The Royal Rumble is one of the most exciting matches in the WWE year-round. With thirty participants and the booking scenarios are practically limitless. Who will eliminate who, which feuds will continue or start, and of course who is going to get to point at the obscenely huge eyesore known as the WrestleMania sign for a few months? The booking isn’t exactly a science to it, but the WWE does a pretty decent job every year at crafting and exiting hour-plus of action.
Part of the success of the Rumble is the match’s final moments, which begins when the final four men have been established. The crowd gets hotter and perks up getting ready for the big end to the show. Here are the 10 Best Final Fours In Event History.
10 1994 – Shawn Michaels, Fatu, Bret Hart, & Lex Luger
Three future Hall Of Famers and one sure to be eventual Hall Of Famer got to close out the second Rumble ever to feature a trip to a WrestleMania.
At the stage in all of their careers, it was believable that Bret, Luger, and HBK could have all main-evented WrestleMania X with Fatu being what might have been a head-scratching but welcome surprise that would have led to an all-Samoan main event against his cousin, Yokozuna. In the end, Bret and Lex would be the final two and eliminate each other at the same time.
9 2006 - Randy Orton, Triple H, RVD, & Rey Mysterio
Sometimes, there’s just no stopping someone from winning the Royal Rumble. The legendary Latino Heat Eddie Guerrero passed away in November 2005. In a strange way, Eddie’s unfortunate passing led to the feel-good momentum of Rey Mysterio ascending to the mountain top.
He started the 2006 Royal Rumble at number two and lasted the entire match with number one, Triple H. Rounding out the final four was # 20, RVD and # 30 Randy Orton respectively. But there was just no stopping the legendary Luchador from finally winning the World Title at WrestleMania.
8 2003 – Kane, Batista, Undertaker & Brock Lesnar
Monsters have always been a part of the Rumble. After all, giants are always considered “favorites” to win, even though seldom giants have actually won the event. But in 2003, the monsters took control of the final four. Kane, Batista, The Undertaker, and Brock Lesnar did battle for the right to headline WrestleMania.
After Kane and Batista were tossed by the Undertaker, the Deadman and the Next Big Thing waged war until Lesnar won and headed straight for Kurt Angle.
7 2002 - Austin, Triple H, Kurt Angle, & Mr. Perfect
Triple H returned from his first quad injury to a thunderous ovation at MSG. Mr. Perfect returned to a decent welcome back-level pop during the 2002 Rumble. It came down to those two former allies from late ‘96, along with Kurt Angle and Stone Cold.
Like several Rumbles on this list, the more guys at the end who are believable WrestleMania headliners, the better. On this night, The Game was able to continue the triumphant return tour and lastly dumped Kurt Angle to secure a victory.
6 1997 - Fake Diesel, Undertaker, Austin, & Bret Hart
Chicanery was abound in the Alamodome, and it would lead to one of the best Fatal 4 Way matches in history. Bret Hart tossed Stone Cold over the top rope. But the referees were too busy breaking up a fight between Terry Funk and Mankind to see Austin was actually eliminated.
He quickly jumped back into the ring and dumped Vader and Undertaker right over. As Bret made quick work of the Fake Diesel, Austin heaved Bret over, screwing him to win the match.
5 2019 - Bayley, Nia Jax, Charlotte, & Becky Lynch
Three of the Four Horsewomen and the beautiful wrecking ball Nia Jax did battle for the right to not just earn a title shot at WrestleMania 35, but to have a spot in the final match of the event!
This quartet is a main event anywhere in the world and fans got it as the final four of this year’s Rumble. It led to the final two Becky and Charlotte doing what they do best - destroy each other.
4 2018 - Finn Balor, Cena, Roman Reigns, Nakamura
Some Rumbles wind down to a clash between the old guard and the new upstarts. That clash was front and center at the 2018 Rumble match. Finn Balor started the entire match in 2018 and was on a mission to earn a title shot to reclaim a belt he never lost. But instead the Demon King was eliminated by John Cena.
Thankfully for the fans, Cena was immediately eliminated by Nakamura for his troubles. The Artist would then take out the Big Dog to earn a shot at AJ Styles at WrestleMania.
3 2005 - Edge, Rey, Cena, & Batista
One of the only times in Royal Rumble history where none of the final four had yet to become a world champion. But that would soon change in less than two years. Vince McMahon would also famously tear both quad muscles on his way to the ring to tell Cena and Batista to restart the match.
Both men accidentally went over. But after the restart, Batista made short work of Cena on his way to defeating Triple H at WrestleMania.
2 1992 - Sid, Hogan, Savage, & Flair
Three of the final four of the 1992 Royal Rumble aren’t just three bonafide Hall Of Famers, but they’re three of the wrestlers atop plenty of fans’ Mount Rushmore.
This Rumble, even 27 years later is still heralded as the greatest Rumble of all time by many and the final four combo of Randy Savage, Sid Justice, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair was one of the major reasons why.
1 2007 - Orton, Edge, HBK, & The Undertaker
The 2007 Rumble was not only the first and to date, only Royal Rumble the Phenom has won, but after Rated-RKO imploded, fans got to the see the continuation of a war that started in 1997, between the Deadman and Shawn Michaels.
The final two duked it out for nearly fifteen minutes before the Undertaker stood victorious. It also was the first chapter in the several-year storyline that eventually led to HBK’s retirement match.