Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every January by World Wrestling Entertainment. The event's main featured match is a battle royal-type match, also titled the Royal Rumble. Some fans of WWE call it one of the "Big Four", as along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series, it was one of the original four annual WWE pay-per-views. As with the other three, this event also brings together the RAW, ECW and SmackDown! brands onto the same card, something that hasn't been true of the remaining pay-per-views of the year since 2003.
Royal Rumble match
| Year | Winner and Entry # | |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 [1] | "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan | 13 |
| 1989 | Big John Studd | 27 |
| 1990 | Hulk Hogan | 25 |
| 1991 | Hulk Hogan | 24 |
| 1992 | Ric Flair | 3 |
| 1993 | Yokozuna | 27 |
| Bret Hart | 27 | |
| Lex Luger | 23 | |
| 1995 | Shawn Michaels | 1 |
| 1996 | Shawn Michaels | 18 |
| 1997 [3] | "Stone Cold" Steve Austin | 5 |
| 1998 | "Stone Cold" Steve Austin | 24 |
| 1999 | Vince McMahon | 2 |
| 2000 [4] | The Rock | 24 |
| 2001 | "Stone Cold" Steve Austin | 27 |
| 2002 | Triple H | 22 |
| 2003 | Brock Lesnar | 29 |
| 2004 | Chris Benoit | 1 |
| 2005 [5] | Batista | 28 |
| 2006 | Rey Mysterio | 2 |
The first Royal Rumble took place on January 24, 1988 in Hamilton, Ontario. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan won, and the first pay-per-view Rumble occurred a year later. It has been traditionally booked by Pat Patterson, who is credited with "inventing" the match.[citation needed] Since his departure from WWE, the Rumble is booked by WWE's creative team. [citation needed]
Rules
The Royal Rumble is comprised of 30 men; beginning with two men in the ring, and at regular timed intervals (usually, but not always, every 90 seconds), one of the remaining 28 wrestlers enters the ring. Participants must eliminate all other opponents and the winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.
A wrestler is eliminated when leaving the ring over the top rope, and then having both feet touch the floor. An egress between the second and third rope or under the bottom rope is not a valid elimination.
An elimination can also occur when a wrestler is thrown off the top rope by a non-competing opponent, or by one who had already been eliminated, or when the participant deliberately jumps outside the ring, for instance to take out someone who is outside the ring. Other wrestlers can be de facto eliminated due to interference preventing the wrestler from entering the ring, or due to a prolonged absence from the ring.
Although the order of entry is supposed to be random, it is common to have storylines where wrestlers compete for the right to enter last, or ask for a low number in order to prove their stamina by outlasting all others. A wrestler may also be assigned a high or low number by a figure of authority as a reward or a punishment. In reality, the order of entrance and elimination is carefully planned by the booker in order to put on an entertaining match.
For example, once a wrestler has quickly eliminated several other wrestlers, the next wrestler to approach the ring will often someone with whom they are feuding. Members of tag teams usually face each other during the Rumble, due to the "every man for himself" factor. It is also common for anyone who participates in a World Championship match that night (whether it be defending the title or challenging) to not participate in the Royal Rumble. This convention occasionally becomes part of a storyline, a recent example being Kurt Angle, who lost his WWE Championship match to John "Bradshaw" Layfield. He stole Nunzio's number and got into the Rumble. The number which the most amount of people have won with is 27. It is also notable that two men have won with number 1 (Shawn Michaels in 1995 and Chris Benoit in 2004) as well as with number 2 (Vince McMahon in 1999 and Rey Mysterio in 2006) compared to none with number 30, which is surprising as the person who holds this number is thought of as the favorite to win. The person who has been in the match for the longest time was Rey Mysterio (2006).
Rewards for winning
Since the 1991 event, every winner (other than in 1992, 1997, 1999) has gone on to challenge the WWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania, but this was not made an official stipulation of the match until 1993. This stems from 1992, when the Royal Rumble decided who would win the then-vacant WWF Championship (Ric Flair won the match). This championship match is often the last event on the WrestleMania card according to principles in the WWE that states "Royal Rumble winner gets first class ticket to WrestleMania", which means that the Royal Rumble winner gets to be in the 'first class' top spot in the main event at WrestleMania, however, this does not hold true, for Rey Mysterio's win in 2006 did not give him the main event match at Wrestlemania, when he won the "Big Gold Belt." In some cases, this can be part of a stipulation for a match between the Rumble and Wrestlemania, where the winner may lose his WrestleMania spot by losing another match.
Brand extension
With the brand extension in mid-2002, the 30 entrants consist of 15 wrestlers from the RAW brand and 15 from the SmackDown! brand. This is, therefore, one of the few pay-per-view events (and certain combined non-televised shows held around WrestleMania time) with inter-brand competition on a regular basis. The official declaration for the first post-brand extension event in 2003, the Rumble winner faced their brand's champion at WrestleMania, but starting in 2004, due to a supposed "loophole" in the Rumble's stipulations, the Rumble winner has the option of challenging either brand's champion. Chris Benoit switched brands in 2004 and won the World Heavyweight Championship (which was the basis for a storyline the following year when Batista won the Rumble, but ultimately remained on RAW). To date, there is no relative entry order between participants from different brands, and there has been no storyline to date that has brands facing each other for the right to name the first or last entry.
It is not yet known if the ECW brand will be participating in the upcoming Royal Rumble Match in the Royal Rumble Event, although technically the 2007 Royal Rumble winner will have an opportunity to challenge for the WWE Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, or ECW Championship titles.
Royal Rumble dates and venues
Records and statistics
- Most wins: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (3; 1997, 1998, 2001)
- Longest lasting: Rey Mysterio (1:02:15; 2006)
- Shortest lasting: The Warlord (0:02; 1989)
- Oldest winner: Vince McMahon (53 years, 1999)
- Youngest winner: Brock Lesnar (25 years, 2003)
- Longest single Rumble participation without Winning: Triple H (2006; 1:00:45)
- Only female participant: Chyna (1999, 2000)
- Longest match: 2002 (1:09:23)
- Shortest match: 1988 (33:00; note that the match only had 20 entrants.)
- Shortest match (w/ 30 entrants): 1995 (38:30; note that entrants entered every 1 minute.)
- Most Royal Rumbles competed in: Solofa Fatu (Fatu, The Sultan, Rikishi) (10; 1993-1997, 2000-2004), Kane) (10; 1996-1997, 1999-2006)
- Most consecutive appearances: Kane (8; 1999-2006)
- Most appearances in a single Rumble: Mick Foley (3; 1998)
- Most times to draw the same number: Jake "The Snake" Roberts (3 as #7; 1989, 1996, 1997)
- Most eliminations overall: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (36)
- Most eliminations in a single Rumble: Kane (11; 2001)
- Most eliminations under a minute in a single Rumble: Kane (5 in 0:53; 1999)
- Total time overall in Royal Rumbles: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (2:44:56)
- Tallest winner: Big John Studd (6'10 / 210 cm.)
- Shortest winner: Rey Mysterio (5 ft 6 in (168 cm.)
- Heaviest winner: Yokozuna (600 lb.)
- Lightest winner: Rey Mysterio (165 lb.)
- Wrestler eliminated the most times by the same wrestler: The Warlord by Hulk Hogan (3; 1989, 1991, 1992)
- Most Royal Rumbles competed in without eliminating anyone: Charles Wright (Papa Shango, Kama, The Godfather) (6; 1993, 1998-2002)
- Longest single Rumble participation without eliminating anyone: Triple H (1996; 48:00)
- Winners entering no.1 Shawn Michaels (1995), Chris Benoit (2004)
- Win 2 in a row Hulk Hogan (1990,1991),Shawn Michaels (1995,1996),"Stone Cold" Steve Austin (1997,1998)
- Most common winning number 27, 4 times (1989 - Big John Studd, 1993 - Yokozuna, 1994 - Bret Hart, 2001 - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin)
Footnotes
- ^ The first Royal Rumble featured only 20 men; the stipulation was changed to 30 the following year.
- ^ Both Bret Hart and Lex Luger were declared winners when it was decided that they both touched the floor at exactly the same time.
- ^ Steve Austin was eliminated, but no referee saw the elimination and made the call, so he slipped back in and eliminated everyone to become the Royal Rumble winner.
- ^ The Big Show, who was the last man eliminated, claimed he won the 2000 Royal Rumble, as both of the Rock's feet hit the floor first. He later showed video footage proving his statement right, and was awarded a match with The Rock with the WrestleMania title shot on the line (Big Show won the match, but The Rock was also granted a title shot after winning a stipulation match) The Rock is still, however, listed as the official winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble.
- ^ Batista and John Cena were eliminated at the same time similar to the 1994 event. Instead of co-winners, WWE chairman Vince McMahon rushed to the ring and restarted the Royal Rumble with Batista and Cena as the only participants, with Batista eventually being the victor.