WWE Royal Rumble: Ranking Every Winner After Lynch, Rollins Wins

Credit: WWE.com

13. Sheamus

Going into the 2012 Royal Rumble, everyone knew that Chris Jericho would be victorious. It was the obvious choice, and fans were looking forward to the prospect of a Jericho/CM Punk WrestleMania match. So, naturally, WWE pulled the rug from under us by having Sheamus win the thing.

“The Celtic Warrior” entered the Rumble at Number 22 and eliminated three competitors, including the aforementioned Jericho, to begin his Road to WrestleMania. Sheamus went on to signal his intention to challenge World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, attacking the Champion at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.

At WrestleMania XXVIII, Sheamus won the World Heavyweight Championship in infamous fashion, Brogue Kicking and pinning Daniel Bryan in only 18 seconds, depriving fans of what had the potential to be a great match. The two would find redemption at Extreme Rules, going head to head in a two-out-of-three falls match, from which Sheamus would again emerge victorious.

He spent much of the rest of the year booked in WWE’s invincible babyface mold, rarely losing clean. Unfortunately, credible a champion as Sheamus was, WWE bizarrely decided to book virtually his entire reign as World Heavyweight Champion around a feud with Alberto Del Rio. Sheamus continually got the better of “The Mexican Aristocrat,” but by the end fans were sick of it.

Moving on to what at first glance appeared to be a transitional feud, Sheamus shockingly lost the Championship to The Big Show in a solid match at Hell in a Cell. The rest of the year saw Sheamus feud with The Big Show, but ultimately fail to regain the World Heavyweight Championship.

Underwhelming though his booking may have been, Sheamus’ Royal Rumble win and lengthy top star push rank him in the upper half of Rumble winners for sure.