Royal Rumble match
The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic Battle Royal match in which a number of wrestlers aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. The match is typically the main event of WWE's January pay-per-view event known as the Royal Rumble. The winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated. According to Hornswoggle, who worked for WWE from 2006 until 2016 and participated in three Royal Rumbles, participants may learn their eliminations by knowing the two wrestlers who are eliminated before them and which wrestlers are entering the Royal Rumble before and after their elimination. According to CM Punk, who worked for WWE from 2006 until 2014, wrestlers are given a list of entry numbers and eliminations and are supposed to build the match from there.
Concept
The Royal Rumble differs from the classical battle royal as 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. This format is credited to Pat Patterson. To date, 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 while only three men who have been the final entrant 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.The Royal Rumble match traditionally involves 30 wrestlers and usually lasts an hour. The Greatest Royal Rumble was the longest, lasting one hour and 17 minutes of a five-hour pay-per-view event while the first televised Rumble match in 1988 involved only 20 men and lasted 33 minutes of the two-hour broadcast. 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. The 2018 Royal Rumble was the first to include a women's Royal Rumble match, contested under the same rules as the men's match, including having 30 participants.
According to the rules, participants are match eliminated if moved over the top rope and both feet touch the floor. Hence, a wrestler who exits the ring without going over the top rope is not eliminated from the contest. For example, during the 1999 match, both Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin left the ring only to return later in the match. Furthermore, a wrestler who only touches the floor with one foot is not eliminated from the match, a rule which greatly affected the 1995 match, allowing Shawn Michaels to re-enter the ring and win the match. Although he has not won a Royal Rumble match, Kofi Kingston has become synonymous with finding various ways to keep at least one of his feet from touching the floor. In the 1994 match, the last two participants were declared co-winners when officials were unable to determine whose feet touched the floor first. In a similar situation in 2005, when Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time, the match was restarted. Though various referees are charged with observing the match, some eliminations have gone unnoticed to allow the eliminated participants to sneak back into the ring to continue. Stone Cold Steve Austin was able to re-enter the ring in this way and win the 1997 match.
Although the vast majority of eliminations are caused by active participants, eliminations caused by other means have been ruled legitimate, including self-eliminations, elimination by previously-eliminated participants, or non-participants. Furthermore, an injured wrestler can return to the ring as long as the match is still ongoing, but not if the match has already ended.
Prize
Since 1993, the winner of the Royal Rumble match is traditionally awarded a title match for WWE's top championship at WrestleMania—WWE currently promotes three major brands with a top championship for each, and the winner can choose which championship to challenge for, regardless of the brand they belong to. For the men, that is the WWE Championship on Raw, the Universal Championship on SmackDown, and the NXT Championship on NXT. Similarly, the winner of the women's Royal Rumble match is awarded a match at WrestleMania for their choice of one of WWE's top women's championships: the Raw Women's Championship, the SmackDown Women's Championship, or the NXT Women's Championship.With the first brand extension introduced in mid-2002, the 30 male entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands, respectively. At first, the winner of the match received a shot for their brand's top championship, either the World Heavyweight Championship or WWE Championship. Starting in 2004, the Royal Rumble winner had the option of challenging for either brand's top championship. For instance, Chris Benoit switched from SmackDown to Raw after winning the 2004 event to challenge for Raw's top championship at the time. From 2007 to 2010, participants from the ECW brand competed along with the Raw and SmackDown brands, with the ECW Championship added as an option, although no winner ever chose it. During ECW's participation, the entries for each brand were not evenly divided. The ECW Championship was deactivated in 2010, leaving the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship as the only choices until those two titles were unified in December 2013, with the latter becoming the only option until July 2016, when the brand extension returned, which introduced the Universal Championship. Like the first brand extension, the winner of the 2017 event earned a match for their brand's top championship, the Universal Championship or WWE Championship, but beginning with the 2018 event, the winner has a choice. As a result of NXT becoming one of WWE's three main brands in September 2019, NXT's championships became eligible choices, beginning with the 2020 event. Since the return of the brand extension, the number of participants from each brand has not been evenly divided, as each match has featured wrestlers from NXT as well as surprise appearances from former wrestlers.
WWE's top championship has been booked as on the line during the Royal Rumble match on two occasions. In 1992, the vacant WWF World Heavyweight Championship was contested in the 1992 Royal Rumble match, which was won by Ric Flair, while in 2016 Roman Reigns was scheduled to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship as a participant of that year's Royal Rumble match as entrant number one. This marked the first time that a reigning champion had to defend his title in the match, which was ultimately won by Triple H, who eliminated Reigns before lastly eliminating Dean Ambrose to win. Reigns would go on to earn a match against Triple H at WrestleMania 32 and won back the title. In 2020, although he did not defend his title in the match, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar entered the Royal Rumble match as entrant number one, feeling as if no one on any brand deserved to challenge him at either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania. This was the first time since 1993 in which one of the reigning world champions competed in the match in which the winner could challenge them—Lesnar's participation was used as a way to set up his WrestleMania challenger, which ended up being Drew McIntyre, who eliminated Lesnar, won the Rumble match, and then challenged Lesnar for his title at WrestleMania 36.
The Royal Rumble winner may also choose to put his championship opportunity on the line in a match. This was first done in 1996, when Shawn Michaels risked his WrestleMania XII WWF World Heavyweight Championship opportunity in a match against Owen Hart at In Your House 6. The second time was in 2002, when Triple H lost his WrestleMania X8 Undisputed WWF Championship opportunity at No Way Out to Kurt Angle, but regained his spot in a rematch against Angle on the following Raw. The third time was in 2006, when Randy Orton defeated Rey Mysterio at No Way Out for Mysterio's WrestleMania 22 World Heavyweight Championship opportunity, though Mysterio was reinserted into the title match, making it a triple threat match. The fourth time was on the February 25, 2013 episode of Raw, where John Cena successfully defended his WrestleMania 29 WWE Championship opportunity in a match against CM Punk. The fifth time was in 2015 at Fastlane, where Roman Reigns defended his WrestleMania 31 WWE World Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Daniel Bryan.
During the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018, the winner received a trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship.
Dates, venues and winners
Male Royal Rumble winner's championship opportunity
| Winner | Event | Year | Championship match | |
| Yokozuna | WrestleMania IX | 1993 | Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| Lex Luger | WrestleMania X | 1994 | Luger lost to WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna by disqualification. | |
| Bret Hart | WrestleMania X | 1994 | Hart defeated Yokozuna to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| Shawn Michaels | WrestleMania XI | 1995 | Michaels lost to WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel. | |
| Shawn Michaels | WrestleMania XII | 1996 | Michaels successfully defended his title shot against Owen Hart at In Your House 6. Michaels went on to defeat Bret Hart in an Iron man match to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania 13 | 1997 | Due to Austin re-entering the Rumble match because the officials did not see when he was thrown out of the ring, WWF President Gorilla Monsoon ruled that he would not be receiving his WWF World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 13. A match in February was signed to determine who would receive it, but because champion Shawn Michaels forfeited the title, plans were changed, Bret Hart won the match to become the new champion and lost the title to Sycho Sid the following night on Raw, who went on to lose the title to The Undertaker in WrestleMania's main event. | |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania XIV | 1998 | Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| Mr. McMahon | WrestleMania XV | 1999 | The following night on Raw Is War, Mr. McMahon renounced his title opportunity to challenge WWF Champion The Rock at WrestleMania XV. WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels awarded the title opportunity to the runner-up, Stone Cold Steve Austin, who defeated Mr. McMahon in a steel cage match to retain his opportunity. Austin went on to defeat The Rock in a No Disqualification match to win the WWF Championship. | |
| The Rock | WrestleMania 2000 | 2000 | Video footage later showed Rock's feet hit the floor first before runner-up Big Show. After multiple attempts to name a rightful number one contender failed, both The Rock and Big Show were added to the main event along with Mick Foley, who came out of retirement after losing a Hell in a Cell match to champion Triple H, to make it a four-way match for the WWF Championship. At WrestleMania 2000, Triple H defeated Rock, Foley, and Show in a fatal four-way elimination match to retain the WWF Championship. | |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | WrestleMania X-Seven | 2001 | Austin defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification match to win the WWF Championship. | |
| Triple H | WrestleMania X8 | 2002 | Triple H lost his WrestleMania X8 title shot to Kurt Angle at No Way Out. The following night on Raw, Triple H was given a rematch by WWF co-owner Ric Flair and defeated Angle to win his title shot back. Triple H went on to defeat Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship at WrestleMania X8. | |
| Brock Lesnar | WrestleMania XIX | 2003 | As a member of the SmackDown brand, Lesnar earned a match for his brand's WWE Championship. At WrestleMania XIX, Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the championship. Had Angle gotten counted out or disqualified, he would have lost the title per the stipulation. | |
| Chris Benoit | WrestleMania XX | 2004 | Benoit won the Rumble as a SmackDown! wrestler, but switched to the Raw brand to challenge Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels, who was feuding with Triple H, found it unfair that Benoit had left his own brand and inserted himself into their feud and added himself to the match. Benoit went on to defeat Triple H and Shawn Michaels in a triple threat match to win the World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| Batista | WrestleMania 21 | 2005 | Batista from Raw chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Triple H for the title at WrestleMania 21. | |
| Rey Mysterio | WrestleMania 22 | 2006 | Mysterio from SmackDown! chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost his title shot to Randy Orton at No Way Out. On the following episode of SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long added Mysterio to the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 22, making it a triple threat match. at WrestleMania, Mysterio defeated champion Kurt Angle and Orton in a triple threat match to win the championship. | |
| The Undertaker | WrestleMania 23 | 2007 | The Undertaker from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Batista to win the title. | |
| John Cena | WrestleMania XXIV | 2008 | Instead of waiting until WrestleMania XXIV, Cena from Raw used his championship shot at No Way Out to challenge Randy Orton for Raw's WWE Championship. Cena won the match by disqualification, but Orton remained champion. Triple H then became Orton's opponent at WrestleMania by winning an Elimination Chamber match, while Cena earned another opportunity and was added, making it a triple threat match. At WrestleMania XXIV, however, Orton defeated Cena and Triple H to retain the title. | |
| Randy Orton | WrestleMania XXV | 2009 | Orton won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler, but challenged SmackDown's Triple H for the WWE Championship. At WrestleMania XXV, Orton lost to Triple H. Had Triple H gotten counted out or disqualified, he would have lost the title per the stipulation. | |
| Edge | WrestleMania XXVI | 2010 | Edge from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost to Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XXVI. | |
| Alberto Del Rio | WrestleMania XXVII | 2011 | Del Rio from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost to Edge at WrestleMania XXVII. | |
| Sheamus | WrestleMania XXVIII | 2012 | Sheamus chose to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship and defeated champion Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXVIII. | |
| John Cena | WrestleMania 29 | 2013 | Cena chose to challenge for the WWE Championship and successfully defended his title shot against CM Punk on the February 25 episode of Raw. at WrestleMania 29, Cena defeated The Rock to win the WWE Championship. | |
| Batista | WrestleMania XXX | 2014 | After months of feuding, Triple H agreed to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX, with the stipulation that whoever won would be inserted into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between champion Randy Orton and Rumble winner Batista. Bryan defeated Triple H in the opening match and went on to defeat Orton and Batista in a triple threat match to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| Roman Reigns | WrestleMania 31 | 2015 | Reigns successfully defended his title shot against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane. Reigns went on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 31. During the match at WrestleMania, Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, converting the singles match between Reigns and Lesnar into a triple threat match. Rollins then pinned Reigns in the impromptu triple threat match to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. | |
| Randy Orton | WrestleMania 33 | 2017 | As a member of the SmackDown brand, Orton earned a match for his own brand's WWE Championship. After his fellow Wyatt Family member Bray Wyatt won the championship at Elimination Chamber and retained it on the following SmackDown Live, Orton relinquished his championship opportunity. On the next episode of SmackDown, however, Orton reverted his decision and turned on Wyatt. The following week, Orton defeated AJ Styles, who had become the new number one contender for the title, to re-earn his title shot against Wyatt at WrestleMania 33. at WrestleMania, Orton defeated Wyatt to win the WWE Championship. | |
| Shinsuke Nakamura | WrestleMania 34 | 2018 | Nakamura from SmackDown chose to challenge for his own brand's WWE Championship, but lost to AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34. | |
| Seth Rollins | WrestleMania 35 | 2019 | Rollins from Raw chose to challenge for his own brand's Universal Championship and defeated champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 35. | |
| Drew McIntyre | WrestleMania 36 | 2020 | McIntyre from Raw chose to challenge for his own brand's WWE Championship and defeated champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36. |
No WrestleMania title opportunity was awarded in the 2016 Royal Rumble match as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship itself, held by Roman Reigns, was at stake. Triple H won the Royal Rumble match, and Reigns regained the championship in a rematch at WrestleMania 32.
Female Royal Rumble winner's championship opportunity
| Winner | Event | Year | Championship match | |
| Asuka | WrestleMania 34 | 2018 | Asuka won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler, but challenged Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. at WrestleMania 34, Asuka lost to Flair. | |
| Becky Lynch | WrestleMania 35 | 2019 | Lynch won the Rumble as a SmackDown wrestler, but challenged Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship. Lynch was removed from the match and suspended after continuously attacking The McMahon Family and was replaced by the Rumble runner-up, Charlotte Flair. At Fastlane, Lynch was given an opportunity to be added back to the match if she could defeat Flair, which she did by disqualification and was thus added back into the match at WrestleMania to make it a triple threat match for the championship. Flair then won the SmackDown Women's Championship on the March 26 episode of SmackDown Live. In response, Stephanie McMahon announced that both titles would be on the line, making the match Winner Takes All. At WrestleMania 35, Lynch defeated Rousey and Flair to win both titles, becoming a double champion. | |
| Charlotte Flair | WrestleMania 36 | 2020 | Flair won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler, but challenged Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women's Championship, marking the first time a Royal Rumble winner chose to challenge for an NXT title. At WrestleMania 36, Flair defeated Ripley to win the NXT Women's Championship. |
Royal Rumble records
Males
Most Royal Rumble victories
Most times being a Royal Rumble runner-up
Winners by entry number
Longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
Top 20 individual longest times in a single Royal Rumble match.As of the 2020 Royal Rumble.
| No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
| 1 | Daniel Bryan | 1:16:05 | 2018 |
| 2 | Rey Mysterio | 1:02:15 | 2006 |
| 3 | Chris Benoit | 1:01:31 | 2004 |
| 4 | Bob Backlund | 1:01:10 | 1993 |
| 5 | Triple H | 1:00:16 | 2006 |
| 6 | Chris Jericho | 1:00:13 | 2017 |
| 7 | Ric Flair | 1:00:02 | 1992 |
| 8 | Roman Reigns | 59:48 | 2016 |
| 9 | Finn Bálor | 57:38 | 2018 |
| 10 | Mr. McMahon | 56:38 | 1999 |
| 10 | Stone Cold Steve Austin | 56:38 | 1999 |
| 12 | Kane | 53:46 | 2001 |
| 13 | Rick Martel | 52:17 | 1991 |
| 14 | The Rock | 51:32 | 1998 |
| 15 | Chris Jericho | 50:47 | 2016 |
| 16 | Triple H | 50:00 | 2009 |
| 17 | Dolph Ziggler | 49:47 | 2013 |
| 18 | Rey Mysterio | 49:26 | 2009 |
| 19 | CM Punk | 49:11 | 2014 |
| 20 | Seth Rollins | 48:31 | 2014 |
Note that bold indicates the winner of that year's match.
Longest cumulative time spent in Royal Rumbles
.As of the 2020 Royal Rumble.
| Wrestler | Time |
| Chris Jericho | 4:59:33 |
| Rey Mysterio | 4:01:54 |
| Triple H | 4:00:50 |
| Shawn Michaels | 3:47:32 |
| Randy Orton | 3:33:19 |
| Isaac Yankem, DDS/"Diesel"/Kane | 3:17:49 |
| Cody Rhodes | 3:06:45 |
| John Cena | 2:48:32 |
| CM Punk | 2:48:11 |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | 2:45:04 |
| Roman Reigns | 2:44:06 |
| Chris Benoit | 2:37:24 |
| Edge | 2:33:23 |
| Kofi Kingston | 2:33:03 |
| The Undertaker | 2:31:21 |
| Dolph Ziggler | 2:27:23 |
| Sheamus | 2:09:57 |
| The Miz | 2:09:17 |
| The British Bulldog | 2:06:02 |
Shortest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
As of the 2020 Royal Rumble.| Wrestler | Time | Year |
| Santino Marella | 0:00:01 | 2009 |
| The Warlord | 0:00:02 | 1989 |
| Sheamus | 0:00:02 | 2018 |
| No Way Jose | 0:00:02 | 2019 |
| Mo | 0:00:03 | 1995 |
| Owen Hart | 0:00:03 | 1995 |
| Mike Kanellis | 0:00:03 | 2018 |
| Xavier Woods | 0:00:03 | 2019 |
| Bushwhacker Luke | 0:00:04 | 1991 |
| Jerry Lawler | 0:00:04 | 1997 |
| Titus O'Neil | 0:00:04 | 2015 |
| The Godfather | 0:00:05 | 2013 |
| Titus O'Neil | 0:00:05 | 2019 |
| Gillberg | 0:00:07 | 1999 |
| The Miz | 0:00:07 | 2007 |
| Montel Vontavious Porter | 0:00:07 | 2010 |
| Adam Rose | 0:00:08 | 2015 |
| Erick Rowan | 0:00:08 | 2020 |
| John Morrison | 0:00:09 | 2020 |
| Tazz | 0:00:10 | 2001 |
Non-eliminated wrestlers
Several times, wrestlers were drawn to compete in the match, but did not actually compete. Their participation is counted as zero seconds, with the exception of Hornswoggle's appearance in 2008:- In 1991, "Macho King" Randy Savage was drawn 18th, but no-showed due to leaving the building after costing Ultimate Warrior the WWF Championship against Sgt. Slaughter.
- In 1994, Bastion Booger was drawn 25th, but no-showed due to suffering food poisoning before the match.
- In 1998, Skull was drawn 22nd, but no-showed due to being attacked by Los Boricuas after having been mistaken for Stone Cold Steve Austin.
- In 2004, Spike Dudley was drawn 13th, but was attacked on the ramp by Kane.
- In 2005, Scotty 2 Hotty was drawn 15th, but was attacked on the ramp by Muhammad Hassan.
- In 2008, Hornswoggle was drawn 9th, but was not brought into the ring until towards the end of the match by Mark Henry and was saved by Finlay and escorted to the back and never re-entered the match. Finlay would later be disqualified after coming out before his number came up and using his shillelagh to help Hornswoggle.
- In 2015, Curtis Axel was drawn 6th, but was attacked on the ramp by Erick Rowan, who then illegally entered the match as he was not a competitor. Unlike other occasions, this was notable for actually being worked into a gimmick for Axel, where he began to imitate Hulk Hogan and wear shirts emblazoned with "AxelMania" and claim that he was never eliminated from the Royal Rumble, therefore he won it, deserving a spot in the main event of WrestleMania.
Wrestlers who had their number stolen or were replaced
- In 1999, Mosh was drawn 11th, but was attacked by Mabel, who took Mosh's spot.
- In 2001, the team of Lo Down defeated Kaientai to earn one entrance spot in the Royal Rumble match, but that was later overturned by Vince McMahon who entered Drew Carey in their spot.
- In 2004, Test was drawn 21st, but was attacked by Mick Foley, who then took Test's spot under orders from Stone Cold Steve Austin.
- In 2005, Nunzio was drawn 20th, but had his spot stolen by Kurt Angle before the match; Angle then challenged Nunzio to fight for the spot.
- In 2018, Tye Dillinger was drawn 10th, but was attacked by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, the latter of whom took Dillinger's spot.
- In 2019, R-Truth was slated for the 30th spot, but was attacked by Nia Jax, who took his spot.
Most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble
As of the 2020 Royal Rumble:
| Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Year |
| Braun Strowman | 13 | 2018 |
| Brock Lesnar | 13 | 2020 |
| Roman Reigns | 12 | 2014 |
| Kane | 11 | 2001 |
| Hulk Hogan | 10 | 1989 |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | 10 | 1997 |
| Shawn Michaels | 8 | 1995, 1996 |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | 8 | 1999 |
| Hulk Hogan | 7 | 1991 |
| Yokozuna | 7 | 1993 |
| Diesel | 7 | 1994 |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | 7 | 1998 |
| Rikishi | 7 | 2000 |
| Stone Cold Steve Austin | 7 | 2002 |
| The Undertaker | 7 | 2002 |
| The Great Khali | 7 | 2007 |
| Shawn Michaels | 7 | 2010 |
| CM Punk | 7 | 2011 |
| John Cena | 7 | 2011 |
| Braun Strowman | 7 | 2017 |
| One Man Gang | 6 | 1988 |
| The Ultimate Warrior | 6 | 1990 |
| Hulk Hogan | 6 | 1990 |
| Sid Justice | 6 | 1992 |
| Lex Luger | 6 | 1994 |
| Chris Jericho | 6 | 2003 |
| Chris Benoit | 6 | 2004 |
| Batista | 6 | 2005 |
| Rey Mysterio | 6 | 2006 |
| Triple H | 6 | 2006, 2008, 2009 |
| Big Show | 6 | 2009 |
| Cody Rhodes | 6 | 2012 |
| Bray Wyatt | 6 | 2015 |
| Rusev | 6 | 2015 |
| Roman Reigns | 6 | 2015 |
| Braun Strowman | 6 | 2019 |
| Drew McIntyre | 6 | 2020 |
Note that bold indicates winner of that year's match.
Total eliminations in cumulative Royal Rumbles
.As of the 2020 Royal Rumble.
| Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Royal Rumbles entered |
| Isaac Yankem, DDS/Kane | 44 | 19 |
| Shawn Michaels | 41 | 12 |
| The Undertaker | 40 | 11 |
| The Ringmaster/Stone Cold Steve Austin | 36 | 6 |
| Triple H | 33 | 9 |
| Big Show | 32 | 12 |
| Braun Strowman | 32 | 5 |
| Roman Reigns | 32 | 6 |
| Hulk Hogan | 27 | 4 |
| Randy Orton | 27 | 12 |
| John Cena | 25 | 8 |
| Brock Lesnar | 24 | 4 |
| Edge | 20 | 7 |
Highest number of wrestlers in a single elimination
Highest number of wrestlers working together to eliminate one wrestler.As of the 2020 Royal Rumble.
| Wrestler | No. of wrestlers involved in elimination | Year |
| Mabel/Viscera | 8 | 2007 |
| Mabel/Viscera | 7 | 1994 |
| Rikishi | 6 | 2000 |
| Muhammad Hassan | 6 | 2005 |
| The Canadian Earthquake | 5 | 1990 |
| Diesel | 5 | 1994 |
| Kurrgan | 5 | 1998 |
| Brodus Clay | 5 | 2013 |
| Crush | 4 | 1994 |
| John Morrison | 4 | 2011 |
| Mark Henry | 4 | 2011 |
| Rusev | 4 | 2014 |
Most Rumble appearances
As of the 2020 Royal Rumble.| Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered | First Royal Rumble | Most recent Royal Rumble |
| Isaac Yankem, DDS/"Diesel"/Kane | 19 | 1996 | 2016 |
| Goldust | 13 | 1997 | GRR 2018 |
| Dolph Ziggler | 13 | 2009 | 2020 |
| Kofi Kingston | 13 | 2009 | 2020 |
| Shawn Michaels | 12 | 1989 | 2010 |
| Big Show | 12 | 2000 | 2017 |
| Randy Orton | 12 | 2004 | 2020 |
| The Miz | 12 | 2007 | 2020 |
| The Undertaker | 11 | 1991 | 2017 |
| Chris Jericho | 11 | 2000 | GRR 2018 |
| Rey Mysterio | 11 | 2003 | 2020 |
| Shelton Benjamin | 11 | 2003 | 2020 |
| Fatu/The Sultan/Rikishi | 10 | 1993 | 2004 |
| Mark Henry | 10 | 1998 | GRR 2018 |
Wrestlers who have competed multiple times in the same night
These wrestlers have competed more than once in either the same Rumble match or multiple Rumble matches in the same night; while Foley entered the same match three times, Jax competed in both the Women's and Men's Royal Rumble matches.| Wrestler | Times entered | Year |
| Mick Foley | 3 | 1998 |
| Nia Jax | 2 | 2019 |
Female entrants in male Royal Rumble matches
Females
Most Royal Rumble victories
Most times being a Royal Rumble runner-up
Winners by entry number
Longest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
| No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
| 1 | Natalya | 56:01 | 2019 |
| 2 | Sasha Banks | 54:46 | 2018 |
| 3 | Ember Moon | 52:23 | 2019 |
| 4 | Charlotte Flair | 50:01 | 2019 |
| 5 | Bianca Belair | 33:20 | 2020 |
| 6 | Becky Lynch | 30:54 | 2018 |
| 7 | Lacey Evans | 29:21 | 2019 |
| 8 | Charlotte Flair | 27:19 | 2020 |
| 9 | Alexa Bliss | 26:34 | 2020 |
| 10 | Mandy Rose | 25:50 | 2019 |
Note that bold indicates the winner of that year's match.
Longest cumulative time spent in Royal Rumbles
As of the 2020 Royal Rumble| Wrestler | Time |
| Natalya | 1:36:18 |
| Charlotte Flair | 1:17:20 |
| Ember Moon | 58:37 |
| Sasha Banks | 54:46 |
| Becky Lynch | 44:14 |
| Alexa Bliss | 39:33 |
| Mandy Rose | 38:31 |
| Bianca Belair | 33:20 |
| Carmella | 32:33 |
| Naomi | 30:18 |
Shortest time spent in a single Royal Rumble
Only the top ten times are shown.| No | Wrestler | Time | Year |
| 1 | Liv Morgan | 00:08 | 2019 |
| 2 | Chelsea Green | 00:12 | 2020 |
| 3 | Sarah Logan | 00:28 | 2020 |
| 4 | Tamina | 00:39 | 2020 |
| 5 | Liv Morgan | 00:44 | 2020 |
| 6 | Vickie Guerrero | 00:57 | 2018 |
| 7 | Santina Marella | 01:01 | 2020 |
| 8 | Naomi | 01:28 | 2019 |
| 9 | Dakota Kai | 01:32 | 2020 |
| 10 | Tamina | 01:34 | 2018 |
Wrestlers who had their number stolen or were replaced
- In 2019, Lana was drawn 28th, but due to an ankle injury she suffered earlier in the PPV, she was unable to compete and Becky Lynch was allowed to take her spot.
Most eliminations in a single Royal Rumble
| Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Year |
| Shayna Baszler | 8 | 2020 |
| Bianca Belair | 7 | 2020 |
| Michelle McCool | 5 | 2018 |
| Charlotte Flair | 5 | 2019 |
| Charlotte Flair | 4 | 2020 |
| Nia Jax | 4 | 2018 |
| Nikki Bella | 4 | 2018 |
| Sasha Banks | 3 | 2018 |
| Asuka | 3 | 2018 |
| Natalya | 3 | 2018 |
| Trish Stratus | 3 | 2018 |
| Bayley | 3 | 2019 |
| Ruby Riott | 3 | 2019 |
| Rhea Ripley | 3 | 2019 |
| Nia Jax | 3 | 2019 |
| Alexa Bliss | 3 | 2020 |
Note that bold indicates the winner of that year's match
Most Rumble appearances
Only wrestlers who have appeared in more than one Rumble are shown. As of the 2020 Royal Rumble.| Wrestler | Royal Rumbles entered | First Royal Rumble | Most recent Royal Rumble |
| Beth Phoenix | 3 | 2010 | 2020 |
| Carmella | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Dana Brooke | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Kairi Sane | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Liv Morgan | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Mandy Rose | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Naomi | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Natalya | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Nia Jax | 3 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Sarah Logan | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Sonya Deville | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Tamina | 3 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Bayley | 2 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Becky Lynch | 2 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Chyna | 2 | 1999 | 2000 |
| Ember Moon | 2 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Mickie James | 2 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Ruby Riott | 2 | 2018 | 2019 |
| Kelly Kelly | 2 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Lana | 2 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Molly Holly/Mighty Molly | 2 | 2018 | 2020 |
| Alexa Bliss | 2 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Candice LeRae | 2 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Charlotte Flair | 2 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Nikki Cross | 2 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Xia Li | 2 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Zelina Vega | 2 | 2019 | 2020 |
Highest number of wrestlers in a single elimination
Highest number of wrestlers working together to eliminate one wrestler. Only wrestlers who were eliminated by 3 or more people are shown.| Wrestler | No. of wrestlers involved in elimination | Year |
| Nia Jax | 6 | 2018 |
| Vickie Guerrero | 4 | 2018 |
Total eliminations in cumulative Royal Rumbles
As of the 2019 Royal Rumble.| Wrestler | No. of eliminations | Royal Rumbles entered |
| Charlotte Flair | 9 | 2 |
| Shayna Baszler | 8 | 1 |
| Bianca Belair | 8 | 1 |
| Nia Jax | 7 | 2 |
| Michelle McCool | 5 | 1 |
| Alexa Bliss | 5 | 2 |
| Ruby Riott | 5 | 2 |
| Natalya | 5 | 3 |
| Nikki Bella | 4 | 1 |
| Bayley | 4 | 2 |
| Becky Lynch | 4 | 2 |
| Asuka | 3 | 1 |
| Rhea Ripley | 3 | 1 |
| Sasha Banks | 3 | 1 |
| Trish Stratus | 3 | 1 |
Male entrants in female Royal Rumble matches
Other Royal Rumble matches
WWE has also booked several Royal Rumble matches outside of pay-per-view events:- The very first Royal Rumble match took place at a house show in St. Louis, Missouri on October 4, 1987 where the One Man Gang won a 12-Man Royal Rumble, last eliminating the Junkyard Dog, to earn a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match against Hulk Hogan at the following month's St. Louis house show.
- A 20-man Royal Rumble match took place at a house show in Hartford, Connecticut on March 16, 1988 where Ravishing Rick Rude was the winner.
- A 30-man Royal Rumble on January 17, 1994 at Madison Square Garden was won by Owen Hart, last eliminating Fatu.
- An 18-man Royal Rumble match took place on May 9, 1994 in Osaka, Japan and was won by The Undertaker, last eliminating Bam Bam Bigelow.
- There was a tag team Royal Rumble on the June 15, 1998 episode of Raw. Kane and Mankind won the match and earned an opportunity for the WWF Tag Team Championship against The New Age Outlaws.
- On January 11, 1999, a corporate Royal Rumble involving members of The Corporation and D-Generation X was held on Raw to determine the 30th entry in the Royal Rumble that year. The match was won by Chyna, who last eliminated Vince McMahon.
- A 5-man Royal Rumble took place on the September 16, 1999 episode of SmackDown to crown a contender for Triple H's WWE Championship later that night.
- A 4-man Royal Rumble took place on the January 8, 2004 episode of SmackDown, when Paul Heyman pit Chris Benoit against the three members of the F.B.I..
- A 15-man Royal Rumble was held during the January 29, 2004 episode of SmackDown to crown a contender for Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship at No Way Out. Eddie Guerrero won the match, last eliminating Kurt Angle.
- A 7-man Royal Rumble took place on the January 22, 2007 episode of Raw. However instead of entrants coming out to timed intervals, Jonathan Cochman called each entrant out at his own discretion.
- On January 14, 2008, Vince McMahon organized a mini-Royal Rumble, involving midget wrestlers. Hornswoggle won the match.
- A 4-man Royal Rumble took place on the January 28, 2011 episode of SmackDown as Alberto Del Rio competed in a 'Royal Rumble Exhibition'. It is the only Royal Rumble match to end in a no contest.
- On the January 31, 2011, episode of Raw, a Royal Rumble to crown the contender for The Miz's WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber was held. Jerry Lawler won the match, last eliminating Sheamus.
- In 2017, the female superstars of NXT held a Halloween Royal Rumble. It was held in a house show. Shayna Baszler won the match as Darth Baszler.
- At the 2018 Royal Rumble, WWE aired an advert for KFC in the form of a 9-man KFC Colonel Rumble, segments of which had been filmed as a dark match at a SmackDown taping two weeks prior. Ric Flair won the version that was aired, last eliminating The Miz.
- In 2018, the male superstars of NXT held a Halloween Royal Rumble during a house show.
| Event | Date | City | Venue | Winner | Ref. | Note | |
| 1 | House show | October 4, 1987 | St. Louis, MO | St. Louis Arena | One Man Gang | 12-man Royal Rumble | |
| 2 | House show | March 16, 1988 | Hartford, CT | Hartford Civic Center | Rick Rude | 20-man Royal Rumble | |
| 3 | House show | January 17, 1994 | New York City | Madison Square Garden | Owen Hart | 30-man Royal Rumble | |
| 4 | House show | May 9, 1994 | Osaka, Japan | Castle Hall | The Undertaker | 18-man Royal Rumble | |
| 5 | Raw | June 15, 1998 | San Antonio, Texas | Freeman Coliseum | Kane and Mankind | 10-tag team Royal Rumble | |
| 6 | Raw | January 11, 1999 | Houston | Compaq Center | Chyna | 10-person Corporation vs. DX corporate Royal Rumble for the number 30 spot in the 1999 Royal Rumble | |
| 7 | SmackDown | September 16, 1999 | Las Vegas | Thomas & Mack Centre | The Undertaker | 5-man Royal Rumble to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship later that night | |
| 8 | SmackDown | January 8, 2004 | Huntsville, Alabama | Von Braun Centre | Chris Benoit | 4-man Royal Rumble | |
| 9 | SmackDown | January 29, 2004 | Washington, D.C. | MCI Center | Eddie Guerrero | 15-man SmackDown! Royal Rumble to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at No Way Out | |
| 10 | Raw | January 22, 2007 | Lafayette, Louisiana | Cajundome | The Great Khali | 7-man Royal Rumble | |
| 11 | Raw | January 14, 2008 | Mobile, Alabama | Mobile Civic Center | Hornswoggle | Mini Royal Rumble; 6-man, all participants were midget wrestlers, with the exception of The Great Khali. | |
| 12 | SmackDown | January 28, 2011 | Cincinnati, Ohio | U.S. Bank Arena | – | 4-Man Royal Rumble | |
| 13 | Raw | January 31, 2011 | Providence, Rhode Island | Dunkin' Donuts Center | Jerry Lawler | 7-man Raw Rumble to determine the number one contender for the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber | |
| 14 | Royal Rumble | January 28, 2018 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Wells Fargo Center | Ric Flair | KFC Colonel Rumble | |
| - | - | - | - | - | Ric Flair | KFC Colonel Rumble |