Royal Rumble match
The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic Battle Royal match in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor.[1][2] The match is typically the main event of WWE's January pay-per-view event known as the Royal Rumble. The winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.[1][3] According to Hornswoggle, who worked for WWE from 2006 until 2016 and participated in three Royal Rumbles, participants will remember when their eliminations are coming by knowing the two wrestlers who are eliminated before them and which wrestler is entering the Royal Rumble just before their elimination. He also states all the competing wrestlers are lined up in the back based on their number.[4] According to CM Punk, who worked for WWE from 2006 until 2014, wrestlers are given a list of entry numbers and eliminations and are supposed to build the match from there.[5]
Concept[edit]
The Royal Rumble differs from the classical battle royal as the contestants do not enter the ring at the same time, but instead are assigned entry numbers, usually via a lottery, although desirable spots are occasionally assigned by other means, the most common being winning a match.[1] The match begins with the two wrestlers who have drawn entry numbers one and two, with the remaining wrestlers entering the ring at regular timed intervals, either 90 seconds or two minutes, according to their entry number.[1] This format is credited to Pat Patterson.[6] To date, only five men who have been one of the starting two wrestlers have won the Royal Rumble: Shawn Michaels in 1995, Vince McMahon in 1999, Chris Benoit in 2004, Rey Mysterio in 2006, and Edge in 2021 (Michaels, Benoit, and Edge were entrant number one whilst McMahon and Mysterio were number two), while only three men who have been the final entrant won the Royal Rumble: The Undertaker in 2007, John Cena in 2008, and Triple H in 2016. The most common number to win is number 27, and sixteen eventual winners entered at number 25 or later.
The Royal Rumble match traditionally involves 30 wrestlers and usually lasts an hour (the 2011 edition had a 40-man field). The Greatest Royal Rumble (the only edition to have a 50-man field)[7] was the longest, lasting one hour and 17 minutes of a five-hour pay-per-view event while the first televised Rumble match in 1988 involved only 20 men[8] and lasted 33 minutes of the two-hour broadcast.[9] The 1998 Royal Rumble nominally had the traditional 30-man field, but only 28 individual wrestlers competed as Mick Foley entered the Royal Rumble match three different times—first as his Cactus Jack gimmick, then as his Mankind gimmick, and finally as his Dude Love gimmick.[10] The 2018 Royal Rumble was the first to include a women's Royal Rumble match,[11] contested under the same rules as the men's match, including having 30 participants.[12][13]
According to the rules, participants are eliminated from the match if moved over the top rope and both feet touch the floor. Hence, a wrestler who exits the ring without going over the top rope is not eliminated from the contest. For example, during the 1999 match, both Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin left the ring only to return later in the match.[14] Furthermore, a wrestler who only touches the floor with one foot is not eliminated from the match, a rule which greatly affected the 1995 match, allowing Shawn Michaels to re-enter the ring and win the match. Although he has not won a Royal Rumble match, Kofi Kingston has become synonymous with finding various ways to keep at least one of his feet from touching the floor.[15] In the 1994 match, the last two participants (Bret Hart and Lex Luger) were declared co-winners when officials were unable to determine whose feet touched the floor first.[16] Although this was the intended outcome, a similar situation occurred by a legitimate accident in 2005, when Batista and John Cena eliminated each other and hit the ground at exactly the same time. This time, the match was restarted.[17] Though various referees are charged with observing the match, some eliminations have gone unnoticed to allow the eliminated participants to sneak back into the ring to continue. Stone Cold Steve Austin was able to re-enter the ring in this way and win the 1997 match.[18]
Although the vast majority of eliminations are caused by active participants, eliminations caused by other means have been ruled legitimate, including self-eliminations (such as Andre the Giant after seeing a snake in 1989, Mil Mascaras diving out of the ring from the turnbuckle in 1997, and Kane in 1999, although Randy Savage's jump over the top rope in 1992 was not ruled as self-elimination), elimination by previously-eliminated participants (such as The Undertaker eliminating Maven in 2002, Kurt Angle eliminating Shawn Michaels in 2005, Kane eliminating CM Punk in 2014, and The Wyatt Family eliminating Brock Lesnar in 2016), or non-participants (such as Shane McMahon eliminating Shawn Michaels in 2006 and The Miz eliminating John Cena in 2011). Furthermore, an injured wrestler can return to the ring as long as the match is still ongoing (such as Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1999, Roman Reigns in 2016, and Randy Orton in 2021), but not if the match has already ended (such as Spike Dudley in 2004, Scotty 2 Hotty in 2005, Curtis Axel in 2015, and R-Truth in 2019).
Prize[edit]
Since 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble match is traditionally awarded a title match for WWE's top championship at WrestleMania—WWE currently promotes three major brands with a top championship for each, and the winner can choose which championship to challenge for, regardless of the brand they belong to. For the men, that is the WWE Championship on Raw, the Universal Championship on SmackDown, and the NXT Championship on NXT.[19] Similarly, the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match (first contested in 2018) is awarded a match at WrestleMania for their choice of one of WWE's top women's championships: the Raw Women's Championship, the SmackDown Women's Championship, or the NXT Women's Championship.[11][20]
With the first brand extension introduced in mid-2002, the 30 male entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands, respectively. At first, the winner of the match received a shot for their brand's top championship, either the World Heavyweight Championship or WWE Championship.[21] Starting in 2004, the Royal Rumble winner had the option of challenging for either brand's top championship. For instance, Chris Benoit switched from SmackDown to Raw after winning the 2004 event to challenge for Raw's top championship at the time.[19] From 2007 to 2010, participants from the ECW brand competed along with the Raw and SmackDown brands, with the ECW Championship added as an option, although no winner ever chose it.[22] During ECW's participation, the entries for each brand were not evenly divided.[23] The ECW Championship was deactivated in 2010, leaving the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship as the only choices until those two titles were unified in December 2013 as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which became the only option until July 2016, when the brand extension returned, which introduced the Universal Championship—the WWE World Heavyweight Championship reverted to being called the WWE Championship. Like the first brand extension, the winner of the 2017 event earned a match for their brand's top championship, the Universal Championship or WWE Championship, but beginning with the 2018 event, the winner has a choice (which is also true of the women, who had their inaugural Royal Rumble match that same year). As a result of NXT becoming one of WWE's three main brands in September 2019, NXT's championships became eligible choices, beginning with the 2020 event. Since the return of the brand extension, the number of participants from each brand has not been evenly divided, as each match has featured wrestlers from NXT as well as surprise appearances from former, returning, or debuting wrestlers.
WWE's top championship has been booked as on the line during the Royal Rumble match on two occasions. In 1992, the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship was contested in the 1992 Royal Rumble match, which was won by Ric Flair,[24] while in 2016, Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship as a participant of that year's Royal Rumble match as entrant number one. This has thus far been the only time that a reigning champion had to defend his title in the match, which was ultimately won by Triple H, who eliminated Reigns before lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose to win—Reigns would earn a rematch against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 and won back the title. In 2020, although he did not defend his title in the match, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar entered the Royal Rumble match as entrant number one, feeling as if no one on any brand deserved to challenge him at either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. This was the first time in which a reigning world champion competed in the match in which the winner could challenge them—Lesnar's participation was used as a way to set up his WrestleMania challenger, which ended up being Drew McIntyre, who eliminated Lesnar, won the Rumble match, and then challenged Lesnar for his title at WrestleMania 36.
The Royal Rumble winner may also choose to put his championship opportunity on the line in a match. This was first done in 1996, when Shawn Michaels risked his WrestleMania XII WWF World Heavyweight Championship opportunity in a match against Owen Hart at In Your House 6. The second time was in 2002, when Triple H lost his WrestleMania X8 Undisputed WWF Championship opportunity at No Way Out to Kurt Angle, but regained his spot in a rematch against Angle on the following Raw. The third time was in 2006, when Randy Orton defeated Rey Mysterio at No Way Out for Mysterio's WrestleMania 22 World Heavyweight Championship opportunity, though Mysterio was reinserted into the title match, making it a triple threat match. The fourth time was on the February 25, 2013 episode of Raw, where John Cena successfully defended his WrestleMania 29 WWE Championship opportunity in a match against CM Punk. The fifth time was in 2015 at Fastlane, where Roman Reigns defended his WrestleMania 31 WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Daniel Bryan. In a reverse case in 2008, John Cena decided that instead of waiting until WrestleMania XXIV, he would use his world championship opportunity and challenge WWE Champion Randy Orton at the preceding No Way Out event, though won the match but not the title when Orton intentionally got himself disqualified; however, after Triple H became Orton's WrestleMania opponent, Cena earned another opportunity and was inserted into that championship match, making it a triple threat match. In another case in 2017, Randy Orton relinquished his WrestleMania 33 WWE Championship opportunity after his stablemate Bray Wyatt won the title, but later turned on Wyatt and reverted his decision; he then defeated AJ Styles, who had become the new title challenger, to re-earn his title shot at WrestleMania.
During the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018, the winner received a trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship.[25]
Dates, venues and winners[edit]
Male Royal Rumble winner's championship opportunity[edit]
Championship | Wins | Losses | Total | Success rate |
---|---|---|---|---|
WWE Championship[lower-alpha 1] | 10 | 8 | 18 | .556 |
World Heavyweight Championship | 5 | 2 | 7 | .714 |
WWE Universal Championship | 1 | 1 | 2 | .500 |
Total | 16 | 11 | 27 | .607 |
- – WrestleMania victory
- – WrestleMania loss
- – Did not receive title match
Winner | Event | Year | Championship match | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yokozuna | WrestleMania IX | 1993 | Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. He then lost the Championship to Hulk Hogan in an impromptu match. |
2 | Lex Luger | WrestleMania X | 1994 | Luger lost to WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna by disqualification. |
2 | Bret Hart | WrestleMania X | 1994 | Hart defeated Yokozuna to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
3 | Shawn Michaels | WrestleMania XI | 1995 | Michaels lost to WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel. |
4 | Shawn Michaels | WrestleMania XII | 1996 | Michaels successfully defended his title shot against Owen Hart at In Your House 6. Michaels went on to defeat Bret Hart in a 60-minute Iron Man match to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship; Michaels won 1–0 in sudden death overtime. |
5 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania 13 | 1997 | Due to Austin re-entering the Rumble match because the officials did not see when he was thrown out of the ring, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon ruled that he would not be receiving his WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 13. A match in February was scheduled to determine who would challenge the champion at WrestleMania, but after Shawn Michaels forfeited the title, plans were changed. Bret Hart then won a match to become the new champion, but lost the title to Sycho Sid on an episode of Raw Is War. The Undertaker then became the number one contender and defeated Sid for the championship at WrestleMania 13. |
6 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania XIV | 1998 | Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
7 | Mr. McMahon | WrestleMania XV | 1999 | The following night on Raw Is War, Mr. McMahon renounced his title opportunity to challenge WWF Champion The Rock at WrestleMania XV. WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels awarded the title opportunity to the runner-up, Stone Cold Steve Austin, who defeated Mr. McMahon in a Steel Cage match to retain his opportunity. Austin went on to defeat The Rock in a No Disqualification match to win the WWF Championship. |
8 | The Rock | WrestleMania 2000 | 2000 | Video footage later showed Rock's feet hit the floor first before runner-up Big Show. After multiple attempts to name a rightful number one contender failed, both The Rock and Big Show were added to the main event along with Mick Foley, who came out of retirement after losing a Hell in a Cell match to champion Triple H, to make it a four-way match for the WWF Championship. At WrestleMania 2000, Triple H defeated Rock, Foley, and Show in a fatal four-way elimination match to retain the WWF Championship. |
9 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania X-Seven | 2001 | Austin defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification match to win the WWF Championship. |
10 | Triple H | WrestleMania X8 | 2002 | Triple H lost his WrestleMania X8 title shot to Kurt Angle at No Way Out. The following night on Raw, Triple H was given a rematch by WWF co-owner Ric Flair and defeated Angle to win his title shot back. Triple H went on to defeat Chris Jericho to win the Undisputed WWF Championship at WrestleMania X8. |
11 | Brock Lesnar | WrestleMania XIX | 2003 | As a member of the SmackDown! brand, Lesnar earned a match for his own brand's WWE Championship and defeated Kurt Angle to win the championship; had Angle gotten counted out or disqualified, he would have lost the title per the stipulation. |
12 | Chris Benoit | WrestleMania XX | 2004 | Benoit won the Rumble as a SmackDown! wrestler, but switched to the Raw brand to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels, who was feuding with Triple H, found it unfair that Benoit had left his own brand and inserted himself into their feud and added himself to the match to make it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania XX, Benoit defeated champion Triple H and Shawn Michaels to win the World Heavyweight Championship. |
13 | Batista | WrestleMania 21 | 2005 | Batista from Raw chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Triple H to win the title. |
14 | Rey Mysterio | WrestleMania 22 | 2006 | Mysterio from SmackDown! chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost his title shot to Randy Orton at No Way Out. On the following episode of SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long re-added Mysterio to the World Heavyweight Championship match, making it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania 22, Mysterio defeated champion Kurt Angle and Orton to win the championship. |
15 | The Undertaker | WrestleMania 23 | 2007 | The Undertaker from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Batista to win the title. |
16 | John Cena | WrestleMania XXIV | 2008 | Instead of waiting until WrestleMania XXIV, Cena from Raw used his championship shot at No Way Out to challenge for his own brand's WWE Championship. Cena defeated champion Randy Orton by disqualification, thus Orton retained as titles do not change hands by disqualification unless stipulated. Triple H then became Orton's opponent at WrestleMania by winning an Elimination Chamber match, while Cena earned another opportunity and was added to the match, making it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania XXIV, however, Orton defeated Cena and Triple H to retain the WWE Championship. |
17 | Randy Orton | WrestleMania XXV | 2009 | Orton won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler, but challenged for SmackDown's WWE Championship. At WrestleMania XXV, Triple H retained the title against Orton; had Triple H gotten counted out or disqualified, he would have lost the title per the stipulation. |
18 | Edge | WrestleMania XXVI | 2010 | Edge from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost to Chris Jericho. |
19 | Alberto Del Rio | WrestleMania XXVII | 2011 | Del Rio from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost to Edge. |
20 | Sheamus | WrestleMania XXVIII | 2012 | Sheamus chose to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Daniel Bryan to win the title. |
21 | John Cena | WrestleMania 29 | 2013 | Cena chose to challenge for the WWE Championship and successfully defended his title shot against CM Punk on the February 25 episode of Raw. At WrestleMania 29, Cena defeated The Rock to win the title. |
22 | Batista | WrestleMania XXX | 2014 | After months of feuding, Triple H agreed to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX, with the stipulation that whoever won would be inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Randy Orton and Rumble winner Batista to make it a triple threat match. Bryan defeated Triple H in the opening match and went on to defeat Orton and Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. |
23 | Roman Reigns | WrestleMania 31 | 2015 | Reigns successfully defended his title shot against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. At WrestleMania 31 during Reigns' match against champion Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, converting the singles match between Reigns and Lesnar into a triple threat match. Rollins then pinned Reigns in the impromptu triple threat match to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. |
24 | Randy Orton | WrestleMania 33 | 2017 | As a member of the SmackDown brand, Orton earned a match for his own brand's WWE Championship. After his fellow Wyatt Family member Bray Wyatt won the championship at Elimination Chamber and retained it on the following SmackDown Live, Orton relinquished his championship opportunity. On the next episode of SmackDown, however, Orton reverted his decision and turned on Wyatt. The following week, Orton defeated A.J. Styles, who had become the new number one contender for the title, to re-earn his title shot against Wyatt at WrestleMania 33 where he defeated Wyatt to win the WWE Championship. |
25 | Shinsuke Nakamura | WrestleMania 34 | 2018 | Nakamura from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's WWE Championship, but lost to AJ Styles. |
26 | Seth Rollins | WrestleMania 35 | 2019 | Rollins from Raw chose to challenge for his own brand's Universal Championship and defeated Brock Lesnar to win the title. |
27 | Drew McIntyre | WrestleMania 36 | 2020 | McIntyre from Raw chose to challenge for his own brand's WWE Championship and defeated Brock Lesnar to win the title. |
28 | Edge | WrestleMania 37 | 2021 | Edge from Raw, who was the first wrestler to win the match after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, chose to challenge for SmackDown's Universal Championship. After a controversial finish in the main event of Fastlane, which saw champion Roman Reigns retain the title against Daniel Bryan where Edge served as the special guest enforcer, a decision was made to add Bryan to the match, making it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania 37, Reigns retained the title over Edge and Bryan. This marked the first time that a two-time winner of the Royal Rumble failed to win both of their WrestleMania championship matches. |
No WrestleMania title opportunity was awarded in the 2016 Royal Rumble match as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship itself, held by Roman Reigns, was at stake. Triple H won the Royal Rumble match, and Reigns regained the championship in a rematch at WrestleMania 32.
- ↑ The WWE Championship has had various names due to company name changes and title unifications. Since the 1993 Royal Rumble, these include the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, the WWF Championship, the Undisputed WWF Championship, and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Female Royal Rumble winner's championship opportunity[edit]
Championship | Wins | Losses | Total | Success rate |
---|---|---|---|---|
WWE Raw Women's Championship | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 |
WWE SmackDown Women's Championship | 1 | 1 | 2 | .500 |
NXT Women's Championship | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 |
Total | 3 | 1 | 4 | .750 |
- – WrestleMania victory
- – WrestleMania loss
Winner | Event | Year | Championship match | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Asuka | WrestleMania 34 | 2018 | Asuka won the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match as a Raw wrestler, but challenged Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Flair defeated Asuka, which also ended her 914-day undefeated streak. |
2 | Becky Lynch | WrestleMania 35 | 2019 | Lynch won the Rumble as a SmackDown wrestler, but challenged Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship. Lynch was removed from the match and suspended after continuously attacking The McMahon Family and was replaced by Rumble runner-up, Charlotte Flair. At Fastlane, Lynch defeated Flair thanks to interference from Rousey, and as per the stipulation of that match, she was reinserted into the match at WrestleMania, making it a triple threat match. Flair then won the SmackDown Women's Championship on the March 26 episode of SmackDown Live. Stephanie McMahon then announced that both titles would be on the line in a Winner Takes All match. At WrestleMania 35, Lynch defeated Rousey and Flair to win both titles, becoming a double champion, which was also the first time that a women's match was the main event of a WrestleMania. |
3 | Charlotte Flair | WrestleMania 36 | 2020 | Flair won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler, but challenged Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women's Championship, marking the first time a Royal Rumble winner chose to challenge for an NXT title. Flair defeated Ripley to win the title, which was also the first time an NXT championship was defended at a WrestleMania. |
4 | Bianca Belair | WrestleMania 37 | 2021 | Belair from SmackDown chose to challenge for her own brand's SmackDown Women's Championship and defeated Sasha Banks to win the title. |
Royal Rumble records[edit]
Men's Royal Rumble[edit]
Most Royal Rumble victories[edit]
Wrestler | Royal Rumble wins | Year |
---|---|---|
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 3 | 1997, 1998, 2001 |
Hulk Hogan | 2 | 1990, 1991 |
Shawn Michaels | 1995, 1996 | |
John Cena | 2008, 2013 | |
Batista | 2005, 2014 | |
Triple H | 2002, 2016 | |
Randy Orton | 2009, 2017 | |
Edge | 2010, 2021 |
Most times being a Royal Rumble runner-up[edit]
Wrestler | Times | Year |
---|---|---|
Roman Reigns | 4 | 2014, 2017,
2018, 2020 |
Big Show | 2 | 2000, 2004 |
Shawn Michaels | 1994, 2007 | |
Triple H | 2008, 2009 | |
John Cena | 2005, 2010 | |
Randy Orton | 2006, 2021 |
Instances the Royal Rumble Match winner has failed to win their WrestleMania title match[edit]
1997 - Stone Cold Steve Austin (did not receive his title match)
1999 - Vince McMahon (did not receive his title match)
2018 - Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka
- Lex Luger is the only Royal Rumble match co-winner to win the Rumble match but not win their title match at WrestleMania
- Vince McMahon the next day waived his right to face the champion at WrestleMania, because of this, the first runner up Stone Cold Steve Austin was given the WrestleMania title match.
- John Cena used his title match at No Way Out (2008) but only won via disqualification. He was given another match at WrestleMania XXIV which he also lost.
- Asuka is the first and, as of 2021, only woman's Royal Rumble match winner to win the Rumble match but not win their title match at WrestleMania.
Winners by entry number[edit]
No | Year |
---|---|
27 | 1989, 1993, 1994, 2001 |
1 | 1995, 2004, 2021 |
30 | 2007, 2008, 2016 |
24 | 1991, 1998, 2000 |
23 | 1994, 2017 |
19 | 2013, 2015 |
28 | 2005, 2014 |
22 | 2002, 2012 |
29 | 2003, 2010 |
2 | 1999, 2006 |
16 | 2020 |
10 | 2019 |
41 | 2018 (GRR) |
14 | 2018 |
38 | 2011 |
8 | 2009 |
5 | 1997 |
18 | 1996 |
3 | 1992 |
25 | 1990 |
13 | 1988 |
Longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble[edit]
Top 20 individual longest times in a single Royal Rumble match.
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Daniel Bryan | 1:16:05 | 2018 (GRR) |
2 | Rey Mysterio | 1:02:12 | 2006[103] |
3 | Chris Benoit | 1:01:30 | 2004[103] |
4 | Bob Backlund | 1:01:10 | 1993[103] |
5 | Triple H | 1:00:16 | 2006 |
6 | Chris Jericho | 1:00:13 | 2017 |
7 | Ric Flair | 1:00:02 | 1992[103] |
8 | Roman Reigns | 59:48 | 2016 |
9 | Edge | 58:30 | 2021 |
Randy Orton | |||
11 | Finn Bálor | 57:38 | 2018 |
12 | Mr. McMahon | 56:38 | 1999 |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | |||
14 | Kane | 53:46 | 2001 |
15 | Rick Martel | 52:17 | 1991[103] |
16 | The Rock | 51:32 | 1998 |
17 | Chris Jericho | 50:47 | 2016 |
18 | Triple H | 50:00 | 2009 |
19 | Dolph Ziggler | 49:47 | 2013 |
20 | Rey Mysterio | 49:26 | 2009 |
Note that bold indicates the winner of that year's match.
Longest cumulative time spent in Royal Rumbles[edit]
(Two hours minimum).
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Time |
---|---|
Chris Jericho | 4:59:33[104] |
Randy Orton | 4:31:47 |
Rey Mysterio | 4:05:41 |
Triple H | 4:00:50 |
Shawn Michaels | 3:47:32[104] |
Edge | 3:31:51 |
Kane/Diesel/Isaac Yankem, DDS | 3:19:40 |
Cody Rhodes/Stardust | 3:06:45 |
John Cena | 2:48:32 |
CM Punk | 2:48:11 |
Dolph Ziggler | 2:47:53 |
Stone Cold Steve Austin/The Ringmaster | 2:45:04 |
Roman Reigns | 2:44:06 |
Chris Benoit | 2:37:24 |
Kofi Kingston | 2:33:03 |
The Undertaker | 2:31:21 |
Daniel Bryan | 2:24:21 |
Sheamus | 2:15:53 |
The Miz | 2:10:19 |
The British Bulldog | 2:06:02 |
Shortest time spent in a single Royal Rumble[edit]
(10 seconds maximum)
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|
Santino Marella | 0:00:01.9 | 2009[103] |
The Warlord | 0:00:02 | 1989[103] |
Sheamus | 2018[103] | |
No Way Jose | 2019 | |
Mo | 0:00:03 | 1995[103] |
Owen Hart | ||
Mike Kanellis | 2018 (GRR) | |
Xavier Woods | 2019 | |
Bushwhacker Luke | 0:00:04 | 1991 |
Jerry Lawler | 1997 | |
Titus O'Neil | 2015 | |
The Godfather | 0:00:05 | 2013[103] |
Titus O'Neil | 2019 | |
Gillberg | 0:00:07 | 1999 |
The Miz | 2007 | |
Montel Vontavious Porter | 2010 | |
Adam Rose | 0:00:08 | 2015 |
Erick Rowan | 2020 | |
John Morrison | 0:00:09 | |
Tazz | 0:00:10 | 2001 |
Non-eliminated wrestlers[edit]
Several times, wrestlers were drawn to compete in the match, but did not actually compete. Their participation is counted as zero seconds, with the exception of Hornswoggle's appearance in 2008:
- In 1991, "Macho King" Randy Savage was drawn 18th, but no-showed due to leaving the building after costing Ultimate Warrior the WWF Championship against Sgt. Slaughter.
- In 1994, Bastion Booger was drawn 25th, but no-showed due to suffering food poisoning before the match.
- In 1998, Skull was drawn 22nd, but no-showed due to being attacked by Los Boricuas after having been mistaken for Stone Cold Steve Austin.
- In 2004, Spike Dudley was drawn 13th, but was attacked on the ramp by Kane.
- In 2005, Scotty 2 Hotty was drawn 15th, but was attacked on the ramp by Muhammad Hassan.
- In 2008, Hornswoggle was drawn 9th, but did not enter the ring until being forced to by Mark Henry and was then saved by Finlay (who had drawn 27th) and escorted to the back and never re-entered the match. Finlay was then disqualified after coming out before his number came up to help Hornswoggle.
- In 2015, Curtis Axel was drawn 6th, but was attacked on the ramp by Erick Rowan, who then illegally entered the match as he was not a competitor.[105] Unlike other occasions, this was notable for actually being worked into a gimmick for Axel, where he began to imitate Hulk Hogan and wear shirts emblazoned with "AxelMania" and claim that he was never eliminated from the Royal Rumble, therefore he won it, deserving a spot in the main event of WrestleMania.
Wrestlers who had their number stolen or were replaced[edit]
Several times, wrestlers were drawn to compete and were instead either attacked backstage or pulled from the match at the last minute and replaced by other wrestlers.
- In 1999, Mosh was drawn 11th, but was attacked by Mabel, who took Mosh's spot.
- In 2001, the team of Lo Down (Chaz and D'Lo Brown) defeated Kaientai (Funaki and Taka Michinoku) to earn one entrance spot in the Royal Rumble match, but that was later overturned by Vince McMahon who entered Drew Carey in their spot.
- In 2004, Test was drawn 21st, but was attacked by Mick Foley, who then took Test's spot under orders from Stone Cold Steve Austin.
- In 2005, Nunzio was drawn 20th, but had his spot stolen by Kurt Angle before the match; Angle then challenged Nunzio to fight for the spot.
- In 2015, Curtis Axel was drawn for 6th spot, but was attacked by Erick Rowan, who stole his spot.
- In 2018, Tye Dillinger was drawn 10th, but was attacked by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, the latter of whom took Dillinger's spot.
- In 2019, R-Truth was slated for the 30th spot, but was attacked by Nia Jax, who took his spot.
Most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble[edit]
(Six eliminations minimum).
As of the 2020 Royal Rumble:
Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Year |
---|---|---|
Braun Strowman | 13 | 2018 (GRR) |
Brock Lesnar | 2020 | |
Roman Reigns | 12 | 2014 |
Kane | 11 | 2001[103][106] |
Hulk Hogan | 10 | 1989[103][107] |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 1997[103][108] | |
Shawn Michaels | 8 | 1995, 1996 |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 1999 | |
Hulk Hogan | 7 | 1991 |
Yokozuna | 1993 | |
Diesel | 1994 | |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | 1998, 2002 | |
Rikishi | 2000 | |
The Undertaker | 2002 | |
The Great Khali | 2007 | |
CM Punk | 2011 | |
John Cena | 2011 | |
Bray Wyatt | 2015 | |
Braun Strowman | 2017 | |
One Man Gang | 1988 | |
The Ultimate Warrior | 6 | 1990 |
Hulk Hogan | ||
Sid Justice | 1992 | |
Lex Luger | 1994 | |
Chris Jericho | 2003 | |
Chris Benoit | 2004 | |
Batista | 2005 | |
Rey Mysterio | 2006 | |
Triple H | 2006, 2008, 2009 | |
Big Show | 2009 | |
Shawn Michaels | 2010 | |
Cody Rhodes | 2012 | |
Rusev | 2015 | |
Roman Reigns | ||
Braun Strowman | 2019 | |
Drew McIntyre | 2020 |
Note that bold indicates winner of that year's match.
Most eliminations in row in a single Royal Rumble[edit]
(five eliminations minimum).
As of the 2020 Royal Rumble:
Wrestler | No. of eliminations in row | Year |
---|---|---|
Brock Lesnar | 13 | 2020 |
Hulk Hogan | 8 | 1989 |
Diesel | 7 | 1994 |
Rikishi | 2000 | |
The Great Khali | 2007 | |
CM Punk | 2011 | |
Braun Strowman | 2017 | |
Kane | 6 | 2001 |
The Undertaker | 2002 | |
Stone Cold Steve Austin | ||
Shawn Michaels | 2010 | |
John Cena | 2011 | |
Bray Wyatt | 2015 | |
Braun Strowman | 2018 (GRR) | |
Sid Justice | 5 | 1992 |
Mabel | 1999 | |
Big Show | 2009 |
Note that bold indicates winner of that year's match
Total eliminations in cumulative Royal Rumbles[edit]
(20 eliminations minimum).
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Royal Rumbles entered |
---|---|---|
Kane/Diesel/Isaac Yankem, DDS | 46 | 20[103][109][110] |
Shawn Michaels | 41 | 12[111][112] |
The Undertaker | 40 | 11 |
The Ringmaster/Stone Cold Steve Austin | 36 | 6[103] |
Braun Strowman | 35 | 6 |
Triple H | 33 | 9 |
Big Show | 32 | 12 |
Roman Reigns | 32 | 6 |
Hulk Hogan | 27 | 4 |
Randy Orton | 27 | 13 |
John Cena | 25 | 8 |
Brock Lesnar | 24 | 4 |
Edge | 23 | 8 |
Highest number of wrestlers in a single elimination[edit]
Highest number of wrestlers working together to eliminate one wrestler (four wrestlers minimum).
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | No. of wrestlers involved in elimination | Year |
---|---|---|
Mabel/Viscera | 8 | 2007 |
7 | 1994 | |
Rikishi | 6 | 2000 |
Muhammad Hassan | 2005 | |
The Canadian Earthquake | 5 | 1990 |
Diesel | 1994 | |
Kurrgan | 1998 | |
Brodus Clay | 2013 | |
Crush | 4 | 1994 |
John Morrison | 2011 | |
Mark Henry | ||
(Alexander) Rusev | 2014 | |
Bobby Lashley | 2021 |
Most Rumble appearances[edit]
(10 appearances minimum)
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered | First Royal Rumble | Most recent Royal Rumble |
---|---|---|---|
Kane | 20 | 1996 | 2021 |
Dolph Ziggler | 14 | 2009 | 2021 |
Goldust | 13 | 1997 | GRR 2018 |
Randy Orton | 2004 | 2021 | |
The Miz | 2007 | ||
Kofi Kingston | 2009 | 2020 | |
Shawn Michaels | 12 | 1989 | 2010 |
Big Show | 2000 | 2017 | |
Rey Mysterio | 2003 | 2021 | |
The Undertaker | 11 | 1991 | 2017 |
Chris Jericho | 2000 | GRR 2018 | |
Shelton Benjamin | 2003 | 2020 | |
Fatu/The Sultan/Rikishi | 10 | 1993 | 2004 |
Mark Henry | 1998 | GRR 2018 |
Wrestlers who have competed multiple times in the same night[edit]
These wrestlers have competed more than once in either the same Rumble match or multiple Rumble matches in the same night; Foley entered the same match three times under different personas, whereas Jax competed in both the Women's and Men's Royal Rumble matches.
Wrestler | Times entered | Year |
---|---|---|
Mick Foley | 3 | 1998 |
Nia Jax | 2 | 2019 |
Female entrants in male Royal Rumble matches[edit]
Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered |
---|---|
Chyna | 2 (1999, 2000)[50][53] |
Beth Phoenix | 1 (2010)[81] |
Kharma | 1 (2012) |
Nia Jax[lower-alpha 1] | 1 (2019) |
- ↑ Since the inception of the Women's Royal Rumble in 2018, Jax is the only wrestler to ever take part in both the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches on the same card, and one of two, along with Beth Phoenix, to score eliminations in both.
Women’s Royal Rumble[edit]
Most Royal Rumble victories[edit]
Wrestler | Times | Year |
---|---|---|
Bianca Belair | 1 | 2021 |
Charlotte Flair | 2020 | |
Becky Lynch | 2019 | |
Asuka | 2018 |
Most times being a Royal Rumble runner-up[edit]
Wrestler | Times | Year |
---|---|---|
Rhea Ripley | 1 | 2021 |
Shayna Baszler | 2020 | |
Charlotte Flair | 2019 | |
Nikki Bella | 2018 |
Winners by entry number[edit]
No | Year |
---|---|
3 | 2021 |
17 | 2020 |
28 | 2019 |
25 | 2018 |
Longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble[edit]
(Top 10)
No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Bianca Belair | 56:52 | 2021 |
2 | Natalya | 56:01 | 2019 |
3 | Sasha Banks | 54:46 | 2018 |
4 | Ember Moon | 52:23 | 2019 |
5 | Charlotte Flair | 50:01 | |
6 | Naomi | 47:43 | 2021 |
7 | Shayna Baszler | 41:47 | |
8 | Rhea Ripley | 39:06 | |
9 | Charlotte Flair | 33:45 | |
10 | Bianca Belair | 33:20 | 2020 |
Note that bold indicates the winner of that year's match.
Longest cumulative time spent in Royal Rumbles[edit]
(Top 10)
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble
Wrestler | Time |
---|---|
Charlotte Flair | 1:51:05 |
Natalya | 1:38:18 |
Bianca Belair | 1:30:09 |
Naomi | 1:17:57 |
Ember Moon | 1:00:26 |
Sasha Banks | 54:46 |
Lacey Evans | 48:40 |
Bayley | 48:38 |
Rhea Ripley | 47:01 |
Shayna Baszler | 46:14 |
Shortest time spent in a single Royal Rumble[edit]
(Top 10).
No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Liv Morgan | 00:08 | 2019 |
2 | Chelsea Green | 00:12 | 2020 |
3 | Sarah Logan | 00:28 | |
4 | Tamina | 00:39 | |
5 | Liv Morgan | 00:44 | |
6 | Carmella | 00:45 | 2021 |
7 | Vickie Guerrero | 00:57 | 2018 |
8 | Santina Marella | 01:01 | 2020 |
9 | Alexa Bliss | 01:02 | 2021 |
10 | Naomi | 01:28 | 2019 |
Wrestlers who had their number stolen or were replaced[edit]
- In 2019, Lana was drawn 28th, but due to a kayfabe ankle injury she suffered earlier in the PPV, she was unable to compete and Becky Lynch was allowed to take her spot after the thirtieth entrant (Carmella) had entered. Lynch went on to win that Royal Rumble.
Most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble[edit]
Only wrestlers with at least three eliminations are shown.
Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Year |
---|---|---|
Shayna Baszler | 8 | 2020 |
Bianca Belair | ||
Rhea Ripley | 7 | 2021 |
Shayna Baszler | 6 | |
Michelle McCool | 5 | 2018 |
Charlotte Flair | 2019 | |
Charlotte Flair | 4 | 2020 |
Bianca Belair | 2021 | |
Nia Jax | 2018, 2021 | |
Nikki Bella | 3 | 2018 |
Sasha Banks | ||
Asuka | ||
Natalya | ||
Trish Stratus | ||
Bayley | 2019 | |
Ruby Riott | ||
Rhea Ripley | ||
Nia Jax | ||
Alexa Bliss | 2020 |
Note that bold indicates the winner of that year's match
Most Rumble appearances[edit]
Only wrestlers who have appeared in more than one Rumble are shown. As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered | First Royal Rumble | Most recent Royal Rumble |
---|---|---|---|
Carmella | 4 | 2018 | 2021 |
Dana Brooke | |||
Liv Morgan | |||
Mandy Rose | |||
Naomi | |||
Natalya | |||
Tamina | |||
Kairi Sane | 3 | 2020 | |
Sarah Logan | |||
Sonya Deville | |||
Alicia Fox | 2021 | ||
Bayley | |||
Ember Moon | |||
Mickie James | |||
Lana | |||
Nia Jax | |||
Ruby Riott | |||
Alexa Bliss | 2019 | ||
Charlotte Flair | |||
Nikki Cross | |||
Becky Lynch | 2 | 2018 | 2019 |
Beth Phoenix | 2020 | ||
Kelly Kelly | |||
Molly Holly/Mighty Molly | |||
Torrie Wilson | 2021 | ||
Candice LeRae | 2019 | 2020 | |
Xia Li | |||
Zelina Vega | |||
Billie Kay | 2021 | ||
Lacey Evans | |||
Peyton Royce | |||
Rhea Ripley | |||
Bianca Belair | 2020 | ||
Dakota Kai | |||
Shayna Baszler | |||
Shotzi Blackheart | |||
Toni Storm |
Highest number of wrestlers in a single elimination[edit]
Highest number of wrestlers working together to eliminate one wrestler. Only wrestlers who were eliminated by 3 or more people are shown.
Wrestler | No. of wrestlers involved in elimination | Year |
---|---|---|
Nia Jax | 6 | 2018 |
Vickie Guerrero | 4 |
Total eliminations in cumulative Royal Rumbles[edit]
(3 eliminations minimum)
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Royal Rumbles entered |
---|---|---|
Shayna Baszler | 14 | 2 |
Bianca Belair | 12 | 2 |
Nia Jax | 11 | 3[lower-alpha 1] |
Rhea Ripley | 10 | 2 |
Charlotte Flair | 3 | |
Ruby Riott | 6 | 3 |
Natalya | 4 | |
Michelle McCool | 5 | 1 |
Alexa Bliss | 3 | |
Bayley | ||
Nikki Bella | 4 | 1 |
Becky Lynch | 2 | |
Asuka | 3 | 1 |
Sasha Banks | ||
Trish Stratus | ||
Lacey Evans | 2 | |
Mandy Rose | 4 |
- ↑ Jax took part in both the men's and women's Royal Rumble matches on the same night at the 2019 event, and scored eliminations in both, however only her women's Royal Rumble match eliminations are counted
Male entrants in female Royal Rumble matches[edit]
Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered |
---|---|
Santina Marella | 1 (2020) |
Other Royal Rumble matches[edit]
WWE has also booked several Royal Rumble matches outside of pay-per-view events:
- The very first Royal Rumble match took place at a house show in St. Louis, Missouri on October 4, 1987, where the One Man Gang won a 12-Man Royal Rumble, last eliminating the Junkyard Dog, to earn a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match against Hulk Hogan at the following month's St. Louis house show.
- A 20-man Royal Rumble match took place at a house show in Hartford, Connecticut on March 16, 1988, where Ravishing Rick Rude was the winner.
- A 30-man Royal Rumble on January 17, 1994, at Madison Square Garden was won by Owen Hart, last eliminating Fatu.
- An 18-man Royal Rumble match took place on May 9, 1994, in Osaka, Japan and was won by The Undertaker, last eliminating Bam Bam Bigelow.
- There was a tag team Royal Rumble on the June 15, 1998 episode of Raw. Kane and Mankind won the match and earned an opportunity for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The New Age Outlaws.
- On January 11, 1999, a "corporate Royal Rumble" involving members of The Corporation and D-Generation X was held on Raw to determine the 30th entry in the Royal Rumble that year. The match was won by Chyna, who last eliminated Vince McMahon.
- A 5-man Royal Rumble took place on the September 16, 1999 episode of SmackDown to crown a contender for Triple H's WWE Championship later that night.
- A 4-man Royal Rumble took place on the January 8, 2004 episode of SmackDown, when Paul Heyman pit Chris Benoit against the three members of the F.B.I..
- A 15-man Royal Rumble was held during the January 29, 2004 episode of SmackDown to crown a contender for Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship at No Way Out. Eddie Guerrero won the match, last eliminating Kurt Angle.
- A 7-man Royal Rumble took place on the January 22, 2007 episode of Raw. However instead of entrants coming out to timed intervals, Jonathan Coachman called each entrant out at his own discretion.
- On January 14, 2008, Vince McMahon organized a mini-Royal Rumble, involving midget wrestlers. Hornswoggle won the match.
- A 4-man Royal Rumble took place on the January 28, 2011 episode of SmackDown as Alberto Del Rio competed in a 'Royal Rumble Exhibition'. It is the only Royal Rumble match to end in a no contest.
- On the January 31, 2011, episode of Raw, a Royal Rumble to crown the contender for The Miz's WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber was held. Jerry Lawler won the match, last eliminating Sheamus.
- In 2017, the female superstars of NXT held a Halloween Royal Rumble. It was held in a house show. Shayna Baszler won the match as Darth Baszler.
- At the 2018 Royal Rumble, WWE aired an advert for KFC in the form of a 9-man "KFC Colonel Rumble," segments of which had been filmed as a dark match at a SmackDown taping two weeks prior. Ric Flair won the version that was aired, last eliminating The Miz.
- In 2018, the male superstars of NXT held a Halloween Royal Rumble during a house show.
Event | Date | City | Venue | Winner | Ref. | Note | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | House show | October 4, 1987 | St. Louis, MO | St. Louis Arena | One Man Gang | [113][114] | 12-man Royal Rumble |
2 | House show | March 16, 1988 | Hartford, CT | Hartford Civic Center | Rick Rude | [115][116] | 20-man Royal Rumble |
3 | House show | January 17, 1994 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | Owen Hart | [117] | 30-man Royal Rumble |
4 | House show | May 9, 1994 | Osaka, Japan | Castle Hall | The Undertaker | [117] | 18-man Royal Rumble |
5 | Raw | June 15, 1998 | San Antonio, Texas | Freeman Coliseum | Kane and Mankind | [117] | 10-tag team Royal Rumble |
6 | Raw | January 11, 1999 | Houston | Compaq Center | Chyna | [117] | 10-person Corporation vs. DX corporate Royal Rumble for the number 30 spot in the 1999 Royal Rumble |
7 | SmackDown | September 16, 1999 | Las Vegas | Thomas & Mack Centre | The Undertaker | [118] | 5-man Royal Rumble to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship later that night |
8 | SmackDown | January 8, 2004 | Huntsville, Alabama | Von Braun Centre | Chris Benoit | [119] | 4-man Royal Rumble |
9 | SmackDown | January 29, 2004 | Washington, D.C. | MCI Center | Eddie Guerrero | [120] | 15-man SmackDown! Royal Rumble to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at No Way Out |
10 | Raw | January 22, 2007 | Lafayette, Louisiana | Cajundome | The Great Khali | [121] | 7-man Royal Rumble |
11 | Raw | January 14, 2008 | Mobile, Alabama | Mobile Civic Center | Hornswoggle | [122] | Mini Royal Rumble; 6-man, all participants were midget wrestlers, with the exception of The Great Khali. |
12 | SmackDown | January 28, 2011 | Cincinnati, Ohio | U.S. Bank Arena | – | [123] | 4-Man Royal Rumble |
13 | Raw | January 31, 2011 | Providence, Rhode Island | Dunkin' Donuts Center | Jerry Lawler | [124] | 7-man Raw Rumble to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber |
14 | Royal Rumble | January 28, 2018 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wells Fargo Center | Ric Flair[kfc 1] | [125][126] | KFC Colonel Rumble (9-man) |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved December 3, 2007.
- ↑ Waldman, Jon (February 2, 2005). "Statistical survival – breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved December 9, 2007.
- ↑ Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk (2006-01-30). "Mysterio claims Rumble; Cena reigns again". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
- ↑ YouShoot Swoggle (Hornswoggle). Kayfabe Commentaries. Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Unknown parameter
|url-status=
ignored (help) - ↑ "CM Punk & Colt Cabana v Dr Chris Amann Trial Day 4 Afternoon Notes". Wrestlezone. June 1, 2018. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ↑ "Hall of Fame: Pat Patterson". WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-11-24. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ↑ "Powell's WWE Greatest Royal Rumble live review: 50-man Royal Rumble match, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a cage match for the WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, John Cena vs. Triple H, Undertaker vs. Rusev in a casket match - Pro Wrestling Dot Net". 27 April 2018.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1988: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Royal Rumble: Facts & Figures". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ↑ McAvennie, Mike (January 20, 2007). "Foley's Hat-trick". WWE. Retrieved November 21, 2008.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Powell, Jason. "12/18 Powell's WWE Raw Live TV Review: Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman return, Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak for a WWE Cruiserweight Title shot, the build to the Royal Rumble". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ↑ "Kurt Angle announces official rules for women's Royal Rumble match". Cageside Seats. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ↑ WWE.com Staff (January 1, 2018). "Men's and Women's Royal Rumble Match rules revealed". WWE.com. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1999: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1995: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1994: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2005: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1997: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
Stone Cold was actually eliminated during the match, but the referees failed to detect it, so he sneaked back in.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Cohen, Eric (2007-04-25). "The Fate of the Royal Rumble Winner". About.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
- ↑ Moore, John (February 16, 2020). "2/16 NXT Takeover: Portland results – Moore's live review of Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT Championship, Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair for the NXT Women's Championship, Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly vs. Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne for the NXT Tag Titles, Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
- ↑ Powell, John (2004-01-26). "Benoit wins the 'Rumble'". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
- ↑ Hoffman, Brett (2007-02-05). "Tickets punched for WrestleMania". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ↑ Louie Dee (2007-01-28). "A Phenom-enal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1992: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ↑ "LOOK: WWE awards awesome special championship title for Greatest Royal Rumble". Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1988 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1988 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1989 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1989 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1990 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1990 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1991 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1991 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1992 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1992 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1993 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1993 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1994 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1994 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1995 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1995 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1996 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1996 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1997 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1997 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1998 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1998 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ Powell, John (1998-01-19). "Austin wins predictable Rumble". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1999 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ 50.0 50.1 "Royal Rumble 1999 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ Gramlich, Chris (1998-01-25). "McMahon wins Rumble, Rock champ again". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2000 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ 53.0 53.1 "Royal Rumble 2000 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ Powell, John (1998-01-24). "Rocky wins the Rumble, A bloody Triple H defeats Cactus Jack". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2001 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2001 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ Powell, John (1998-01-22). "Surprises dominate Rumble 2001". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2002 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2002 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ Powell, John (1998-01-21). "Rumble 2002 stumbles, Triple H wins WrestleMania spot". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2003 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2003 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2004 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2004 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-08. Unknown parameter
|url-status=
ignored (help) - ↑ Powell, John (1998-01-26). "Benoit wins the 'Rumble'". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2005 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2005 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
- ↑ Plummer, Dale (1998-01-31). "Batista claims the Rumble". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2006 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2006 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ Plummer, Dale (1998-01-30). "Mysterio claims Rumble; Cena reigns again". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2007 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2007 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ Plummer, Dale (1998-01-28). "Old guard dominates Rumble". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2008 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2008 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ Plummer, Dale (1998-01-28). "Cena wins Rumble in surprise return". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2009 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2009 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2010 Results". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ 81.0 81.1 "Royal Rumble 2010 Main Event Synopsis". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ↑ Gerweck, Steve (2010-07-27). "Upcoming dates for WWE PPV events in 2011". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
- ↑ "WWE presents Royal Rumble, 01-29-2012". WWE. 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
- ↑ Murphy, Ryan (2012-01-29). "Sheamus won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ↑ Powers, Kevin (2012-01-29). "WWE Champion CM Punk def. Dolph Ziggler (Special Guest Referee John Laurinaitis)". WWE. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2013 results". WWE. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ↑ Giannini, Alex; Linder, Zach (2013-01-27). "John Cena won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ↑ Clapp, John (2013-01-27). "The Rock def. WWE Champion CM Punk". WWE. Retrieved 2013-09-29.
- ↑ Murphy, Ryan; Linder, Zach. "Batista won the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2014 results". Retrieved 10 November 2014.
- ↑ Royal Rumble (2015)#Results
- ↑ Jones, Elton (16 January 2016). "When Is WWE Royal Rumble 2016? Date, Location & Start Time". Heavy.com. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
- ↑ Murphy, Ryan. "Triple H won the 2016 Royal Rumble Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship". WWE. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble returns to Alamodome for the first time in 20 years". WWE. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
- ↑ "Philadelphia to host 30th anniversary of WWE Royal Rumble in 2018". WWE. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "Shinsuke Nakamura won the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble Match". WWE. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ↑ WWE.com Staff (December 18, 2017). "The historic first-ever Women's Royal Rumble Match announced for Jan. 28". WWE.com. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
- ↑ Benigno, Anthony. "Asuka won the first-ever Women's Royal Rumble Match; Ronda Rousey debuted". WWE. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
- ↑ "Saudi Arabia to host the Greatest Royal Rumble this April". WWE. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
- ↑ "WWE Greatest Royal Rumble to be shown live on Sky Sports Box Office". Sky Sports. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
- ↑ 101.0 101.1 "WWE fans, Royal Rumble 2019 is coming to Chase Field in Phoenix". AZ Central. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
- ↑ 102.0 102.1 Barron, David (2019-02-16). "WWE's Royal Rumble coming to Minute Maid Park in 2020". Houston Chron. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- ↑ 103.00 103.01 103.02 103.03 103.04 103.05 103.06 103.07 103.08 103.09 103.10 103.11 103.12 103.13 103.14 "Royal Rumble Statistics and Facts". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 9, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-02. Unknown parameter
|url-status=
ignored (help) - ↑ 104.0 104.1 "Royal Rumble Statistics and Facts". Smark Out Moment.
- ↑ Staff, WWE.com. "Roman Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble Match". wwe.com. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2001". WWE. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 1989". WWE. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2010-02-10. Unknown parameter
|url-status=
ignored (help) - ↑ "Royal Rumble 1997". WWE. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ↑ "Royal Rumble 2011". www.mondaynightwarriors.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2010-02-10. Unknown parameter
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ignored (help) - ↑ "The 30 Best Rumbers ever #1 Shawn Michaels". WWE. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ↑ Waldman, Jon (January 30, 2010). "The Royal Rumble stat pack". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- ↑ "The 30 best Rumblers ever – Page 27". WWE. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Match data". www.thehistoryofwwe.com.
- ↑ Burkholder, Denny (January 26, 2017). "The Lost Royal Rumble and how a signature WWE event survived despite early failure". cbssports.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- ↑ "Match data". www.thehistoryofwwe.com.
- ↑ Cameron, Tony (January 24, 2016). "The Forgotten Royal Rumbles". wwfoldschool.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- ↑ 117.0 117.1 117.2 117.3 Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 2: WWF 1990–1999. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ASIN B00RWUNSRS. Search this book on
- ↑ "SmackDown Replays". WWE Network. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
- ↑ "Smackdown Replays". WWE Network. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
- ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "WWE Smackdown 2004". The History of WWE. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Raw Replays". WWE Network. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
- ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "WWE Raw 2008". The History of WWE. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ↑ WWE, SmackDown: Alberto Del Rio Royal Rumble Match Exhibition, retrieved 2019-01-28
- ↑ Cawthon, Graham. "WWE Raw 2011". The History of WWE. Retrieved June 9, 2015.
- ↑ "AJ Styles Hits A Stunner In Special Royal Rumble Match After Last Night's WWE TV Tapings". prowrestling.com. 2018-01-17. Retrieved January 29, 2018.
- ↑ "Who will be crowned the next WWE KFC Colonel in a special "Colonel Rumble"?". WWE.com. Retrieved January 29, 2018.