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Royal Rumble

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This article is about the professional wrestling event, for the Xiaolin Showdown episode see Royal Rumble (Xiaolin Showdown).
File:Royal Rumble Logo.jpg
Official Royal Rumble logo.

The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every January by World Wrestling Entertainment. The main event in this pay-per-view is also titled the Royal Rumble, and is held only in this event. In the UK, it is one of four WWE PPV's broadcast on Sky Box Office - Sky having acquired the license from Channel 4.

The Rumble is a thirty man event, which begins with two men in the ring, and 28 other wrestlers entering the ring at regular timed intervals (usually, but not always, every two minutes). A wrestler is eliminated when leaving the ring over the top rope, and then having both feet touching the floor. An egress between the second and third rope or under the bottom rope is not a valid elimination. The winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.

An elimination can also occur when a wrestler is thrown off the top rope by a non-competing opponent, or by one who had already been eliminated, or when the participant deliberately jumps outside the ring, for instance to hit someone who is ringside. Other wrestlers can be de facto eliminated due to interference preventing the wrestler from entering the ring, or due to a prolonged absence from the ring (although the latter is often a booking error).

Although the order of entry is supposed to be random, it is common to have storylines where wrestlers compete for the right to enter last, or ask for a low number in order to prove their stamina by outlasting all others. A wrestler may also be assigned a high or low number by a figure of authority as a reward or a punishment. In reality, the order of entrance and elimination is carefully planned by the booker in order to put on an entertaining match. For example, once a wrestler has quickly eliminated several other wrestlers, the next wrestler to approach the ring will often be an enemy of theirs.

Since the 1991 event, every winner (other than in 1992, 1997 and 1999) has gone on to challenge the WWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania, but this was not made an official stipulation of the match until 1993. This championship match is often the last event on the WrestleMania card. As the WWE also has a February pay-per-view event, the winner may have this privilege put on the line on that pay-per-view card. In 1999 at the February "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" event, Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Vince McMahon, the winner of the 1999 Royal Rumble, in a Steel Cage Match for his title shot.

With the brand extension, the 30 entrants consist of 15 wrestlers from RAW and 15 from SmackDown!. This is, therefore, the only event other than WrestleMania (and certain combined non-televised shows held around WrestleMania time) with inter-brand competition on a regular basis. Originally, the Rumble winner faced their brand's champion at Wrestlemania, but starting in 2004, due to a supposed "loophole" in the Rumble's stipulations, the Rumble winner has the option of challenging either champion. To date, the is no relative entry order between participants from different brands, and there has been no storyline to date that has brands facing each other for the right to name the first or last entry.

The first Royal Rumble took place on January 24, 1988 in Hamilton, Ontario. Jim Duggan won but did not receive a title shot as a result of his victory.

Royal Rumble winners

Royal Rumble winners
Year: Winner(s):
1988 "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
1989 Big John Studd
1990 Hulk Hogan
1991 Hulk Hogan
19921 Ric Flair
1993 Yokozuna

19942

Bret Hart
Lex Luger
1995 Shawn Michaels
1996 Shawn Michaels
19973 Stone Cold Steve Austin
1998 Stone Cold Steve Austin
1999 Vince McMahon
20004 The Rock
2001 Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002 Triple H
2003 Brock Lesnar
2004 Chris Benoit
20055 Batista

1: Ric Flair becomes the new WWF Heavyweight Champion

2: Both Bret Hart and Lex Luger were declared winners when it was decided they both touched the floor at the exact same time.

3: Steve Austin was eliminated, but no referee saw the elimination and made the call, so he slipped back in and eliminated everyone to become the Royal Rumble winner.

4: The Big Show, who was the last man eliminated, claimed he won the 2000 Royal Rumble, and later produced video backing up his statement. Both Big Show and The Rock would go on to the Wrestlemania 2000 main event to wrestle for the title.

5: Batista and John Cena were eliminated at the same time similar to the 1994 event. Vince McMahon rushed to the ring(hurting himself in the process) and restarted the Royal Rumble only between Batista & Cena. Batista won and challenged Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania 21. Ironically, John Cena was also at Wrestlemania 21 challenging for the WWE Championship. Both men became champions. Batista was supposed to eliminate John Cena but tripped while doing so.

Results

1988

This event was held on January 24, 1988 in Hamilton, Ontario Canada.

1989

This event was held on January 15, 1989 in Houston, Texas.

1990

This event was held on January 21, 1990 in Orlando, Florida.

1991

This event was held on January 20, 1991 in Miami, Florida.

1992

This event was held on January 19, 1992 in Albany, New York.

1993

This event was held on January 24, 1993 in Sacramento, California.

1994

This event was held on January 22, 1994 in Providence, Rhode Island.

1995

This event was held on January 22, 1995 in Tampa, Florida.

1996

This event was held on January 21, 1996 in Fresno, California.

1997

This event was held on January 19, 1997 in San Antonio, Texas.

1998

This event was held on January 18, 1998 in San Jose, California.

1999

This event was held on January 24, 1999 in Anaheim, California.

2000

This event was held on January 23, 2000 in New York City, New York.

2001

This event was held on January 21, 2001 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

2002

This event was held on January 20, 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia.

2003

This event was held on January 19, 2003 in Boston, Massachusetts.

2004

Further information: Royal Rumble 2004

2005

Further information: Royal Rumble 2005

2006

This event will be held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida on January 29, 2006.

Royal Rumble Records

  • Most victories: Stone Cold Steve Austin (3; 1997, 1998, 2001), Shawn Michaels (2; 1995, 1996), Hulk Hogan (2; 1990, 1991)
  • Longest lasting: Chris Benoit (2004, 1:01:34), Bob Backlund (1993, 1:01:10), Ric Flair (1992, 59:26)
  • Most eliminations by a single wrestler: Kane (2001, 11)

Facts and trivia

  • The Royal Rumble was reportedly created by Pat Patterson, who was inspired by the annual Cow Palace battle royal.
  • The first Royal Rumble in 1988 aired on the USA Network. The 1988 Rumble was unusual for two reasons: It featured only twenty competitors rather than what would become the standard thirty, and any egress over the top rope constituted an elimination (regardless of whether that wrestler's feet touched the floor).
  • The first two wrestlers to ever compete in a Royal Rumble were Bret Hart and Tito Santana, who in the inaugural 1988 match drew #1 and #2 respectively. The first wrestler ever eliminated in a Royal Rumble was "The Natural" Butch Reed.
  • While the #1 draw would appear to be the worst possible numbers of entry, the first entrant has twice won the Royal Rumble: Shawn Michaels in 1995 and Chris Benoit in 2004.
  • At the 1992 Royal Rumble, Ric Flair was the first wrestler to win the WWF Championship in the Royal Rumble match. As of 2005, he is the only wrestler to ever do so.
  • Despite being ostensibly the best draw possible, no wrestler has ever won the Royal Rumble from the #30 position. The closest was Brock Lesnar in 2003, who entered at number twenty nine.
  • The 1991 Royal Rumble was the first to have a WWF Heavyweight Championship Match on the card, featuring The Ultimate Warrior defending the title against Sgt. Slaughter.
  • Vince McMahon entered the 1999 Royal Rumble at number two and went on to win the event. He took the victory by rolling underneath the ropes early in the event to lure Stone Cold Steve Austin into an ambush, (a wrestler is eliminated only if they are thrown over the top rope; since McMahon rolled underneath the ropes, he was still alive in the match), joining the commentary team, and then returning to the ring to eliminate the last contestant (Austin) with help from The Rock.
  • In 1998, Mick Foley was eliminated three times in the same Royal Rumble, each time as a different one of his three personas (Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love, in order of their respective appearence in the match). Because of this, and the abscence of scheduled participant Skull, the 1998 Rumble was the smallest since the original, with 27 participants.
  • Chyna was the first woman in WWE History to have entered the Royal Rumble match. She entered in both the 1999 and 2000 Royal Rumble matches, but failed to win either one.
  • The "I Quit" match at the 1999 Royal Rumble generated huge criticism towards the WWF that even had the USA Network demanding that the WWF "tone down" its image after it was deemed the match went too far. Interestingly the 1999 movie Beyond the Mat touched on this subject. Originally Mick Foley (wrestling as Mankind) was only to take 5 chair-shots and ended up taking roughly 11. Both his wife and kids were at the arena to watch the match and had to leave before the match ended as both Mick Foley's children had broken into tears after watching The Rock dismantle their father.
  • As of 2005, there are only three different Superstars who have each won the Royal Rumble two times in a row: Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Steve Austin, however is the only WWE Superstar to have won the Rumble match three times, although not consecutively.
  • The 2003 Royal Rumble was the first Royal Rumble to feature Both WWE and The World Heavywieght Championship Matches on the same card
  • The 2004 Royal Rumble match featured no superstar who won the Royal Rumble match in previous years.
  • In contrary to popular belief, Maven WAS eliminated from the 2002 Royal Rumble. after several beatings he took from The Undertaker, the latter brought Maven back into the ring and tossed him over the top rope to the outside, which would consider as a legit elimination.
  • Viscera (known as Mabel back then) was never eliminated from the 1999 Royal Rumble.

See also

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