#5: Royal Rumble 2002
Winner: Triple H
This entire Rumble match was built around the return of Triple H, after suffering a torn quad injury that would put him on the shelf for eight months. It was almost guaranteed that The Game would go over in the end, but I’ll be damned if WWE didn’t deliver one of the best, most action-packed Rumble matches leading up to the inevitable conclusion.
A small feud had started between Team Extreme – Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and Lita – and the Undertaker that came to a head here. While the American Badass eliminated both Hardy Boyz, the Tough Enough rookie Maven pulled off the biggest upset in Royal Rumble history, planting ‘Taker with a dropkick and eliminating him from the match. For the several minutes, Undertaker focused all of his attention on ending Maven’s career, brutally assaulting him around the arena.
The middle portion of the 2002 Rumble was essentially an excuse for Triple H and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin to beat the hell out of each other. A few minor stars came and went, but the focus was on these two veterans. This led up to one of the best collectives of final Rumble participants ever, as Kane, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Triple H and a returning Mr. Perfect all fought for the #1 contender’s spot at WrestleMania. Austin was eliminated by Angle, but came back to punish him, Perfect and Triple H with steel chair shots to the head as a parting gift. The Game would eventually recover, tossing out both opponents to earn his match with Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho.
