{"id":150495,"date":"2026-01-13T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=150495"},"modified":"2026-01-12T15:57:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:57:01","slug":"5-royal-rumble-runner-ups-who-had-a-better-wrestlemania-than-the-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/13\/5-royal-rumble-runner-ups-who-had-a-better-wrestlemania-than-the-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Royal Rumble Runner-Ups Who Had A Better WrestleMania Than The Winner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Winning a Royal Rumble match is a career-defining moment in most wrestlers&#8217; WWE careers. Since 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble match punches their ticket to a World Championship match at WrestleMania. In some instances, the Royal Rumble match winner&#8217;s title match also guarantees a coveted spot in the main event of WrestleMania. However, there have been several occasions where the runner-up of the Royal Rumble match had a better WrestleMania than the winner.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"5X7z9O9KTp\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/08\/5-royal-rumble-runner-ups-who-still-had-a-wwe-world-championship-match-at-wrestlemania\/\" target=\"_self\">5 Royal Rumble Runner-Ups Who Still Had a WWE World Championship Match at WrestleMania<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;5 Royal Rumble Runner-Ups Who Still Had a WWE World Championship Match at WrestleMania&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/08\/5-royal-rumble-runner-ups-who-still-had-a-wwe-world-championship-match-at-wrestlemania\/embed\/#?secret=ptwyk7Ohe6#?secret=5X7z9O9KTp\" data-secret=\"5X7z9O9KTp\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Multiple reasons as to why a Royal Rumble runner-up has had a better time at the Showcase of the Immortals than that year&#8217;s Rumble winner. Some reasons are that a Rumble runner-up has won a world championship match at WrestleMania, whilst the Rumble winner failed to win the top prize in their WrestleMania world championship match. Furthermore, another reason is that the Rumble winner may not have competed in a match at WrestleMania.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_150551\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-150551\" style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/elimch2010_batista_cena_01_touchedup-105f74c8764bf18a2dcf6b227325c9b3.jpg\" alt=\"Batista won the Royal Rumble in 2010, but John Cena got the best of him at WrestleMania\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"size-full wp-image-150551\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/elimch2010_batista_cena_01_touchedup-105f74c8764bf18a2dcf6b227325c9b3.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/elimch2010_batista_cena_01_touchedup-105f74c8764bf18a2dcf6b227325c9b3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/elimch2010_batista_cena_01_touchedup-105f74c8764bf18a2dcf6b227325c9b3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/elimch2010_batista_cena_01_touchedup-105f74c8764bf18a2dcf6b227325c9b3-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2026\/01\/elimch2010_batista_cena_01_touchedup-105f74c8764bf18a2dcf6b227325c9b3-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-150551\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>5. Steve Austin &#8211; 1999<\/h2>\n<p>In 1999, Steve Austin was bidding to make history by becoming the first man to win three Royal Rumble matches consecutively. However, Mr. McMahon dumped Austin over the top rope to win the Royal Rumble match, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/02\/wwe-attitude-era-every-wwe-championship-match-at-the-royal-rumble-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">all thanks to interference from his Corporate Champion, The Rock<\/span><\/a>. Nevertheless, Austin had the last laugh as he beat McMahon in a steel cage match at St. Valentine&#8217;s Day Massacre to become the new number one contender for the WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p>Austin and Rock slugged it out in the first of their three WrestleMania encounters at WrestleMania 15 with the WWE Championship on the line. Their match was brilliant, and Austin curtailed Rock&#8217;s WWE Championship reign to become a three-time WWE Champion. McMahon didn&#8217;t have his first WrestleMania match at this event; instead, he looked on in horror as his sworn enemy stood tall with the WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Stone Cold&quot; Steve Austin &amp; The Rock&#039;s championship clash at WrestleMania XV\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ODz6E47uaDc?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><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>4. Bret Hart &#8211; 1997<\/h2>\n<p>The rivalry between Bret Hart and Steve Austin is one of the greatest in WWE history. Their feud escalated further during the controversial finish of the 1997 Royal Rumble match. The Excellence of Execution thought that he&#8217;d won his second Royal Rumble match in four years at Austin&#8217;s expense. However, the referee was distracted by Mankind and Terry Funk fighting on the outside. Austin snuck back into the ring, and he eliminated Hart to win the Royal Rumble for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Austin lost his opportunity to headline WrestleMania 13 in the WWE Championship match because of his controversial win. However, Hart won the WWE Title on the Road to WrestleMania 13. His fourth WWE Championship reign lasted one day, dropping the title to Sycho Sid on the February 17, 1997, edition of Raw. Nevertheless, Hart and Austin clashed in a high-profile bout at WrestleMania 13. Ken Shamrock was the special guest referee in a five-star epic. WWE pulled off one of the best double turns in WWE history with Hart turning heel and Austin becoming a face. The Hitman defeated Austin in their submission match, with Hart avenging his Rumble defeat.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: Bret Hart vs. &quot;Stone Cold&quot; Steve Austin | No DQ Submission Match: WrestleMania 13\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DYELJpHHwCQ?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><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>3. Charlotte Flair &#8211; 2022<\/h2>\n<p>Surprisingly, Charlotte Flair entered the 2022 women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match despite being the reigning SmackDown Women&#8217;s Champion. Nevertheless, Flair aimed to become the first woman to win multiple women&#8217;s Royal Rumble matches. Flair was close to achieving that until Ronda Rousey returned to action for the first time in almost three years in the 2022 Women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match as the 28th entrant. Ultimately, the Baddest Woman on the Planet <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/07\/every-wwe-womens-royal-rumble-match-runner-up-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">last eliminated the Queen,<\/span><\/a> joining an exclusive group to win the Royal Rumble match on the first attempt.<\/p>\n<p>Inevitably, Rousey opted to challenge Flair for the SmackDown Women&#8217;s Championship at WrestleMania 38. However, Rousey was the favorite to dethrone Flair for the SmackDown Women&#8217;s Championship. However, the Queen had other ideas, delaying Rousey&#8217;s ascension to the SmackDown Women&#8217;s Championship with a huge victory over the winner of the 2022 women&#8217;s Royal Rumble match.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH \u2014 Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey \u2014 SmackDown Women&#039;s Title Match: WrestleMania 38\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eidk6MOSwBc?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><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>2. Triple H &#8211; 2009<\/h2>\n<p>Triple H had a tall order to win the 2009 Royal Rumble match as Randy Orton had his Legacy stablemates Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. by his side. The Game eliminated Rhodes and DiBiase, but he was unable to eliminate his former Evolution stablemate. The Viper punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania for the first time in his career. However, there was a twist on the Road to WrestleMania 25 as the Cerebral Assassin recaptured the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at No Way Out 2009.<\/p>\n<p>Orton and Triple H&#8217;s feud was one of the biggest in 2009. The Viper and Triple H collided over the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 25. They had a tall order to top Undertaker and Shawn Michaels&#8217; instant classic. However, the crowd was uninterested in Triple H and Orton&#8217;s WWE Championship match. However, for the second consecutive year, the Royal Rumble match winner failed to win their WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. The Game was victorious, showcasing that 2009 was better to be the Rumble runner-up than winning the Rumble.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH \u2014  Triple H vs. Randy Orton \u2014 WWE Title Match: WrestleMania XXV\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9IWDFt7ssdc?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><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>1. John Cena &#8211; 2010<\/h2>\n<p>Of course, wrestlers are devastated when they finish as a runner-up in a Royal Rumble match. However, no one has benefited from finishing as a Royal Rumble match runner-up more times than John Cena. Every time Cena has finished as a runner-up in the Royal Rumble match, he has gone on to challenge and win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. His former rival Edge, who marked his return from injury to triumph, halted Cena&#8217;s quest to win the 2010 Royal Rumble match.<\/p>\n<p>Cena won the WWE Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, but dropped the title a few minutes later to Batista in an impromptu match. Nevertheless, both Cena and Edge had world championship bouts at WrestleMania 26. The Rated-R Superstar challenged his former tag team partner, Chris Jericho, for the World Heavyweight Championship. Edge failed to win the World Heavyweight Championship, but<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/09\/john-cenas-5-best-wwe-world-title-wins-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"> Cena regained the WWE Championship from Batista<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH \u2014 Batista vs. John Cena \u2014 WWE Title Match: WrestleMania XXVI\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fIgMCtwyDc4?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><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>Winning a Royal Rumble match is a career-defining moment in most wrestlers&#8217; WWE careers. Since 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble match punches their ticket to a World Championship match at WrestleMania. In some instances, the Royal Rumble match winner&#8217;s title match also guarantees a coveted spot in the main event of WrestleMania. However, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5695,"featured_media":150550,"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":[7205,2192,4,3],"tags":[629,362,403,165,75,396,7214],"class_list":["post-150495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-stone-cold-steve-austin","tag-bret-hart","tag-charlotte-flair","tag-john-cena","tag-triple-h","tag-wrestlemania","tag-wwe-royal-rumble"],"modified_by":"Steph Franchomme","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150495","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=150495"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150553,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150495\/revisions\/150553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}