Here are 10 WWE Superstars You Didn't Know Won Secret Royal Rumbles
10: Rick Rude
The WWE will often say how anything can happen at a House Show,
but more often than not, that isn't the case.
On March 16th, 1988 though, the WWF added some jazz to a live event in Hartford, Connecticut,
but having an untelevised Royal Rumble of twenty of the Superstars at the time.
Allowing the fans to get more bang for their buck, there wasn't any prize for winning this match,
but it was ultimately Rick Rude who won the event, much to the chagrin of the crowd.
As a heel, the Ravishing One didn't waste any time in gloating about his victory
over the likes of the Ultimate Warrior, Kerry Von Erich and Jake Roberts,
who he eliminated last to win, as despite not winning a World Title match at WrestleMania,
Rude won bragging rights over his 19 opponents.
Less than two weeks later, Rude would be a part of WrestleMania 4,
as part of the WWF Title Tournament for the vacant championship,
going to a time-limit draw with Jake Roberts in the first round.
9: Owen Hart
In January 1994, things were tense between The Rocket Owen Hart and his big brother Bret.
After being the only man eliminated from Team Hart at Survivor Series the year prior,
there were clearly issues with Owen,
though the pair claimed to have patched things up over the Holidays.
On January 17th, 1994, just days before the actual Royal Rumble Pay Per View,
the WWF hosted a rumble match at a live event, in which Owen emerged victorious
in against 29 other opponents including main event stars like Randy Savage, his brother Bret, and Lex Luger
who he eliminated last to win the whole match.
As if winning a Royal Rumble wasn't big enough, Owen achieved this feat inside Madison Square Garden,
and was hoping to continue his winning ways that Sunday at the televised event.
Unfortunately for the Harts, the pair would fail to capture the WWF Tag Team Titles at the show,
and though Owen would turn on his brother after the match,
it would be the injured Bret who had the last laugh, hobbling to the ring during the Rumble match,
co-winning with Lex Luger, and regaining the WWF Title at WrestleMania 10.
8: Shayna Baszler
The Queen of Spades has done plentyin her career since transitioning from UFC to WWE,
but whilst fans will know of her two epic reigns as NXT Women's Champion,
many won't know of her Royal Rumble victory. As part of the Gold brand,
Baszler took part at a 2017 Halloween Royal Rumble on October 27th in Sanford, California,
that saw the women of NXT at the time, compete in an array of costumes.
With Ruby Riott being found as Waldo, Nikki Cross as No Way Jose,
Dakota Kai as a scarecrow and Rhea Ripley as NXT head Triple H himself, the match was a colorful affair,
but it was ultimately Baszler, dressed as Darth Vader who won the contest.
Channeling the Dark Side, Darth Shayna didn't hold back in her assault on her 13 opponents,
and tapped into her sith powers, by using the force to hit a chokeslam.
Also in the match, Baszler and Riott would engage in a brief lightsaber duel,
before Shayna eliminated the tattooed Superstar to pick up the hard-earned victory.
7: One Man Gang
Though Hacksaw Jim Duggan is credited as the winner of the very first Royal Rumble in 1988,
the actual first Rumble match strangely took place at an untelivised event.
When the WWF rolled into St Louis, Missouri on October 4th, 1987,
the company chose to host an experimental Rumble match prototype,
to see if fans would like the idea. The brainchild of Pat Patterson,
who sadly wasn't at the Kiel Auditorium for the match, the show ended with
One Man Gang becoming the real first winner of the 12-Man Rumble match,
last eliminating the Junkyard Dog to get the victory.
Unlike most non-televised Rumbles, One Man Gang's victory
would earn him a title-shot against then WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan the next month
though he came up short at against the Hulkster in St. Louis Missouri.
Despite the show drawing less than 2000 people,
and Vince McMahon telling Patterson that the idea wouldn't work,
the company would try one more time with the Candian's idea.
It's a good idea that they did, as Duggan would win the first televised Royal Rumble just months later,
and now the match is one of the most exciting contests on the entire WWE Calendar.
6: Hornswoggle
Despite his diminutive size, Dylan 'Hornswoggle' Postal never let this get in the way of dreaming big,
and in January 2008, was planning to headline WrestleMania.
To do this, Hornswoggle planned to win the Royal Rumble,
which didn't sit too well with his then-illegitimate father Mr McMahon,
who made the former Cruiserweight Champion prove himself on the January 14th edition of RAW.
In this mini-Royal Rumble, the match lived up to its name, as pint-sized versions of Kane,
Batista, Mr Kennedy and Mankind battled with Hornswoggle live on RAW.
Though commentators Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler found things hilarious,
the joke was over when the very real, seven-foot tall Great Khali was revealed as the final participant,
but he was elimiated by Hornswoggle's friend Finlay.
With no other participants in the match, Hornswoggle was declared the winner of the match,
and would go on to the Royal Rumble, but would come up short, ending his WrestleMania dreams.
5: Stacey Ervin Jr.
We've already discussed how in 2017, the women of NXT had a special Royal Rumble match,
but just one year later the male Superstars of the gold brand also got in on the Halloween action.
On Halloween night, this Rumble match saw the Superstars involved compete in an array of costumes,
including EC3 and Drake Maverick as Batman and Robin, Angelo Dawkins as Keith Lee, the real
Keith Lee as a Bear, and Kassius Ohno kicking some prehistoric butt as an inflatable T-Rex.
One the ring had cleared though, it was Stacey Ervin Jr, who got the win in the 22-Man match by last
eliminating the costume-less Jackson Ryker, and unlike some matches on this list, Ervin received an actual prize
a hot at the NXT North American Championship, later that same night.
Taking on then-NXT North American Champion Ricochet with the gold on the line, Ervin held his own
against the high flyer, but ultimately came up short against Ricochet, though winning the Rumble match
and having bragging rights over a dozen other Superstars was still an excellent consolation prize
4: Chyna
The Ninth Wonder of the World was a trailblazer in a lot of ways, as Chyna was the first female
Intercontinental Champion, as well as the first female Number
One contendor for the WWF Championship.
But in 1999, Chyna made history by becoming the first woman to enter a Royal Rumble match,
though her first ever Rumble appearance didn't come at the January Pay Per View.
The main storyline going into the show was Vince McMahon trying to thwart Steve Austin's plans to
regain the gold, so the Boss had a special mini Rumble on RAW, between DX and the Corporation.
With the edict that the winner would receive the number 30 spot in the real Rumble, McMahon booked
himself to win the match, but didn't count on the often-overlooked Chyna, who entered the ring.
Eliminating the Boss in a historic moment, Chyna would earn the final spot in the 1999 Royal Rumble,
but after eliminating Mark Henry, would be tossed out by Austin himself, before
the match was ultimately won, by none other than Mr McMahon himself.
3: Ric Flair
Older fans will be able to recall Ric Flair's 1992 Royal Rumble win for the vacant WWF title,
but over 25 years later, the Nature Boy proved he still had what it takes to win.
As part of KFC's sponsorship with the WWE, the Fried Chicken franchise hosted a special dark
match Rumble to film an advertisement, with all participants being dressed as Colonel Sanders.
Despite impressive showings from the likes of Goldust, Breezango and Titus O'Neil,
the match saw the #1 and #2 entrants, Rusev and The Miz, make it to the end.
Unfortunately for the Bulgarian and the A-Lister, the pair were joined by the Nature Boy,
who not only got the coveted 9th and final spot in the match, but had gone the extra
mile by wearing a specially themed robe based around the Colonel's famous white suit.
Eliminating Rusev and the Miz to win the match, Flair proved why he's regarded as one of the greatest
wrestlers of all time, adding the title of the one true wrestling Colonel Sanders to his finger lickin' résumé.
2: Kane and Mankind
We all know that only one person can go on to win the Royal Rumble match,
and that has led to plenty of issues for WWE's Tag Teams.
On June 15th 1998 though, the company hosted a special Tag Team Royal Rumble on RAW,
and whilst the majority of participants were established teams, some were singles stars hoping for tag team glory.
One of these makeshift pairings was Kane and Mankind, who dominated the match,
and after eliminating Terry Funk and Two Cold Scorpio,
earned a title shot against the then- WWF Tag Team Champions the New Age Outlaws.
As two of the biggest, scariest stars in the entire company at the time, it should come as no
surprise that the pairing of Kane and Mankind would win the tag
gold from the Outlaws as one of the most unique and frightening teams of the entire Attitude Era.
1: The Undertaker
When the WWE goes to Japan, the company always tries and put on a special attraction
for the wrestling fans of the country, and in 1994, this was no different.
When the company hosted a handful of house shows in May of that year, the decision
was made to have a special unaired Rumble match, to help entice the crowd to come and see the show.
With some of the biggest stars of the time in the 18-Man match, including Randy Savage,
the Headshrinkers and then WWF Champion Bret Hart, the match was a who's who of mid-90s WWF,
but it was the veteran Undertaker who won the colossal match in Osaka on May 9th,
last eliminating Bam Bam Bigelow to win the 20-man match.
Of course, this wouldn't be the only Rumble match that the Deadman would win, as in 2007,
the Demon of Death Valley became the first man to win from the number 30 spot,
last eliminating Shawn Michaels to win the historic match,
over 12 years after his secret but equally impressive victory.