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]
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).
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]
Championship | Wins | Losses | Total | Success rate |
---|---|---|---|---|
WWE Championship[a] | 10 | 8 | 18 | .556 |
World Heavyweight Championship | 5 | 2 | 7 | .714 |
WWE Universal Championship | 1 | 1 | 2 | .500 |
Total | 16 | 11 | 27 | .607 |
Winner | Event | Year | Championship match | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Yokozuna | WrestleMania IX | 1993 | Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. |
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.
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 |
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. |
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 |
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 |
1997 - Stone Cold Steve Austin
2018 - Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka
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 |
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.
(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 |
(10 seconds maximum)
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble.
Wrestler | Time | Year |
---|---|---|
Santino Marella | 0:00:01 | 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 |
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:
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.
(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.
(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
(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] |
The Undertaker | 40 | 11 |
Shawn Michaels | 40 | 12[111][112] |
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 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 |
(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 |
These wrestlers have competed more than once in either the same Rumble match or multiple Rumble matches in the same night; while Foley entered the same match three times, 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 |
Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered |
---|---|
Chyna | 2 (1999, 2000)[50][53] |
Beth Phoenix | 1 (2010)[81] |
Kharma | 1 (2012) |
Nia Jax[a] | 1 (2019) |
Wrestler | Times | Year |
---|---|---|
Bianca Belair | 1 | 2021 |
Charlotte Flair | 2020 | |
Becky Lynch | 2019 | |
Asuka | 2018 |
Wrestler | Times | Year |
---|---|---|
Rhea Ripley | 1 | 2021 |
Shayna Baszler | 2020 | |
Charlotte Flair | 2019 | |
Nikki Bella | 2018 |
No | Year |
---|---|
3 | 2021 |
17 | 2020 |
28 | 2019 |
25 | 2018 |
(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.
(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 |
(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 |
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
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 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 |
(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[a] |
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 |
(three eliminations minimum).
As of the 2021 Royal Rumble:
Wrestler | No. of eliminations in row | Year |
---|---|---|
Shayna Baszler | 7 | 2020 |
Michelle McCool | 5 | 2018 |
Nia Jax | 4 | 2018, 2021 |
Ruby Riott | 3 | 2019 |
Rhea Ripley | ||
Charlotte Flair | 2020 |
Note that bold indicates winner of that year's match
Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered |
---|---|
Santina Marella | 1 (2020) |
WWE has also booked several Royal Rumble matches outside of pay-per-view events:
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 (2018) | January 28, 2018 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wells Fargo Center | Ric Flair[kfc 1] | [125][126] | KFC Colonel Rumble (9-man) |
Stone Cold was actually eliminated during the match, but the referees failed to detect it, so he sneaked back in.
Championships and accomplishments |
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Events and shows | |||||||
Other media |