The 30-Man Royal Rumble Match is the main draw of the Royal Rumble card, but sometimes the undercard shines just as brightly as the exciting over-the-top-rope bout.
Way too often the WWE phones in the top portion of the Royal Rumble lineup because it knows the 30-man match is what everyone came to see. However, often times the opposite happens and the entire card is stacked leading into the 30-man contest, making it a well-rounded event.
With the 28th annual Royal Rumble looming on Jan. 25 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Sports World News will take a look back at past events and determine the five best all-around cards in the history of the Royal Rumble event.
5) 2011: This version of the Royal Rumble emanated from Madison Square Garden in New York City and had some solid matches throughout the card.
The main event was the experimented 40-man Rumble Match which featured big surprises -- including the returns of "Big Daddy Cool" Diesel and Booker T. The bout was won by Alberto Del Rio after a closing showdown with Santino Marella and also featured a fantastic spot with Kofi Kingston.
Other highlights of the card included a great 20-minute bout that saw Edge successfully defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Dolph Ziggler and a fantastic WWE Championship contest that saw The Miz top Randy Orton to retain the gold.
4) 1992: This event held arguably the best 30-man Rumble Match of all time as Ric Flair came in as the No. 3 entrant and survived to win the vacant WWE Championship at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, N.Y.
Flair set an endurance record at the time in a star-studded match that featured the likes of Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Sid Justice, The Undertaker and many other future WWE Hall of Famers.
While the under card may not stack up with some other events, it still had some highlights as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper captured his first and only WWE singles title by defeating The Mountie to win the Intercontinental Championship.
3) 2000: The WWE launched the new Millennium in fantastic fashion with the first pay-per-view of 2000 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Rumble Match was a classic affair that saw The Rock win his first and only 30-man bout after last eliminating The Big Show. Other memorable moments in that contest saw Too Cool and Rikishi dance in the middle of the bout and Taka Michinoku and Funaki constantly run interference despite not being entered in the match.
The undercard was absolutely stacked with Tazz making his WWE debut by defeating Kurt Angle and The Hardy Boys topping The Dudley Boys in a tag team table match that featured a Swanton Bomb from Jeff Hardy off the balcony. Other highlights saw Chris Jericho capture sole possession the Intercontinental Championship in a Triple Threat Match with Hardcore Holly and Chyna and Triple H retain the WWE Championship with Cactus Jack in a barbaric bloodbath of a Street Fight.
2) 2004: This edition of the Rumble took place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia and held one of the best 30-man matches of all time. Chris Benoit became the second man to win the match as the No. 1 entrant, last eliminating Big Show to win a star-studded Rumble Match that told a great story.
The Rumble Match was also notable for setting up a few WrestleMania matches as Brock Lesnar delivered an F-5 to Bill Goldberg, Mick Foley came in to get revenge on Randy Orton and The Undertaker's gong went off at No. 13 to distract Kane.
On the undercard, Ric Flair and Batista clashed with the Dudley Boys in a Tag Team Tables Match, Eddie Guerrero took on Chavo Guerrero in a grudge match and Triple H and Shawn Michaels fought in a brutal Last Man Standing Match.
1) 2001: This event, emanating from the New Orleans Arena in Louisiana, is arguably the best all-around Royal Rumble event of all-time. The WWE was firing on all cylinders that night and it was capped with a star-studded Rumble Match that included the likes of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Kane and the No. 30 entrant Rikishi.
There were a few surprises along the way including Drew Carey, The Honky Tonk Man and the return of Haku and there were some memorable segments including the hardcore Rumble.
Kane set what at the time was a record by throwing 11 guys out of the ring while Steve Austin won his record third Rumble Match by last tossing the "Big Red Machine" out of the ring.
The undercard was filled with many hits as well as Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit engaged in a breath-taking Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship, The Dudley Boys and Edge & Christian had a great bout for the WWE Tag Team Championships and Kurt Angle battled Triple H for the WWE Championship.
The WWE presents the 28th annual Royal Rumble event on Jan. 25 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, and hopefully when all is said and done that card will stack up against these in the race for best Rumble of all time.
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