Top 10 Royal Rumble Matches Of All-Time
By Tim Sherry
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#8: Royal Rumble Match 2001
The 2001 Royal Rumble match won’t necessarily be known for being the very best match of its kind (although it was still very good) but more for how perfectly it set up what would become in my opinion the best Wrestlemania of all time just a few months later. This particular rumble though will most likely go down as the most hardcore rumble of all-time, complete with chairs, tables, a Singapore Cane, and the eventual winner, Steve Austin, wearing the crimson mask. The Brothers of Destruction wreaked havoc in this battle eliminating half the field, literally. Kane lasted 54 minutes and eliminated a record-breaking 11 entrants, a record that would last until Roman Reigns broke it at the 2014 Rumble.
The match itself did begin a bit slow, but the ending was one for the ages. The final 4 men standing were Kane, The Undertaker, Austin, and The Rock who had dragged himself back into the battle after being chokeslammed though the announce table by the Big Show, who had just returned from being on the shelf for a number of months. Wielding a chair and a bloody face Austin picked up his record breaking 3rd rumble victory.
The real story though was the aftermath. At No Way Out in February The Rock wrested the WWE title away from Kurt Angle who had just won it from Triple H at that very Royal Rumble. This set up an Austin/Rock main event for Wrestlemania 17. We all know the rest.