{"id":150963,"date":"2026-01-24T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=150963"},"modified":"2026-01-24T18:06:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T23:06:26","slug":"first-last-royal-rumble-match-wwe-ruthless-aggression-era-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/24\/first-last-royal-rumble-match-wwe-ruthless-aggression-era-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"The First &#038; Last Royal Rumble Match of These WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Royal Rumble is one of the most exciting matches in WWE and all of pro wrestling, and some of the best Royal Rumble Matches of all time happened during the Ruthless Aggression Era. While there had been fantastic Rumbles in previous eras (<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/06\/royal-rumble-1992-final-four-wrestlemania\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">1992, anyone!?<\/a>), the Royal Rumble felt more special than ever during the Ruthless Aggression Era in many ways.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Lk7lI23Kx4\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/14\/first-last-royal-rumble-match-wwe-attitude-era-stars\/\" target=\"_self\">The First and Last Royal Rumble Match of These WWE Attitude Era Stars<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;The First and Last Royal Rumble Match of These WWE Attitude Era Stars&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/14\/first-last-royal-rumble-match-wwe-attitude-era-stars\/embed\/#?secret=LuuJUi008s#?secret=Lk7lI23Kx4\" data-secret=\"Lk7lI23Kx4\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After having already looked back at the first and last Royal Rumble Match appearances of five incredible WWE Attitude Era performers recently, we now do the same for five legends who helped make the Ruthless Aggression Era as special as it was. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<h2>Eddie Guerrero<\/h2>\n<h3>First Royal Rumble Match: 2003<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">16:29<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">None<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">Booker T<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Eddie Guerrero jumped from WCW to the WWF in early 2000. Latino Heat quickly established itself as one of the most charismatic wrestlers in company history, and it would later become one of WWE&#8217;s biggest stars during the Ruthless Aggression Era. Surprisingly, it took Guerrero almost as long to compete in a Royal Rumble Match, only competing in his first one in 2003.<\/p>\n<p>Entering the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smarkdownsblog.com\/wwe-2003-royal-rumble-match-revisited\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2003 Royal Rumble Match<\/a> at number 14, Eddie Guerrero was in the ring for over 16 minutes. Despite making no eliminations, Guerrero was one of the highlights of the second half of that year&#8217;s Royal Rumble and even had a fun &#8220;mini-match&#8221; with Raw&#8217;s Rob Van Dam during the match before eventually getting eliminated by Booker T.<\/p>\n<h3>Last Royal Rumble Match: 2005<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">28:11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">3<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hardcore Holly<\/li>\n<li>The Hurricane<\/li>\n<li>Booker T<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">Edge<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Eddie Guerrero competed in his second (and, unfortunately, his last) Royal Rumble Match just two years later. The 2005 Royal Rumble Match began with Guerrero (#1) and his best friend Chris Benoit (#2) putting on a show in the first moments of the match.<\/p>\n<p>While this wasn&#8217;t a dominant performance by any means, it was still a much better showing for Guerrero. The former WWE Champion lasted half an hour this time around and managed to eliminate three people before Edge tossed him over the top rope.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_143127\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-143127\" style=\"width: 172px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Eddie_Guerrero_with_belt-172x300.jpg\" alt=\"A photo of former WWE star Eddie Guerrero.\" width=\"172\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-143127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Eddie_Guerrero_with_belt-172x300.jpg 172w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/Eddie_Guerrero_with_belt.jpg 331w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 172px) 100vw, 172px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-143127\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: By static &#8211; Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Batista<\/h2>\n<h3>First Royal Rumble Match: 2003<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">9:55<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">2 (Test &amp; Rikishi)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">The Undertaker<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Batista made his WWE main roster debut in May 2002, as Reverend Devon&#8217;s bodyguard on SmackDown. The future six-time WWE world champion was known as\u00a0<em>Deacon Batista<\/em> at the time, and the partnership didn&#8217;t last long. Batista was sent to Raw a few months later, where he found a new mentor in the legendary Ric Flair, and he defeated Kane at Armageddon 2002.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Pq2dnesB4y\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/10\/wwe-ruthless-aggression-era-every-royal-rumble-match-ranked\/\" target=\"_self\">WWE Ruthless Aggression Era: Every Royal Rumble Match, 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 Royal Rumble Match, Ranked&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/10\/wwe-ruthless-aggression-era-every-royal-rumble-match-ranked\/embed\/#?secret=1GWF18UalI#?secret=Pq2dnesB4y\" data-secret=\"Pq2dnesB4y\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This new and improved version of Batista entered the Royal Rumble Match at number 28 &#8211; a number that would mean so much to The Animal throughout his WWE career. Batista eliminated two wrestlers in his Royal Rumble debut, and he exceeded everyone&#8217;s expectations in 2003 as he made it to the Final Four alongside The Undertaker, Kane, and the winner, Brock Lesnar.<\/p>\n<h3>Last Royal Rumble Match: 2014<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">13:02<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">4<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Erick Rowan<\/li>\n<li>Ryback<\/li>\n<li>Alberto Del Rio<\/li>\n<li>Roman Reigns<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">N\/A (Winner)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>In December 2013, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UyK-EX6LZB8\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WWE announced Batista would come back<\/a> after a four-year hiatus to compete in the 2014 Royal Rumble Match. Batista had left WWE in May 2010 to focus on other projects, but he was now back as a full-time competitor. And The Animal couldn&#8217;t have asked for a better return &#8211; in kayfabe(!!) &#8211; as he won the Royal Rumble from the #28 spot.<\/p>\n<p>Competing in his very first match since the &#8220;I Quit&#8221; loss to John Cena at Over the Limit 2010, Batista eliminated four wrestlers (Erick Rowan, Ryback, Alberto Del Rio, and Roman Reigns) and became the number one contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Unfortunately for Big Dave, the fans were more interested in Daniel Bryan and ended up turning on Batista, whose second WWE run didn&#8217;t quite work out as expected.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Kurt Angle<\/h2>\n<h3>First Royal Rumble Match: 2002<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">16:09<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">2 (Kane &amp; Steve Austin)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">Triple H<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Despite having made his WWF debut in late 1999, Kurt Angle only competed in his first Royal Rumble Match in 2002, which might surprise some readers. Angle made his first appearance at the Royal Rumble PPV in 2000, losing to the debuting Tazz in relatively quick fashion. One year later, Kurt Angle walked into Royal Rumble 2001 as the reigning WWF Champion, and he retained the title against Triple H at the event.<\/p>\n<p>In 2002, Angle entered his first Royal Rumble Match at number 26, joining big stars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mr. Perfect, and Triple H, among others. Kurt Angle had a great showing, eliminating Kane and Stone Cold &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/08\/royal-rumble-2001-final-four-wrestlemania-17\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the final two men in the 2001 Royal Rumble Match<\/a> &#8211; and lasting until the end with Triple H. However, he ended up being thrown over the top rope by The Game, who won the Royal Rumble.<\/p>\n<h3>Last Royal Rumble Match: 2019<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">3:15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">None<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">Shinsuke Nakamura<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>After his runner-up performance in 2002, Kurt Angle only competed in two more Royal Rumble Matches during his first WWE run since he walked into the PPV with a world title in both 2003 and 2006. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesportster.com\/why-kurt-angle-joined-tna-in-2006-explained\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Angle went on to have a fantastic 10-year run with TNA after leaving WWE in August 2006<\/a>, and would only return to WWE in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>The last time Angle entered the Royal Rumble Match was in 2019, just a few months before competing in his previous match against Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. Kurt Angle&#8217;s showing in the 2019 Royal Rumble Match wasn&#8217;t memorable at all, getting tossed out by Shinsuke Nakamura three short minutes after entering from the #4 spot.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>Edge<\/h2>\n<h3>First Royal Rumble Match: 1999<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">11:51<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">1 (Gillberg)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">Road Dogg<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Edge was one of the greatest heels of the Ruthless Aggression Era, establishing himself as a main eventer in the mid-to-late-2000s. However, Edge was also a big part of the Attitude Era, being part of The Brood and one of the greatest tag teams of all time with Christian in the late &#8217;90s and early &#8217;00s.<\/p>\n<p>The future Rated-R Superstar made his WWF debut in 1998 and would compete in his first Royal Rumble Match the following year. Despite not coming close to victory by any means, Edge had a respectable performance as he lasted nearly 12 minutes and eliminated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BaHLHHb_cZc\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gillberg in a rather comical way<\/a> before getting eliminated by Road Dogg.<\/p>\n<h3>Last Royal Rumble Match: 2023<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">1:04<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">2 (Damian Priest &amp; Finn Balor)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">Finn Balor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Edge made his return to WWE after a nine-year retirement during the 2020 Royal Rumble Match. One year later, the Canadian wrote another legendary chapter in his Royal Rumble book by winning the Men&#8217;s Rumble Match in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Edge would compete in his final Royal Rumble Match before leaving for AEW later that year. Edge entered the Rumble from the #24 spot, but he only lasted one minute as he was thrown out of the ring by Judgment Day members, Finn Balor and Damian Priest.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h2>John Cena<\/h2>\n<h3>First Royal Rumble Match: 2003<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Cena raps to the ring: Royal Rumble 2003\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Htn9nmFO4cY?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<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">19:45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">None<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">The Undertaker<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>One of the greatest WWE stars of all time, John Cena, made his Royal Rumble debut back in 2003. The future 17-time world champion rapped on his way to the ring and proceeded to have a pretty good showing in his first Royal Rumble Match.<\/p>\n<p>Despite making no eliminations, the young Doctor of Thuganomics was in the ring for almost 20 minutes and was only thrown out by the legendary The Undertaker, that year&#8217;s runner-up.<\/p>\n<h3>Last Royal Rumble Match: 2025<\/h3>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Entrant Number<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">23<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Time In The Match<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">30:30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">Number Of Eliminations<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right; border-bottom: 1px solid #e5e5e5;\">3<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Braun Strowman<\/li>\n<li>Finn Balor<\/li>\n<li>Logan Paul<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; font-weight: 600;\">Eliminated By<\/td>\n<td style=\"padding: 12px 0; text-align: right;\">Jey Uso<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>John Cena became the face of WWE halfway through the Ruthless Aggression Era and carried that ball for almost two decades. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/12\/the-good-and-the-bad-in-the-john-cena-wwe-retirement-tour\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Cena&#8217;s retirement tour<\/a> dominated WWE in 2025, and it began with &#8216;The Champ&#8217; competing in his very last Royal Rumble Match.<\/p>\n<p>Cena entered number 23, eliminated three wrestlers, and made it to the final two with Jey Uso. Unfortunately for Cena, he came up short in the end as Uso shockingly won the 2025 Men&#8217;s Royal Rumble Match. Despite losing, John Cena would end up main eventing WrestleMania 41 anyway, thanks to his victory inside the Elimination Chamber.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"vKSbbE831P\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/13\/how-good-was-john-cena-really\/\" target=\"_self\">How Good Was John Cena, Really?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;How Good Was John Cena, Really?&#8221; &#8212; Last Word on Pro Wrestling\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/12\/13\/how-good-was-john-cena-really\/embed\/#?secret=vEFefzIXUD#?secret=vKSbbE831P\" data-secret=\"vKSbbE831P\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><b>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/b><\/strong><amp-ad data-block-on-consent=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"600\" layout=\"fixed\" data-multi-size=\"300x250,300x600\" data-multi-size-validation=\"false\" type=\"doubleclick\" data-slot=\"\/15188745,22512265771\/FS-lastwordonsports-AMP\/AMP-2\" data-enable-refresh=\"30\" data-lazy-fetch=\"true\" data-loading-strategy=\"1.25\" rtc-config=\"{ &quot;vendors&quot;: { &quot;t13&quot;: { &quot;TAG_ID&quot;: &quot;4f799893-5665-4629-b0fc-8b97d3569fd6&quot;, &quot;ACCOUNT_ID&quot;: &quot;9a3c6c23-453a-4cba-b419-30b908f39a50&quot; }, &quot;aps&quot;: { &quot;PUB_ID&quot;: &quot;600&quot;, &quot;PUB_UUID&quot;: &quot;16268e26-dabe-4bf4-a28f-b8f4ee192ed3&quot;, &quot;PARAMS&quot;: { &quot;amp&quot;: &quot;1&quot; } }, &quot;criteo&quot;: { &quot;NETWORK_ID&quot;: &quot;4905&quot;, &quot;ZONE_ID&quot;: &quot;1382491&quot;, &quot;PUBLISHER_SUB_ID&quot;: &quot;FS-lastwordonsports-AMP-2&quot; }, &quot;medianet&quot;: { &quot;CID&quot;: &quot;8CU8ZT2C4&quot; } } }\"><\/amp-ad><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/span><u><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/span><\/a><\/u><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> for more on the 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 major news as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/span><\/em><amp-fx-flying-carpet height=\"600px\"><amp-ad data-block-on-consent=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"600\" layout=\"fixed\" type=\"doubleclick\" data-slot=\"\/15188745,22512265771\/FS-lastwordonsports-AMP\/AMP-FlyingCarpet\" data-lazy-fetch=\"true\" data-loading-strategy=\"1.25\" rtc-config=\"{ &quot;vendors&quot;: { &quot;t13&quot;: { &quot;TAG_ID&quot;: &quot;f502adbd-5c9b-4d6f-9ec5-b0cdc0f4827c&quot;, &quot;ACCOUNT_ID&quot;: &quot;9a3c6c23-453a-4cba-b419-30b908f39a50&quot; }, &quot;aps&quot;: { &quot;PUB_ID&quot;: &quot;600&quot;, &quot;PUB_UUID&quot;: &quot;16268e26-dabe-4bf4-a28f-b8f4ee192ed3&quot;, &quot;PARAMS&quot;: { &quot;amp&quot;: &quot;1&quot; } }, &quot;criteo&quot;: { &quot;NETWORK_ID&quot;: &quot;4905&quot;, &quot;ZONE_ID&quot;: &quot;1382491&quot;, &quot;PUBLISHER_SUB_ID&quot;: &quot;FS-lastwordonsports-AMP-FlyingCarpet&quot; }, &quot;medianet&quot;: { &quot;CID&quot;: &quot;8CU8ZT2C4&quot; } } }\"><\/amp-ad><\/amp-fx-flying-carpet><\/p>\n<p><em>You can check out WWE programming on<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81788927\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Netflix<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>(Raw, WWE archives, WWE Unreal, and other specials),<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usanetwork.com\/wwe-friday-night-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">USA Network<\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cwtv.com\/shows\/wwe-nxt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The CW<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>(NXT),<span>\u00a0<\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wwe\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/a>(WWE PLEs),<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/tubitv.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tubi<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aetv.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A&amp;E<\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments) and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.peacocktv.com\/watch\/home\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peacock<\/a><span>\u00a0<\/span>(Saturday Night\u2019s Main Event). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on<span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/wwe\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Royal Rumble is one of the most exciting matches in WWE and all of pro wrestling, and some of the best Royal Rumble Matches of all time happened during the Ruthless Aggression Era. While there had been fantastic Rumbles in previous eras (1992, anyone!?), the Royal Rumble felt more special than ever during the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5694,"featured_media":151530,"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":[397],"class_list":["post-150963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-wrestling","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe","tag-royal-rumble"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150963","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\/5694"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150963"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151485,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150963\/revisions\/151485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}