AJ Styles and 5 WWE Royal Rumble Star-Making Performances

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1. Stone Cold Steve Austin – 1997

Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of WWE’s greatest stars, if not the top Superstar in the company’s history. His anti-heel persona transcended the professional wrestling landscape in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. To get there, he needed to have the fans behind him via WWE making him look like a big deal, which happened plenty of times in 1996 and 1997.

There would be the “Austin 3:16” promo from King of the Ring 1996 that everyone talks about, or the double turn with Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13. In the middle of that was the 1997 Royal Rumble match.

First, Austin entered at No. 5 and proceeded to last 45 minutes, which had been one of the top Iron Man times. He also held the elimination record before Kane and Roman Reigns with 10, another star-making quality for his performance.

Throughout this match, fans were getting on the side of Austin’s with cheers, something that had begun somewhat prior to the show. This would be the case when he checked the “watch” on his wrist after eliminating someone and being a fresh face in an otherwise stale period for WWE. So, the fans got behind the Rattlesnake, which was aided by the company giving him the Royal Rumble win in 1997. This jumpstarted his push into WrestleMania season and turned him into the top babyface that the Attitude Era fans exploded for as the 1990’s closed.

Steve Austin, Kane, Roman Reigns, Chris Benoit, and AJ Styles all had star-making performances, or ones that affirmed their status in WWE at the Royal Rumble. Who else had similar outings?

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