WWE Royal Rumble 2017: Ranking All 30 Match Winners

25 and 26. Lex Luger/Bret Hart – 1994

Only one time in WWE history has there been co-winners of the Royal Rumble match. It’s probably for good reason too since this kind of finish is about anti-climatic as it can get. This would be the case in 1994 when both Lex Luger and Bret Hart won the Royal Rumble.

Luger had been in the middle of his push as the next Hulk Hogan. He would be dressed up as this Patriotic good guy who was all about the red, white and blue and main evented just about everything. However, Luger never connected with the fans on the level that not just Hogan, but other “top guys” did.

On the other hand, there was the more popular Hart, who did not don the American colors since he’s Canadian. He went over with the fans for his in-ring prowess and catchphrases like, “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there will ever be.” This also included leading a version of the Hart Foundation in the early 1990’s.

To make it clear that WWE got it wrong with the 1994 Royal Rumble, they had then WWE Champion Yokozuna fight two matches at WrestleMania—one against Luger and the other vs. Hart. The Total Package would get disqualified in his match, while the Hit Man headlined and won the title, making up for the WrestleMania IX controversy. Luger left WWE over one year later for WCW, while Hart was a mainstay until 1997.

If there had been just one winner, it should have been Hart. But WWE’s choice to give both men the Royal Rumble win clouded the 1994 match and created an unnecessary situation.