4. Hulk Hogan – 1990
Hulk Hogan
By 1990, Hulk Hogan was the man in WWF. He had been the Heavyweight Champion twice and was enjoying a ten-month reign. He was the face of the company who made more money than anybody, and without him, there wouldn’t be WWE today. There was no need for him to win the 1990 Royal Rumble match. It simply should have been saved for somebody else to win. This was already a match that elevated a star and Hogan definitely didn’t need to be elevated. As the most over man in the company, winning more than title matches was the last thing he needed.
ALTERNATIVE WINNER: Mr. Perfect
The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan established their rivalry in the Royal Rumble match and so Warrior really didn’t need to win it either, considering the build-up to WrestleMania VI was near-perfect. The final two men in the Rumble match were Hulk Hogan and Mr. Perfect. Months earlier, Perfect had debuted and begun a winning streak, and winning the Royal Rumble would have continued it and really put him over big time. Giving that victory to someone as technically sound as Perfect would have been… well, perfect. Also giving the win to Ted DiBiase, Andre the Giant or Roddy Piper would have been a better alternative than Hulk Hogan being the victor.
