History of Royal Rumble
The Royal Rumble is an annual gimmick based PPV, hosted every January by WWE since 1988. It is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, dubbed the "Big Four".
The event is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. Both the men's and women's matches generally feature 30 wrestlers. However, the inaugural edition of the event featured only 20 men, while the 2011 edition featured 40 men.
Traditionally, the winner of the match earns a world championship match at that year's WrestleMania. But this was introduced from the 1993 Rumble. Before that - from 1988 to 1992, the Rumble match used to decide the winner of the prime title of the promotion.
In 2018, WWE introduced an all-women's Rumble match as part of the Women's revolution led by Stephanie McMahon. And that tradition is set to continue even this year. The 2021 Royal Rumble will be the 34th event in the Royal Rumble chronology and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands.
Rules of Royal Rumble
Number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. Although the vast majority of eliminations are caused by active participants, eliminations caused by other means have been ruled legitimate, including self-eliminations.
In the Royal Rumble, 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.
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. The winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.
Unique facts
As it stands, only four men who have been one of the starting wrestlers have won the Royal Rumble, namely Shawn Michaels in 1995, Vince McMahon in 1999, Chris Benoit in 2004, and Rey Mysterio in 2006.
Meanwhile, only three men who have been the final entrant have won the Royal Rumble, namely 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 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.
Royal Rumble Winners List (Men)
1988: Jim Duggan - entry no. 13
1989: Big John Studd - entry no. 27
1990: Hulk Hogan - entry no. 25
1991: Hulk Hogan - entry no. 24
1992: Ric Flair - entry no. 3
1993: Yokozuna - entry no. 27
1994: Bret Hart and Lex Luger - entry no. 23 and 27
1995: Shawn Michaels - entry no. 1
1996: Shawn Michael - entry no. 18
1997: Stone Cold Steve Austin - entry no. 5
1998: Stone Cold Steve Austin - entry no. 24
1999: Vince McMahon - entry no. 2
2000: The Rock - entry no. 24
2001: Stone Cold Steve Austin - entry no. 27
2002: Triple H - entry no. 22
2003: Brock Lesnar - entry no. 29
2004: Chris Benoit - entry no. 1
2005: Batista - entry no. 28
2006: Rey Mysterio - entry no. 2
2007: The Undertaker - entry no. 30
2008: John Cena - entry no. 30
2009: Randy Orton - entry no. 8
2010: Edge - entry no. 29
2011: Alberto Del Rio - entry no. 38
2012: Sheamus - entry no. 22
2013: John Cena - entry no. 19
2014: Batista - entry no. 28
2015: Roman Reigns - entry no. 19
2016: Triple H - entry no. 30
2017: Randy Orton - entry no. 23
2018: Shinsuke Nakamura - entry no. 14
2019: Seth Rollins - entry no. 10
2020: Drew McIntyre - entry no. 16
2021: Edge - entry no. 1
2022: Brock Lesnar - entry no. 30
2023: Cody Rhodes - entry no. 30
Most Royal Rumble wins by entry number (Men)
30: 2007, 2008, 2016, 2022, 2023
27: 1989, 1993, 1994, 2001
1: 1995, 2004, 2021
24: 1991, 1998, 2000
19: 2013, 2015
28: 2005, 2014
23: 1994, 2017
22: 2002, 2012
2: 1999, 2006
29: 2003, 2010
Royal Rumble Winners List (Women)
2018: Asuka - entry no. 25
2019: Becky Lynch - entry no. 28
2020: Charlotte Flair - entry no. 17
2021: Bianca Belair - entry no. 3
2022: Ronda Rousey - entry no. 28
2023: Rhea Ripley - entry no. 1
Most Royal Rumble wins by entry number (Women)
28: 2019, 2022
1: 2023
3: 2021
17: 2020
25: 2018
Most Royal Rumble Wins
Stone Cold Steve Austin: 3 in 1997, 1998 and 2001
Brock Lesnar: 2 in 2003, 2022
Edge: 2 in 2010, 2021
Hulk Hogan: 2 in 1990 and 1991
Shawn Michaels: 2 in 1995, 1996
Triple H: 2 in 2002 and 2016
Batista: 2 in 2005 and 2014
John Cena: 2 in 2008 and 2013
Randy Orton: 2 in 2009 and 2017
Women to enter men’s rumble
Chyna: 1999 and 2000
Beth Phoenix: 2010
Kharma: 2012
Nia Jax: 2019
Most Eliminations in Royal Rumble
Kane: 46 eliminations in 20 rumble appearances
The Undertaker: 44 eliminations in 11 rumble appearances
Shawn Michaels: 41 eliminations in 12 rumble appearances
Stone Cold Steve Austin: 36 eliminations in 6 rumble appearances
Braun Strowman: 34 eliminations (most in Greatest Royal Rumble) in 7 rumble appearances
Triple H: 33 eliminations in 9 rumble appearances
Big Show: 32 eliminations in 12 rumble appearances
Roman Reigns: 32 eliminations in 6 rumble appearances
Hulk Hogan: 27 eliminations in 4 rumble appearances
Randy Orton: 27 eliminations in 13 rumble appearances
John Cena: 25 eliminations in 8 rumble appearances
Brock Lesnar: 27 elimination in 5 rumble appearances
Edge: 26 eliminations in 9 rumble appearances
Top Five Most Eliminatons in a single Royal Rumble match
Brock Lesnar: 13 eliminations in 2020
Roman Reigns: 12 eliminations in 2014
Kane: 11 eliminations in 2001
Hulk Hogan: 10 eliminations in 1989
Stone Cold Steve Austin: 10 eliminations in 1997