#1.) Chris Benoit – 2004
The sad part about Chris Benoit’s career is that even when looking back on his greatest moments, fans can’t view it with the same delight and happiness they did then, due to the circumstances of the last day of his life. However, keeping that aside, there’s no doubt that one of the greatest performances in Royal Rumble history happened in 2004, when Chris Benoit entered at number one.
This was Benoit’s first major main event push and he entered from start as a litmus test. He clocked in a then-record 1 hour, one minute and 35 seconds (it was broken by Rey Mysterio two years later). It was a tense match throughout as fans were rallying behind Benoit. He had to overcome the behemoth that is the Big Show at the very end to achieve his dream and cement a spot at the main event of WrestleMania.
The win kickstarted the greatest phase of Benoit’s career, as he would go on to win the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania 20 and hold it for four months.
