It’s that time of year again, time for the 2nd most entertaining pay-per-view of the WWE’s year. The 23rd annual WWE Royal Rumble is right around the corner on January 31, and I’m here to preview this year’s event as well as look back on the top ten Rumble performances of all time. This year’s event will take place at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. This year’s event will be headlined by two title matches and the 30 man over the top Royal Rumble. The Undertaker, the current World Heavyweight Champion, will defend his title against Rey Mysterio. In the other title match, WWE Champion Sheamus will defend his title vs “The Viper” Randy Orton. The evening will conclude with the 30 man over the top Royal Rumble with the winner earning a shot at the title of his choosing at WrestleMania 26 at University of Phoenix Stadium on March 28, 2010. I will get to my top ten Royal Rumble performances ever in a bit, but first let’s preview the 3 big matches coming up at this year’s event.

World Heavyweight Title: The Undertaker(Champion) vs Rey Mysterio- The Undertaker has been on a roll lately and will successfully defend his title vs the gritty Mysterio. The probability that Batista will cost Mysterio the title in this match is as likely as Bobby “The Brain” Heenan cheating to help his men win. I miss Heenan. He was the best manager of my era, but not even he could help Mysterio take the title from the phenom next Sunday. Prediction: Undertaker retains the title.

WWE Title Match: Sheamus(WWE Champion) vs Randy Orton- The 2009 Breakout wrestler of the year is also the WWE Champion. Sheamus is the next big thing to come along, and his victory over John Cena was more surprising considering how the WWE treats it’s number 1 asset(Cena). I am holding out hope for a John Cena vs Randy Orton WrestleMania main event, and I’m thinking that is the direction they will go. I don’t think Sheamus is ready to highlight WrestleMania. Prediction: Randy Orton once again becomes the man, and regains the WWE Championship.

30 Man Over The Top Royal Rumble: The best match the WWE does is expected to hold it’s weight on January 31. All of the top superstars will be participating in this year’s Rumble. John Cena, HHH, Ted Dibiase, Big Show, Batista, Chris Jericho and more will headline this match. The excitement every 90 seconds when a new superstar makes his way to the ring makes this event a must watch for wrestling fans. The winner of the Royal Rumble gets his shot at any champion of his choosing at WrestleMania. This thing can go a 1,000 different ways, but I’m thinking this year’s winner will be the guy who has won two Royal Rumbles in his career. That’s right, I’m going with Shawn Michaels to win this year’s rumble and make his way to WrestleMania where he will challenge The Undertaker in a rematch for the ages. Last year’s match between Michaels and The Undertaker may have been the greatest WrestleMania match of all time. Would they be able to top it this year? I wouldn’t bet against the two Hall-Of-Famers pulling it out. Prediction: Shawn Michaels wins his 3rd Royal Rumble, and goes on to challenge The Undertaker for The World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania in the most anticipated rematch since Rock-Hogan II in ‘03.

Before we get to the Royal Rumble on January 31, let’s look back on the top ten individual performances in Royal Rumble history. Coming up with just ten guys was tougher than I thought. The Royal Rumble has been a staple of the WWE’s since 1988, and in that time there have been many great performances by some of the best this sport has ever seen. That’s right, I call wrestling a sport. The things these guys do on a nightly basis 200 plus times a year is impressive. Now then, let’s get to the Top Ten Royal Rumble Performances of all time:

Vince McMahon winning the '99 Royal Rumble earns the number 10 spot on my countdown of the top Royal Rumble performances of all-time.

10. Vince McMahon wins the 1999 Royal Rumble from the number 2 slot- Nobody thought the WWE Chairman would last long in the rumble when he entered. Those long odds increased when McMahon entered at number 2 to face off with the number 1 entrant Stone Cold Steve Austin. With the help of his “corporation”, McMahon outlasted 29 other superstars and won his first Rumble match. Vince proved that “you don’t cross the boss.” The most unlikely winner in history shocked everybody who watched that event. I still don’t believe it happened. The thrill of McMahon’s victory was short lived, however. After proclaiming that Stone Cold Steve Austin had “no chance in hell of ever again being the World Wrestling Federation Champion”, Stone Cold destroyed McMahon in a steel cage match to earn his shot at The Rock at WrestleMania XV where he defeated The Great One in an instant classic to once again become the WWE Champion.

9. John Cena returning from injury to win the 2008 Royal Rumble-John Cena tore his pectoral muscle in October of 2007, and was expected to be out of action for six months. When the buzzer sounded at Madison Square Garden as the 30th entrant was announced, the place went up for grabs. MSG hasn’t been that loud since the Knicks put away the Pacers in the ‘94 Eastern Conference Finals. John Cena was the 30th entrant and began throwing guys out the ring quicker than Simon Cowell throws people out of American Idol auditions. The match came down to Cena and HHH and when the dust settled, Cena won the Rumble and was on his way to WrestleMania. When Cena made his way to the ring he looked at HHH and said “Remember me?!” Cena put on a show in his surprise return, and in doing so, he earns the number 9 spot on my countdown.

8. Rey Mysterio winning the 2006 Royal Rumble as the number 2 entrant- Anyone who is 5′6” tall shouldn’t win the Royal Rumble, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened in 2006 when the underdog Mysterio entered the Rumble at number 2 and lasted an incredible 62 minutes- plus to capture the win. Honoring the late Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio eliminated Randy Orton to win the match. His 62 minutes is the record for longest Rumble performance in history, and Mysterio capped off the feat by beating Orton and then World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 22 in Chicago for his first title reign. Mysterio is immensely popular, and he continues to help the WWE sell out arenas all over the world.

Randy Orton's performance in the 2009 Royal Rumble is number 7 on my list of top Rumble performances ever. Randy Orton.......Legend Killer.

7. Randy Orton wins the 2009 Royal Rumble- The Viper, The Legend Killer, or the best in the business, Randy Orton deserves the praise. He is the best pure wrestler going today, and when he won his first Rumble in 2009 he proved just how insanely talented he is. Entering the Rumble at number 8, Orton lasted 48 minutes and eliminated the 7th entrant HHH to capture the win and set him up for a WrestleMania title match. Orton went on to torture the Mcmahon family en route to WrestleMania where he met HHH for the WWE Title. Orton has become the Kobe Bryant of the WWE. You may hate him, but there is no denying how good he is. You can’t fight the future…..and you can’t beat Randy Orton.

6. Stone Cold Cleaning house at the 1997 Royal Rumble- The legend of Stone Cold Steve Austin was beginning to take shape in January of ‘97, and his performance at that Rumble was ridiculous. This event was held at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, Texas. The featured match that night was Shawn Michaels (in his hometown) taking on “Psycho” Sid for the WWE Title. Michaels won the match, but the guy who stole the show that night was the “Texas Rattlesnake”. Austin was the 5th entrant that night and broke Hulk Hogan’s record for most eliminations in one Rumble match. Hogan set the record in the 1989 Rumble with nine, and on this night Austin eliminated TEN superstars!!! He tossed 1/3 of the participants. It got to the point where Austin was throwing guys out like they were the Brooklyn Brawler or “The Natural” Butch Reed. Pure comedy at it’s finest. A guy would come down and Austin would eliminate him. Simple as that. He was by himself for much of this match as, one by one, the toughest S.O.B. in the WWE threw them over the top and to the floor. That changed when Bret “Hitman” Hart came to the ring and the two battled to the end. Hart threw Austin over the top rope, but was not officially eliminated, and when Hart threw out “Diesel” for the apparent win, Austin came in from outside the ring to eliminate the Hitman and win the match. Austin dominated for 45 plus minutes that night and went to fight Bret Hart in the legendary submission match at WrestleMania 13. The Greatest superstar in WWE history was about to burst onto the global scene and his performance at the 1997 Rumble was one for the ages. Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!

5. The Rock wins the 2000 Royal Rumble by eliminating the Big Show- The Great One was becoming the 1A star of the WWE in the year 2000(Remember that Conan Bit?!) along with Stone Cold, and his popularity increased when he won the 2000 Rumble. The Big Slow, as The Rock called him, was the odds on favorite to win the match, but The People’s Champ wouldn’t have any of it. Big Show and Rock were the final two participants, and after The Big Show recovered from a spine buster and People’s Elbow from The Rock, he floored him with a chokeslam. As the Big Show went to throw The Rock over the top rope, Rock held on to the rope and pulled the Big Show over. The Rock somehow held on and flipped himself back into the ring for the win. The Rock would begin a feud with the McMahon family that lasted through WrestleMania. Vince reunited with Stephanie by screwing over The Rock in the main event at WrestleMania 2000, but The Rock got his revenge at The Backlash pay-per-view with a little help from Stone Cold to recapture the championship. Facing long odds(Shane was the referee, Vince and Steph were at ringside, and Vince’s henchmen Pat Patterson & Gerald Brisco were also at ringside) HHH looked like a sure bet to keep the gold, but when Austin came out of nowhere and delivered chair shot after chair shot, it was even…finally. After a spine buster and The People’s Elbow…..The Rock was once again The WWE Champion.

5A. HHH Wins The 2002 Royal Rumble- The “Game” HHH had just returned from a torn quadriceps muscle that had sidelined him since the previous year, and when he announced he would enter the Rumble you knew what would happen to the other 29 superstars. The fact that HHH came back as quickly as he did from the devastating injury was a story by itself.  HHH dominated once he entered the ring, and when he eliminated Kurt Angle, he punched his ticket to WrestleMania X-8 where he became the first undisputed WWE Champion. This Rumble also featured Stone Cold setting the record for most eliminations with 36 all-time. This was also the longest Royal Rumble in WWE history. You might ask why the 5A? I had to include HHH’s win because of the severity of his injury, and how he came back to dominate the sport. HHH is the most dedicated person in the WWE, and the company wouldn’t be the same without him.

Side Note: HHH needs to turn heel as soon as possible. There are certain wrestlers who are just better “bad” guys, and The Game fits that category. As did some of my favorites from back in the day….”Ravishing” Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect, and The “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

4. Hulk Hogan wins the 1991 Royal Rumble during the Gulf War- It was right smack in the middle of the Gulf War when this event took place in January of 1991. Turncoat Sgt. Slaughter stole the WWE Title from the Ultimate Warrior earlier in the night and the Iraqi loving superstar celebrated by burning the American flag to honor his win. Did you have any doubt who would win the Rumble after all this?! Hogan dedicated his performance before the match to the men and women in the Persian Gulf and, as Gorilla Monsoon said, “It doesn’t surprise me that he’s the last man in the ring.” Hogan entered the ring and dominated like 80’s-90’s Hogan always did. 80’s-90’s Hogan was like Rocky IV Stallone. You weren’t beating him….period. With a sold out Miami Arena behind him, Hogan killed it….Again. After Hogan eliminated Brian Knobbs and The Earthquake, he won his 2nd consecutive Rumble and he went on to challenge Slaughter at WrestleMania VII for the WWE Title. Hogan won the championship for the 3rd time at WrestleMania and officially ended the Gulf War by destroying Iraqi Sgt. Slaughter and bringing the WWE title home. Two other stars were sensational that night. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine was in the match for 44 minutes. Rick “The Model” Martel was in for 52 minutes, a record at that time and, yes, he was a model. Forgot how Hogan won this Rumble? Here you go…….

3. Stone Cold returns from spinal surgery to win the 2001 Royal Rumble- A neck injury that originally happened in ‘97 at the hands of Owen Hart on a vicious pile driver finally caught up to Austin late in ‘99. He returned from injury prior to the 2001 Rumble and became the bionic redneck. Austin was back and better than ever and proved it by winning his 3rd Rumble by eliminating Kane. With the help of 3 chair shots and a stone cold stunner, Austin finally got rid of Kane for the win. Kane was a beast in this match eliminating 11 men, besting Austin’s previous record of 10 in one Rumble match. Stone Cold went on to face The Rock for the second time at a WrestleMania and, once again, defeated The Rock for the WWE Title. With WrestleMania X-7 taking place at the Houston Astrodome, there were 68,000 people on hand to see Austin recapture his place atop the WWE throne. Stone Cold retired in 2003 due to his injures, but the fact he came back from spinal surgery to win his record 3rd Rumble match puts him at number 3 on my countdown. Austin and The Rock deserve much of the credit for mainstreaming the WWE again from ‘98-’03 as well as being the biggest reasons for the demise of WCW.

Ric Flair entered the '92 Royal Rumble as the number 3 entrant, and proceeded to win the WWE Championship. That feat is good for number 2 on my countdown.

2. Ric Flair wins the WWE Title in the 1992 Royal Rumble- When Ric Flair made the jump to the WWE in the fall of ‘91, he came in claiming to be the real world’s champion. A match with Hogan at WrestleMania VIII never materialized due to Hogan’s first Jordan- like retirement. The ‘92 Rumble was unique because the WWE Title was awarded to the winner. The vacated title was up for grabs in one of the most star studded matches ever. With Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Mr. Perfect in his corner, “Naitch” entered at number 3 and went the distance to become the NEW WWE Champion. Lasting over 59 minutes, Flair eliminated The “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Sid Justice to win the match and become the undisputed champion. Flair had the quote of year when he was awarded the belt by then WWF President Jack Tunney….”With a tear in my eye, this is the greatest moment in my life.” (What a gimmick that was, huh?! The WWF President-Jack Tunney. He acted REAL important. I’m telling you, wrestling provides some of the purest comedy you’ll find). Flair always cut fantastic promos, and was still in his prime at when he won this Rumble match. He was fantastic as champion from the ‘92 Rumble until he faced Savage at WrestleMania VIII. The clips of him in limousines, charter jets, jacuzzis and five star restaurants were some of the best promos the WWE has ever done. As Flair always said……”To be the man….whoooo…. you gotta beat the man.” On this day in January of ‘92, Ric Flair was THE MAN.

1. Shawn Michaels wins the 1995 Royal Rumble despite being the number 1 entrant- The career of “HBK” Shawn Michaels has been controversial to say the least, but on this day in 1995 “The Showstopper” was at his best. Entering the Rumble at number 1, Michaels went though 29 other superstars to make history. When he eliminated The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith the victory propelled him to elite status in the WWE. He went on to WrestleMania to fight “Diesel” for the WWE Title. Michaels probably injured his back in that match because he carried Kevin Nash throughout. The wrestler of the 90’s again won the Rumble the next year and went on to defeat Bret Hart for the WWE title in an “Iron Man” Match at WrestleMania XII, that is a top 5 match of all-time. HBK is one of top 5 PURE wrestlers of all-time (Flair, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat), and this was when he was still at the peak of his powers in ‘95 where he put on a show that the Royal Rumble had never seen before and hasn’t seen since. Nobody else has ever gone the distance like Michaels did that day, and he’s still the one only guy I would pick to do it again. Michaels celebrated in the ring following his Rumble victory in ‘95 with Pam Anderson. Of course he did. Only The “Heartbreak” Kid.

There you have it, my top ten WWE Royal Rumble performances of all-time. A lot of great names and great performances by all of these superstars put them on this list. Who will win the 2010 Royal Rumble? I gave you my prediction, but who knows what will happen on January 31. The WWE Royal Rumble is always a good watch, and I highly recommend it this year. Why watch the WWE still? Because there isn’t a better pay-per-view buy out there unless you like horrendous boxing and overrated MMA garbage. Unless of course you like guys who couldn’t hack it in the WWE like Brock Lesnar or  douchebags like Joe Rogan, who makes every interview he does more painful than an actual MMA match itself. Rogan’s interviews are almost as bad as Bruce Buffer’s ring announcing. If that’s your thing, by all means enjoy. UFC head man Dana White goes to bed at night wishing he was Vince McMahon. Sorry Dana, it won’t ever happen. EVER.  Any form of MMA cannot touch the WWE in terms of entertainment, excitement, and fun. To quote Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, “that’s like comparing lunch meat to prime rib.” So if you want to get what you pay for…..the WWE is a better option 8 days out of 7.