Lowest on the card Rumble Winner ever?

[Push R Truth]

To start, I'm going to DQ Hacksaw and Studd from this conversation. The Rumble didn't appear to really mature to what it is today until Hogan won it.So with that said, who (at the time of their Rumble win) in your opinion was in the lowest-position-on-the-card Rumble winner of all time?

The reason for this question: There's been a bunch of chatter among my old wrestling friends on if the Rumble has ever made a new star, or if the Rumble is only won by people already at the Main Event Level.

For the Women's Rumble I think it's fairly easy to say Bianca. The Men's Rumble gets pretty tricky. Maybe Shinsuke?

[sunnytaker]

well the earliest rumbles were a lot more wide open because the whole "winner gets a mania title match" stipulation didn;t happen until they already had a few rumbles.so it would stand to reason someone from the earliest rumbles would be the answer. of course adding that stipulation really narrowed it down as to potential winners vs the early anyone can win it because there's no stakes other than being the rumble winner.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Since they added the “Rumble winner gets the WM title shot” stip, the pool of potential winners doesn’t fall below upper-midcard at worst.

To hazard a guess, though… Yokozuna in 1993. Based on the technicality that he had only just debuted a handful of months earlier and hadn’t fought anyone higher on the card than Jim Duggan at that point, he was probably elevated the most by his Rumble win.

[clifford]

I think Austin in 1997 qualifies for this. He was very early into his Stone Cold run and hadn't won any major titles for the WWF at that point (Million Dollar Championship notwithstanding). He was in the middle of his breakout feud with Bret but not an established top guy by any means. The Rumble win itself didn't make him a star but did contribute to his rise to the top of the card.

[msc]

Since 1993 its one of Yokozuna, former IC Champ Shawn Michaels in 1995, Austins first, Benoit, Rey, Del Rio, Nakamura or McIntyre. They were all in the upper midcard at least though, but it certainly pushed almost all of them into the main event. Rey feels the lowest down the card to start.

[bob]

I loved him... but Yokozuna 1993

he was basically a rookie with an impressive undefeated streak

[ghost]

Definitely Yoko. He was basically just killing jobbers by the time he won the Rumble. That win legitimized him instantly.

[Jindrak Mark]

I think either Yokozuna or Del Rio. They obviously wanted to push them but they were both so new that they hadn’t built any kind huge momentum and weren’t that over yet. Yokozuna was just squashing jobbers and Del Rio had one feud under his belt with Mysterio that never even got a proper blowoff.

I think Drew is almost the answer. 2-3 months before his win he was a random midcard heel with no momentum but then 2020 arrived, he started acting tweener-like and got really over so by the Rumble he had already became an obvious candidate to win.

[polarbearpete]

Yoko, Austin 1997, Nakamura, Del Rio, McIntyre

[ChitownKnight]

I know Batista had that slow build vs HHH, but he didn’t really do much before his Rumble win in 05. Cena at that point was more accomplished IMO

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

In terms of accomplishments, I think Luger could be considered. Never won any titles, and the Rumble co-win was probably the peak of his WWF career. Just kept slipping lower down the card after it

[Cranjis McBasketball]

Jan 27, 2022 15:33:46 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

I know Batista had that slow build vs HHH, but he didn’t really do much before his Rumble win in 05. Cena at that point was more accomplished IMO

He was set on the path to Triple H. They got right what they f***ed up with Orton. He didn’t need much else.

[robferatu]

Hands down, Yokozuna for all the aforementioned reasons... He was squashing jobbers all the way to his Rumble win.

Even though, Del Rio won it within his first six months of debuting on the main roster... He challenged for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship the month before at "TLC: Tables, Ladders + Chairs" and was already feuding with perennial midcarder Rey Mysterio, and was established as a midcard talent while the jury was still out on Yokozuna on his place on the card before him winning the Rumble in nineteen ninety-three.

[A Platypus Rave]

Jan 27, 2022 19:35:19 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

Jan 27, 2022 15:33:46 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

I know Batista had that slow build vs HHH, but he didn’t really do much before his Rumble win in 05. Cena at that point was more accomplished IMO

He was set on the path to Triple H. They got right what they f***ed up with Orton. He didn’t need much else.

Yeah, but the big actual tipping point for the feud with HHH they did some slow build stuff before but it didn't really kick into any kind've gear until the Rumble.

[Celexa Bliss 54]

Del Rio, definitely. Dude wasn't even on my radar, then he was magically winning the (at the time) largest Rumble match ever. Yoko's a close second, but it was clear there were huge plans for him in 1993. I can make the argument for Rey, too, since he never would've even been considered if not for Eddie's passing. And Nakamura had not been used well in the lead up to the 2018 Rumble, so he'd be another top candidate. Drew as well, since his win came from out of left field, imo. But it's balanced out, because if not him, it would've been Brock or Roman lol

Of the others I saw listed, Luger was on the same level as Bret at the time they co-won, Michaels had been a main event level guy since WrestleMania X, Austin was definitely an upper midcarder at least in 97, Benoit was the clearly telegraphed winner in 04 and being built up to the win, Batista was even more popular than Cena in 05, and Bianca was pretty much destined to win the 2021 Women's Rumble, hands down.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Jan 27, 2022 10:59:39 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

I think Drew is almost the answer. 2-3 months before his win he was a random midcard heel with no momentum but then 2020 arrived, he started acting tweener-like and got really over so by the Rumble he had already became an obvious candidate to win.

I don't know if I'd call Drew a random mid-carder in 2019. Dude was all over Raw in that soul-crushing Corbin/Lashley/McIntyre trio in the first half of the year, and had Roman Reigns's return match from leukemia, and later on was aligned with Shane McMahon which led to them tagging on PPV against Reigns and The Undertaker.

If you are one of the last people Taker ever shared a ring with and Roman's first match after returning from a life threatening disease, winning the Rumble isn't much of a stretch.

[jivesoulbrah]

Orton in 2017 was in the Wyatt family having a mid card feud while he won the rumble. However had been in and out of the main event over the years. Nakamura and McIntyre definitely were mid carders. Yoko arguably as well as he had no established feuds other than Hacksaw and was squashing jobbers on a weekly basis, but he was established as this unstoppable monster heel threat.

[ChitownKnight]

Jan 27, 2022 21:42:38 GMT -5 Celexa Bliss 54 said:

Del Rio, definitely. Dude wasn't even on my radar, then he was magically winning the (at the time) largest Rumble match ever. Yoko's a close second, but it was clear there were huge plans for him in 1993. I can make the argument for Rey, too, since he never would've even been considered if not for Eddie's passing. And Nakamura had not been used well in the lead up to the 2018 Rumble, so he'd be another top candidate. Drew as well, since his win came from out of left field, imo. But it's balanced out, because if not him, it would've been Brock or Roman lol

Of the others I saw listed, Luger was on the same level as Bret at the time they co-won, Michaels had been a main event level guy since WrestleMania X, Austin was definitely an upper midcarder at least in 97, Benoit was the clearly telegraphed winner in 04 and being built up to the win, Batista was even more popular than Cena in 05, and Bianca was pretty much destined to win the 2021 Women's Rumble, hands down.

This whole “Rey winning the Rumble because Eddie passed” is all bs imo. I mean he had multiple victories over the guy the year before and then feuded with JBL. Guy was Forsure gonna win a world title in 2006. I honestly would not have been shocked if he won the rumble anyways

[A Platypus Rave]

Jan 28, 2022 2:13:37 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

Jan 27, 2022 21:42:38 GMT -5 Celexa Bliss 54 said:

Del Rio, definitely. Dude wasn't even on my radar, then he was magically winning the (at the time) largest Rumble match ever. Yoko's a close second, but it was clear there were huge plans for him in 1993. I can make the argument for Rey, too, since he never would've even been considered if not for Eddie's passing. And Nakamura had not been used well in the lead up to the 2018 Rumble, so he'd be another top candidate. Drew as well, since his win came from out of left field, imo. But it's balanced out, because if not him, it would've been Brock or Roman lol

Of the others I saw listed, Luger was on the same level as Bret at the time they co-won, Michaels had been a main event level guy since WrestleMania X, Austin was definitely an upper midcarder at least in 97, Benoit was the clearly telegraphed winner in 04 and being built up to the win, Batista was even more popular than Cena in 05, and Bianca was pretty much destined to win the 2021 Women's Rumble, hands down.

This whole “Rey winning the Rumble because Eddie passed” is all bs imo. I mean he had multiple victories over the guy the year before and then feuded with JBL. Guy was Forsure gonna win a world title in 2006. I honestly would not have been shocked if he won the rumble anyways

Yeah, and like I've said Eddie pretty much spent the last year of his life putting Rey over as a Main Event talent, I wouldn't be surprised if he was booked to win the rumble well before Eddie's passing.


For Del Rio it was clear they were very high on him and wanted him to be a main eventer right away, I mean he had his big debut feud against Rey Mysterio and he basically won it. (also big deal fairly quick reference here)

[Ben Wyatt]

Jan 27, 2022 10:59:39 GMT -5 Jindrak Mark said:

I think Drew is almost the answer. 2-3 months before his win he was a random midcard heel with no momentum but then 2020 arrived, he started acting tweener-like and got really over so by the Rumble he had already became an obvious candidate to win.

Just highlighting this to point out that Drew's big main event push started in like, early December but was done so well that him winning the Rumble in mid January not only felt completely organic, but 100% the right move.

My point being: Anyone can be salvaged from crap booking if it's done correctly