WWE Royal Rumble: Top 5 performers in the Rumble Match history

Undertaker and HBK in action during 2007 Royal Rumble Match (image courtesy WWE.com)

Bengaluru, January 25: Royal Rumble has become a phenomenon in the WWE which kicks things off for WrestleMania each and every year. The brainchild of Pat Patterson is often considered to be the most beloved gimmick in all of professional wrestling. The concept of cementing a spot at WrestleMania main event brings the very best out of the roster members.

Over the years, superstars have gone on to deliver spectacular performances at Royal Rumble which obviously handed them spots at WrestleManias. This, in turn, went on to build their legacies.

The rule is simple where you can't go over the top rope and hit the floor but it's hard to survive the 29 other superstars. Only a very few had been successful in this environment and we would take a look back at them.

WWE Royal Rumble: History, rules, previous winners, most eliminations and more

Here are our picks for the top five Royal Rumble performers' spots:

The Undertaker

Appearances: 11

Wins: 1

Taker's Rumble debut happened back in 1991 who drew the 12 number and was eliminated by both Animal and Hawk after lasting 14 minutes in the ring. Over the years, he improved his performances but had to wait for 16 more years to claim his victory.

In the 2007 edition, he eliminated Shawn Michaels and the first one to win the melee as the 30th entrant to set a record. He went on to headline WrestleMania 23 via this win and defeat Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship.

The very next year, he opened a historic Rumble from Madison Square Garden. With third-highest appearances at the Rumble Taker is one of the top five names with total superstar eliminations.

Kane

Appearances: 19

Wins: 0

The Big Red Machine may haven't had the privilege to win a Rumble in his career but whenever those red lights flashed in an arena it indicated wreaking havoc.

Over the years, Kane put on some dominating performances in the over-the-top-rope melee and some of his accolades are given below:

Total eliminations in a single Rumble: 11 - this record was kept intact for a long time before it was broken by Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.

Total Rumble appearances: 19

Final Six Entry: 6 (tied with Roman Reigns)

Total eliminations in Rumble history: 44

Consecutive eliminations in a single Rumble: 6 (third all-time)

Time spent in a single Rumble: 54:49 (eighth all-time)

Longest cumulative tenure (3:38:46)

Roman Reigns

Appearances: 6

Wins: 1

The Tribal Chief of the WWE is yet to complete his journey in the WWE and he is likely to have many more moments waiting for him at the Rumble. But over the course of the past seven years, he must be the one from the active roster to have the most colorful Rumble experiences. In 2014, he dominated the entire match breaking Kane's 11 eliminations in a single Rumble. He failed to win despite the crowd rooting for him.

The next year he did end up winning the match but the Philly crowd booed him out of the building creating an environment that will be remembered, forever. In 2016, in the rarest scenario, Roman Reigns defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Rumble match itself and lost it to The Game Triple H.

Cut to one year back, WWE entered him in number 30 in another move that produced some natural heat from the fans. The situation was the same in 2018 and 2020, too but thankfully for the crowd, he didn't pick a second win.

Statistics suggest that except for 2016, he was one of the last two men in the ring in all the Rumble matches he participated in, which is incredible. So this list would be incomplete without the Head of the Table.

Shawn Michaels

Appearances: 12

Wins: 2

The Iron Man of Royal Rumble started his journey in this genre all the way back in 1989. In 1995, Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble as the very first entrant of the match, setting a new record.

He spent a total of 38 minutes and 41 seconds in the ring. His second win occurred at the very next Rumble came where he picked up the win from the 18th spot by eliminating longtime friend Kevin Nash.

Although the winning percentage isn't in his favor, HBK did achieve the following Rumble records, over the years:

Eliminations in Rumble history: 40 (second of all-time)

Rumble wins: 2 (tied with Randy Orton and Hulk Hogan)

Rumble appearances: 12 (third all-time)

Final Six Entry: 6

Eliminations in a single Rumble: 8 (tied for fifth all-time), 7 (tied for sixth all-time)

Consecutive eliminations in a single Rumble: 6 (tied for third all-time)

Stone Cold Steve Austin

Appearances: 6

Wins: 3

With three Royal Rumble wins by his name, Stone Cold tops this list without a doubt. His three victories occurred in 1997, 1998, and 2001.

Austin used two of those wins to capture the WWE title on two different occasions, at WrestleMania XIV against Shawn Michaels and the other at WrestleMania X-Seven against The Rock.

Whenever that glass-shattering music hit the Rumble, WWE Universe knew that mayhem was about to happen. His chaotic style of wrestling racked up the below records to be helmed as the best Rumble match performer.

Final Six Entry: 5 (tied for second all-time)

Eliminations in a single Rumble: 10 (tied for third all-time), 8 (tied for fourth all-time), 7 (tied for fifth all-time)

Total eliminations in Rumble history: 36 (third all-time)

Consecutive eliminations in a single Rumble: 6 (tied for third all-time)

Time spent in a single Rumble: 56:38 (sixth all-time)