WWE Royal Rumble

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The Royal Rumble is a major event of the WWE wrestling league that has been held annually since 1988 . The first event of this kind took place as a free-to-air TV special on the USA Network, and from 1989 it was converted into the pay-per-view format that is common today .

The main event (the so-called Main Event ) of the evening is the eponymous Royal Rumble Match ; an Over the Top Rope Battle Royal with i. d. Usually 30 participants, whereby at the beginning there are already two wrestlers in the ring and usually every 90 seconds (until 1994 every 2 minutes, 1996 every 60 seconds) another wrestler enters the ring. The goal is to be the last man in the ring in this match. The wrestlers are eliminated from the competition if they are carried over the top ring rope and then touch the hall floor with both feet. The ring may be left without consequences under the lowest ring rope or between the ropes during the match.

history

The order of the entries is drawn, mostly in the form of backstage segments, in which the superstars pull their start number from a lottery drum. Every now and then, matches take place in advance that involve a particularly advantageous or unfavorable start number (e.g. No. 1 or No. 30).

Since 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble Match has officially received a title match for the highest title in the league in the main event of the next WrestleMania , the WWE World or WWE Universal Championship . Since 2018 there has also been a Royal Rumble Match for women, so that the winner receives a title match for the highest women's title in the league, the WWE Raw Women's or WWE SmackDown Women's Championship , at the next Wrestlemania . Since there were two world titles between 2003 and 2013, the winner had the choice between a match against the World Heavyweight Champion or the WWE Champion . From 2006 to 2010 the winner could also compete against the reigning ECW champion . In 2016, the WWE World Heavyweight Championship was awarded directly to the winner of the tournament. With the brand separation of RAW and SmackDown! in two separate squads in July 2016, the winner from 2017 is expected to challenge the champion of his respective squad. Together with the major events WrestleMania , SummerSlam and the Survivor Series , the Royal Rumble is one of the Big Four , i.e. the most traditional and longest-running PPV shows of the WWE, at which RAW and SmackDown! from 2002 - 2011 as well as since the renewed separation in July 2016 members of both brands participated or are participating. The Royal Rumble is also the start of the annual Road To WrestleMania .

List of events and winners

No. event date place arena spectator winner Start number
1 Royal Rumble January 24, 1988 Hamilton, Ontario Copps Coliseum 18,000 Jim Duggan 13
2 Royal Rumble January 15, 1989 Houston, Texas The Summit 19,000 Big John Studd 27
3 Royal Rumble January 21, 1990 Orlando, Florida Orlando Arena 18,000 Hulk Hogan 25th
4th Royal Rumble January 19, 1991 Miami, Florida Miami arena 16,000 24
5 Royal Rumble January 21, 1992 Albany, New York Knickerbocker Arena 17,000 Ric flair 3
6th Royal Rumble January 24, 1993 Sacramento, California ARCO arena 16,000 Yokozuna 27
7th Royal Rumble January 22, 1994 Providence, Rhode Island Providence Civic Center 14,500 Bret Hart
Lex Luger 		27
23
8th Royal Rumble January 22, 1995 Tampa, Florida USF Sun Dome 10,000 Shawn Michaels 1
9 Royal Rumble January 21, 1996 Fresno, California Selland Arena 9,600 18th
10 Royal Rumble January 19, 1997 San Antonio, Texas Alamodome 60,477 Steve Austin 5
11 Royal Rumble January 18, 1998 San Jose, California San Jose Arena 18,542 24
12 Royal Rumble January 24, 1999 Anaheim, California Arrowhead Pond 14,816 Vince McMahon 2
13 Royal Rumble January 20, 2000 New York City, New York Madison Square Garden 19,231 The Rock 24
14th Royal Rumble January 21, 2001 New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans Arena 17,137 Steve Austin 27
15th Royal Rumble January 20, 2002 Atlanta, Georgia Philips Arena 16,106 Triple H 22nd
16 Royal Rumble January 19, 2003 Boston, Massachusetts Fleet Center 15,338 Brock Lesnar 29
17th Royal Rumble January 26, 2004 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wachovia Center 17,289 Chris Benoit 1
18th Royal Rumble January 30, 2005 Fresno, California Save Mart Center 12,000 Batista 28
19th Royal Rumble January 29, 2006 Miami, Florida American Airlines Arena 16,000 Rey Mysterio 2
20th Royal Rumble January 28, 2007 San Antonio, Texas AT&T Center 13,500 The Undertaker 30th
21st Royal Rumble January 27, 2008 New York City, New York Madison Square Garden 20,798 John Cena 30th
22nd Royal Rumble January 25, 2009 Detroit, Michigan Joe Louis Arena 16,685 Randy Orton 8th
23 Royal Rumble January 31, 2010 Atlanta, Georgia Philips Arena 16,697 Edge 29
24 Royal Rumble January 30, 2011 Boston, Massachusetts TD Garden 15,113 Alberto Del Rio 38
25th Royal Rumble January 29, 2012 St. Louis, Missouri Scottrade Center 18,121 Sheamus 22nd
26th Royal Rumble January 27, 2013 Phoenix, Arizona US Airways Center 15,103 John Cena 19th
27 Royal Rumble January 26, 2014 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Consol Energy Center 15,715 Batista 28
28 Royal Rumble January 25, 2015 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center 17.164 Roman Reigns 19th
29 Royal Rumble January 24, 2016 Orlando, Florida Amway Center 15,170 Triple H 30th
30th Royal Rumble 29th January 2017 San Antonio, Texas Alamodome 52.020 Randy Orton 23
31 Royal Rumble January 28, 2018 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wells Fargo Center 17,629 Shinsuke Nakamura 14th
Asuka 25th
32 Royal Rumble January 27, 2019 Phoenix , Arizona Chase Field 48.193 Becky Lynch 28
Seth Rollins 10
33 Royal Rumble January 26, 2020 Houston , Texas Minute Maid Park 42,715 Charlotte flair 17th
Drew McIntyre 16

Trivia

  • Only 20 participants contested the first Royal Rumble, each subsequent Royal Rumble match contested 30 participants. The only exception: In 2011 the match was contested once with 40 participants.
  • In 1992, for the first time and to date the only time, the vacant "WWF Championship" was awarded to the winner, and Ric Flair secured the victory and thus the title . In 2016, the united WWE World Heavyweight Championship was awarded to the winner, which was still owned by Roman Reigns. Winners and thus new champion was HHH .
  • Since 1996 every wrestler has come to the ring to his own entrance music, until then this was only granted to the first two participants.
  • Whether the retirement of a wrestler is compliant with the rules under special or unfair circumstances (e.g. through interference from outside) varies depending on the desired dramaturgy: For example, Vader threw in 1996. B. Several wrestlers (including Shawn Michaels ) over the top rope from the ring after he himself was already eliminated. However, they were then allowed to return to the ring and continue to participate in the match, with Shawn Michaels subsequently even winning it. In other incidents of a similar nature, wrestlers were considered eliminated. In the past, wrestlers who stepped out of the ring over the top rope were allowed to continue the match; another time they were eliminated.
  • The Royal Rumble Match is often used for surprise appearances by either returning or newly signed wrestlers or for prominent guest appearances. So returned z. B. John Cena (2008) or Edge (2010) returned from their injury breaks unannounced and much earlier than expected and AJ Styles made his WWE debut in 2016 to the great cheer of the fans. Non-wrestlers like Drew Carey or Michael Cole have also competed in the Royal Rumble Match.
  • The Royal Rumble 2008 was the first wrestling event ever to be produced in HDTV and in 16: 9 widescreen format , with which WWE also started HD operations for its programs.
  • With the exception of the first edition in 1988, all Royal Rumbles were released on VHS, DVD and since 2009 (despite the 2008 edition already in HD) on Blu-Ray as a single release. In 2007 a DVD collection called "The Complete Royal Rumble Anthology was released "which contains all events up to 2007. The first show in 1988 was released on home media for the first time ever with this box.
  • All Royal Rumbles are also available on demand on the in-house streaming service WWE Network .

Statistics (as of: Royal Rumble 2020)

  • With three wins (1997, 1998, 2001) "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is the record holder in the Royal Rumble Match. His first win was later denied in the course of a storyline , as he had previously been eliminated by Bret Hart , but the referees did not see this. Hulk Hogan (1990 & 1991), Shawn Michaels (1995 & 1996), John Cena (2008 & 2013), Batista (2005 & 2014), Triple H (2002 & 2016) and Randy Orton (2009 & 2017 ) have had two Royal awards so far Winning rumble matches, with Hogan, Michaels and Austin winning their matches in two consecutive years and Triple H holding the record for the longest distance between two wins at 14.
  • Bret Hart and Lex Luger are the only joint winners (1994) in the history of rumble. In 2005 the last two participants, John Cena and Batista, eliminated each other and hit the hall floor at the same time. In this case, however, the match was restarted with the two remaining participants and Batista won. In fact, the simultaneous elimination was an accident, Batista was planned as the winner from the start.
  • With Yokozuna (1993), Shawn Michaels (1996), Steve Austin (1998 & 2001), Triple H (2002), Brock Lesnar (2003), Chris Benoit (2004), Batista (2005), Rey Mysterio (2006), The Undertaker (2007), Sheamus (2012) and John Cena (2013) a Royal Rumble winner has won his guaranteed title match twelve times and thus the title at WrestleMania since the beginning of this rule introduction, with Lex Luger (1994), Shawn Michaels (1995) , The Rock (2000), John Cena (2008), Randy Orton (2009), Edge (2010), Alberto Del Rio (2011), Batista (2014) and Roman Reigns (2015), however, the winner lost his title match nine times.
  • In 3 cases the winner did not get a title match due to special circumstances, in 1997 Austin was stripped of the title match due to the controversial end, as he had already been eliminated, but this was overlooked by the referees. In 1999 Mr. McMahon won the Royal Rumble after eliminating Steve Austin with the help of some of his henchmen. The title match was stripped from him by Commissioner Shawn Michaels and Austin was awarded. Austin had to put this title chance on the line in a steel cage match at the PPV St. Valentine's Day Massacre against McMahon, which he won and subsequently The Rock at WrestleMania 15 took the title away. In 2016, Triple H won the Royal Rumble and at the same time the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, which was fought out in this rumble.
  • Andre the Giant (1989), Randy Savage (1992), Ahmed Johnson (1997), Mil Mascaras (1997), Faarooq (1997), Drew Carey (2001), Kane (1999), Mick Foley (2004) and MVP (2010 ) eliminated themselves either without direct opposing action or while they themselves threw an opponent out of the Royal Rumble.
  • With Shawn Michaels (1995), Vince McMahon (1999), Chris Benoit (2004) and Rey Mysterio (2006) four wrestlers have won the match despite the worst starting numbers one and two, with which they were in the ring from the beginning of the match.
  • Shawn Michaels is the only wrestler to have competed in the Royal Rumble in four decades (1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s).
  • Most of the winners of the match emerged from the number 27. (1989, 1993, 1994 and 2001).
  • The Undertaker (2007), John Cena (2008) and Triple H (2016) won with starting number 30.
  • The youngest winner of the Royal Rumble was Brock Lesnar (2003) at the age of 25.
  • The oldest winner of the Royal Rumble was Vince McMahon (1999) at the age of 54.
  • Rey Mysterio stayed 1:02:12 hours in the Royal Rumble 2006 (which he also won) and thus holds the current record for the longest-running winner in the match. The record for the longest remaining wrestler who did not win the match was set by Bob Backlund in 1993 (1:01:10 hours).
  • The longest match time from all participations added up is Chris Jericho with 4:54:17 hours.
  • With 7:19 minutes (2010), Edge is the winner of the match with the shortest time in the ring.
  • The longest Royal Rumble match to date lasted 69:48 minutes (2011), but 40 wrestlers took part in this one-time event. The longest match with a regular number of participants lasted 69:22 minutes (2002).
  • The so far shortest Royal Rumble match lasted about 33 minutes (1988), but only 20 wrestlers took part. The shortest match with a regular number of participants lasted 38:41 minutes (1995), whereby the intervals between the wrestlers' entries were shortened to 60 seconds.
  • Santino Marella was in the ring for only one second in the 2009 Royal Rumble, making it the shortest representation in a rumble.
  • The record for the most eliminations in a single rumble is held by Brock Lesnar , who in 2020 knocked thirteen opponents out of the ring, setting the previous record for Roman Reigns at Rumble 2014 (12 eliminations) and before that of Kane at Rumble 2001 (11 eliminations). Braun Strowman also eliminated 13 opponents in 2018, but this was with the "Greatest Royal Rumble", which is not part of the classic Royal Rumble series.
  • The record for the most eliminations in all participations is held by Kane, who threw a total of 44 opponents out of the ring.
  • Brock Lesnar holds the record for most eliminations in a row. At the Royal Rumble Match 2020 he managed to knock out 13 opponents in a row.
  • With 19 missions, Kane took part in a Royal Rumble most often, but under various gimmicks .
  • Most of the opponents in the shortest possible time eliminated The Great Khali in the Royal Rumble 2007, which promoted seven wrestlers out in 1:47 minutes.
  • The only participant who was represented three times at the same Royal Rumble, but still not won, was Mick Foley in 1998 with his three gimmicks Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind.
  • Charles Wright appeared as Papa Shango (1993), Kama (1996), Kama Mustafa (1998), The Godfather (1999 & 2000) and The Goodfather (2001) and thus under five different gimmicks at the Royal Rumble and thus also holds a record .
  • So far, four women have participated in the men's Royal Rumble: Chyna (1999 and 2000), Beth Phoenix (2010), Kharma (2012) and Nia Jax (2019). All four were allowed to eliminate one wrestler each time they participated.
  • Ric Flair and Triple H won the only Royal Rumble so far in 1992 and 2016, respectively, which directly concerned the highest title of the WWE (then WWF).
  • Randy Savage , Hulk Hogan, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar are the only ones to date who have participated in the Royal Rumble as reigning WWF Champions (Savage, Hogan) and WWE World Heavyweight Champion (Reigns, Lesnar), with Hogan (1990) as the only one could win.
  • With Triple H (2002), John Cena (2008) and Edge (2010), three wrestlers have won a Royal Rumble in their first match after a long break from injury.
  • In the 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006 and 2013 events, the Royal Rumble Match was not last, so it was not the main event.
  • San Antonio (1997, 2007 and 2017) is the only venue where the Royal Rumble has already taken place three times. Miami (1991 and 2006), Fresno (1996 and 2005), New York (2000 and 2008), Atlanta (2002 and 2010), Boston (2003 and 2011), Orlando (1990 and 2016) and Philadelphia (2015 and 2018) already twice the venue.
  • Asuka (2018) won the women's first Royal Rumble match.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Philip Kreikenbohm: WWE Royal Rumble 2011 "Event Database" CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. In: www.cagematch.de. Retrieved November 23, 2016 .

Web links

Commons : Royal Rumble  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files