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Cape Town - This weekend sees the return of WWE’s Royal Rumble, one of the so called “big-four” events and an annual tradition that takes place every January.
The Royal Rumble has been around since 1988 making this its 33rd year. It follows a Battle Royal format, a multi-competitor match in which 30 superstars compete and are eliminated until one is left and declared the winner.
The Royal Rumble’s unpredictability makes it makes it one of the most popular WWE events because it gives a wide array of superstars a shot at victory.
Some interesting Royal Rumble facts include:
The 31st Royal Rumble was the first to include a women’s match
On January 28, 2018, the Royal Rumble had its first ever women’s match. Japanese superstar Asuka was the last women standing with fellow countryman, Shinsuke Nakamura, winning the men’s event. The day is also remembered for former UFC star, Ronda Rousey, who made her surprise WWE debut, confirming that she had signed full-time with the brand.
Brock Lesnar is the youngest Royal Rumble winner
At just 25-years-old in 2003, Lesnar won Royal Rumble in just 8 minutes and 59 seconds. Lesnar’s victory took place just 10 months after his debut with WWE.
Longest time spent in a Royal Rumble ring
The 2018 edition saw Daniel Bryan break the record for the longest time spent in a Royal Rumble ring, spending 1 hour, 16 minutes and 5 seconds in the squared circle.
The fastest elimination was 1.9 seconds
Santino Marella, a Canadian superstar who retired from WWE in 2016, holds this record. He spent 1.9 seconds in the ring before being eliminated by Kane in 2009.
Four female superstars have featured in male Royal Rumble matches
Chyna, Beth Phoenix, Kharma and Nia Jax made appearances in the men’s event with Jax being the only superstar to feature in both the men’s and women’s matches on the same night.
Most wins in the Royal Rumble
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is the first and only superstar to win the Royal Rumble three times. He won for the first time by defeating Bret Hart in 1997, The Rock in 1998 and Kane in 2001.
Superstar with the most eliminations
This record once belonged to Roman Reigns who had 12 eliminations in total. As of 2019, Braun Strowman holds the record for the most eliminations at 13.
The greatest Royal Rumble
2018 saw "The Greatest Royal Rumble" take place in Saudi Arabia. The event set the record for the largest Royal Rumble to date - seeing 50 participants battle it out. The event overtook the 2011 Royal Rumble 40 man match.
With the likes of Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss set it battle it out, the 2020 Royal Rumble is set to be another one for the history books.
Catch it live on SuperSport 4 or DSTV WWE pop-up channel 128 at 01:00 (SA time) on Monday, January 27.
WWE LIVE is returning to
South Africa in 2020 with events on Wednesday, April 29 at the Grand Arena at GrandWest in Cape Town; Thursday, April 30
at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban; and Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2 at
the Ticketpro Dome, Johannesburg.
