We're only a few days away from the 2018 Royal Rumble on January 22, and the excitement is mounting. This is the best time of year to be a WWE fan. Every storyline is coming to a head, and the kickoff for that climax is the Royal Rumble match, which determines who will get a coveted title shot at WrestleMania 34. The Royal Rumble winner is vaulted to the rarified level of Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin. Both men became main event stars thanks to the prestige of their Rumble victories.
The Royal Rumble is also the favorite match of statisticians, who can pore through the data to find interesting trends. Which entry number is the winningest? What's the longest time that a competitor has survived this match? How many Rumble winners have gone on to win their Mania matches? Here is the WWE Royal Rumble, by the numbers.
30
There have been 30 Royal Rumbles in total. The inaugural match was won by Hacksaw Jim Duggan in 1988. He entered the match at No. 13, lasted 14 minutes and 44 seconds, and eliminated three other competitors. The last Royal Rumble was won by Randy Orton in 2017. He entered at No. 23, lasted 20 minutes and 52 seconds, and eliminated one other competitor.
30 men will complete in the 2018 Royal Rumble for a title shot at WrestleMania 34. This is also the first year that WWE will host a 30-woman Royal Rumble, also for a title shot at The Showcase of the Immortals.
27
Historically, the No. 27 entrant has won the Royal Rumble more often than any other entrant. No. 27 has won four times: Big John Studd in 1988, Yokozuna in 1993, Bret Hart in 1994 (though he was a co-winner with Lex Luger), and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 2001. No. 24 and No. 30 each have three wins apiece.
Two men have won from the No. 1 spot: Shawn Michaels in 1995 and Chris Benoit in 2004.
3
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is the most successful Rumble participant, having won the match three times: 1997, 1998, and 2001. The first time he won the Rumble in 1997, he re-entered the match after being eliminated, and WWE revoked his WrestleMania title shot.
He received his guaranteed WrestleMania title shots in 1998 and 2001, however, and he won both matches, defeating Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV and defeating The Rock at WrestleMania X-7. Six other men have won the Royal Rumble twice: Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Batista, John Cena, and Randy Orton.
12
Roman Reigns eliminated 12 other Rumble participants in 2014. This is the current record for the highest number of eliminated competitors in a single Rumble by a single individual. Reigns, however, did not win this match, and he was eliminated last by winner Batista.
Reigns broke a longstanding record held by Kane, who eliminated 11 competitors in 2001. Kane also not win the Rumble, and he was eliminated last by winner "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
4
A woman has competed in the men's Royal Rumble on four different occasions. And each time, the woman managed to eliminate a man before being eliminated herself. The first time was when Chyna entered the 1999 Rumble at No. 30 and eliminated Mark Henry. She was the No. 17 entrant in the 2000 Rumble, and she eliminated Chris Jericho. Beth Phoenix entered the Rumble at No. 6 in 2010, and she eliminated The Great Khali. Most recently, Kharma (aka Awesome Kong) entered the 2012 Royal Rumble at No. 21, and she eliminated Hunico.
Starting this year will be a women's Royal Rumble match. Future female cameos in the men's division will become increasingly rare, if non-existent.
6
Six men have spent over an hour in the Royal Rumble: Ric Flair (1992), Bob Backlund (1993), Chris Benoit (2004), Rey Mysterio (2006), Triple H (2006), and Chris Jericho (2017). Of these men, three of them--Flair, Benoit and Mysterio--went on to win their respective Rumbles.
Of the six men, Rey Mysterio has spent the longest amount of time in a single Rumble match: 1 hour, 2 minutes, and 12 seconds. He entered at No. 2 that year, and he eliminated six other men, the highest number of eliminations by a single competitor in 2006.
1
Mick Foley is the only (1) man who's fought in the same Rumble as three different characters. In 1998, all three "faces of Foley" entered the ring: Cactus Jack at No. 1, Mankind at No. 16, and Dude Love at No. 28.
Collectively, Foley eliminated four other competitors, and he lasted for close to 20 minutes.
12
There have been 12 wrestlers in Royal Rumble history who have survived for less than ten seconds. The dubious record holder for shortest time in the Rumble is Santino Marella, who lasted 1.9 seconds before being eliminated by Kane in 2009.
You can see most of the worst eliminations here. The funniest one was by Bushwhacker Luke, who entered the ring on one side, was eliminated by Earthquake on the other side, and didn't miss a step in his arm-swinging walk.
13
There have been 22 Royal Rumble matches with the "WrestleMania title shot" stipulation. Of these 22 instances, the Rumble winner has gone on to win the title at WrestleMania a total of 13 times. That's a 59% chance of success.
There was a seven-year hot streak from 2001 to 2007, where every Rumble winner subsequently won his title match at WrestleMania. This was followed by a four-year cold streak, from 2008-2011, where every Rumble winner lost his title match at WrestleMania.
2
Both (two) feet must touch the outside floor for a wrestler to be eliminated from the Royal Rumble. This specific rule has led to some of the most entertaining spots in Rumble history.
In the 1995 Rumble, the referees actively enforced the rule thanks to Shawn Michaels, who was nearly eliminated when one of his feet touched the floor. He would then perform a cat's cradle to get back into the match, which he won after eliminating the British Bulldog. Kofi Kingston is the most recent, frequent abuser of the "two foot" rule. He performed a handstand to save himself from elimination is 2012.
Hopefully, the 2018 Royal Rumble will have more of these theatrics. What innovations could Kingston have planned for this upcoming Sunday?
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