4\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">history was made in the 2007 Royal Rumble match<\/span><\/a> as the Deadman became the first man to win the Royal Rumble match from entering at the 30th spot.<\/p>\n<p>Inevitably, Undertaker, who featured on SmackDown, chose to face SmackDown&#8217;s top champion, Batista, the reigning World Heavyweight Champion, in a blockbuster clash at WrestleMania 23.<\/p>\n<p>Undertaker and Batista&#8217;s World Heavyweight Championship match wasn&#8217;t a foregone conclusion that they&#8217;d go on last. John Cena and Shawn Michaels&#8217; WWE Championship match was selected to go on last. However, despite Undertaker and Batista&#8217;s match not main eventing WrestleMania 23, they featured in the middle of the card, and had a &#8220;top that&#8221; attitude.<\/p>\n<p>The Phenom competed in his first world championship match at WrestleMania in a decade, and he was looking to take home the title. They knocked it out of the park in a remarkable title match with Undertaker prevailing to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, extending his WrestleMania unbeaten streak to 15-0.<\/p>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Header photo \u2013\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=148318820\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WikiMedia Creative Commons<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\"><em><u><i>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0for more on WWE Royal Rumble and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the significant news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>A&amp;E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/events\/1773457579022155776?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><u><i>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a><em><i>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since 1993, the winner of the WWE Royal Rumble match has earned a world championship match at WrestleMania. That highlights the importance of winning the Royal Rumble. However, whilst Royal Rumble match winners are guaranteed world championship matches at WrestleMania, they are not guaranteed a spot in the main event of WrestleMania. Headlining WrestleMania is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5695,"featured_media":149437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7205,2192,4,3],"tags":[397,396],"class_list":["post-150160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-history","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-royal-rumble","tag-wrestlemania"],"modified_by":"Marilee Gallagher, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5695"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150160"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150279,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150160\/revisions\/150279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}