We’ve already looked at the worst Royal Rumble matches in history, and now we look at the worst Royal Rumble winner of all time.
It may seem obvious to many but the answer has to Vince McMahon. The Mr McMahon character was red hot during the Attitude Era, turning the disaster that was the Montreal Screwjob into creating the greatest heel in WWE history – the dastardly Mr McMahon.
The entire 1999 Royal Rumble match was built around “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon.
The duo’s legendary rivalry was at it’s absolute peak during the 1999 Royal Rumble, with McMahon doing anything he could to try to stop him from winning the match for the third consecutive time.
He even entered the match first himself and placed a $100,000 bounty on Stone Cold’s head – whoever threw Austin out of the match earned the money from McMahon himself.
McMahon would spend the bulk of the match attempting to stay away from Austin. He used all the might of The Corporation to take the Texas rattlesnake out of the match entirely to take him as far away from the WWF Championship as possible.
It looked to have worked, however Austin managed to emerge at the end as he and Mr McMahon were the only two men left inn the match.
Steve Austin looked set to earn an unprecedented third consecutive Rumble victory – the most anyone else had ever managed was two win – until The Rock interfered and helped throw him out of the match, giving Vince McMahon the honour of being the oldest Royal Rumble winner of all time (aged 54).
It was a shock result that no-one nobody saw coming.
Of course they didn’t. It made no sense, and here’s why Vince McMahon was the worst Royal Rumble winner of all time.
He Couldn’t Wrestle
I don’t think anyone could disagree with the fact that Vince McMahon was not a good wrestler. His first match didn’t come until 1999 when he was 52 years old, an age where most people will have retired from the ring and taken up a new hobby as their profession.
That match was an incredibly hyped match against Steve Austin, during the peak of their rivalry – their careers are entirely entwined and we would not have the legendary Stone Cold if not for his arch nemesis in Mr McMahon.
However, once the match started it was clear he couldn’t wrestle and needed help to put on a passable – something that would be clear until his last match in 2022.
He would wrestle in a surprising number of matches for the rest of his career, against a wide range of WWE Superstars.
He faced his own family (Shane and Stephanie McMahon), his son in law (he won the WWE Championship from Triple H in 1999 after help from Austin) and other stars like Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, CM Punk and even Pat McAfee.
While he actually managed okay matches against these, they usually had one thing in common – hardcore matches with gruesome weapons involved.
His only good matches were because of the punishment he could take and dish out with a wide variety of different foreign objects, utilising chairs, tables, ladders and trash cans in order to put on some matches that ECW fans would find acceptable.
He even became the ECW Champion in 2007 in one of his most entertaining reigns, but not for the in-ring quality.
He Was Too Old To Win The Royal Rumble
Usually, the Royal Rumble winner is chosen for one of two reasons: either his is an up-and-coming star who will use it to catapult into the main event scene, or it is a bona fide star who is solidifying his grasp as one of the top stars in the WWE.
The former can describe the likes of Batista (2005), Roman Reigns (2016) and Shawn Michaels (1995), while the latter includes The Undertaker (2007), John Cena (2013) and Hulk Hogan (1991).
Neither of those things described Vince McMahon. He was neither a young man on the rise nor a main event star. He was an old man, in his 50s yes only had a few matches under his belt.
He had no right main eventing Wrestlemania and battling for the WWE Championship (which he would ridiculously actually win a few years later). It took the shine off that years event, even though the story of Vince McMahon vs Steve Austin going into the event was one of the greatest in wrestling.
Of course Vince McMahon didn’t main event Wrestlemania 15. He instead lost his shot at the title in a match against Stone Cold Steve Austin at St Valentine’s Day Massacre, in a steel cage match that saw the debut of The Big Show in WWE.
This was the only positive spin to his victory, as it gave Austin another chance at the championship and his first bout with The Rock at Wrestlemania (the first of their Wrestlemania trilogy)
Vince McMahon Is The Worst Royal Rumble Winner
Based on the points mentioned above, the worst winner of the Royal Rumble match is Vince McMahon. His win could have just gone to Stone Cold Steve Austin, given the fact his title shot went to the Texas Rattlesnake instead.
McMahon even won the WWE Championship later that year, marking his rumble win as irrelevant if title gold was his goal all along. He was too old to win the match and too bad a wrestler to have a great Wrestlemania main event
Who do you think is the worst winner of the Royal Rumble match? Let us know in the comments what you think or click below to read about Vince McMahon’s Wrestlemania matches.