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This is go time!
As wrestling fans, there is no greater sense of anticipation than perhaps watching the Royal Rumble event every year.
Firstly, there is the spectacle of watching thirty men trying to run down a dream.
Secondly, the man who wins the showdown, goes to Wrestlemania, and the ultimate dream: the proverbial brass ring known either as the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship.
There is also another thing that is unique about this PPV, that no other event during the WWE calendar year possesses.
Every year, without failure, there is either a still image, a vignette, or a full-blown segment devoted to statistics.
Not a particular wrestler, or a particular Rumble in history, but statistics that show how many men in history entered, percentage of men who won the title at Wrestlemania, etc.
That’s why you’re reading this today.
There are other stats that haven’t been given the light of day, until now.
So without further ado, let’s get down to some useless knowledge, shall we?
0: Here is a sampling of men who never won the Rumble: Kane, Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Andre the Giant, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Bob Backlund, Rikishi, Big Show, Booker T, Christian, Bradshaw, Mick Foley, Terry Funk, amongst others.
0: The amount of entries Scott Hall has in the Royal Rumble, despite the fact he was with the company from 1992-1996, then 2002.
OMG: The reaction of the crowd when Paul London was turned inside out by Snitsky in the 2005 Royal Rumble.
1: The amount of Royal Rumbles not broadcast on Pay-Per-View. In 1988, the event was aired on the USA Network while the Bunkhouse Stampede from the NWA was on PPV.
1: The amount of times the Rumble was won by the following men: ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan, Big John Studd, Ric Flair, Yokozuna, Bret Hart & Lex Luger (co-winners in 1994), The Rock, Triple H, Brock Lesnar, Chris Benoit, Batista, Rey Mysterio, Undertaker, John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge, & Alberto Del Rio respectively.
1: As mentioned in the last statistic, the amount of times where a Rumble had co-winners. This occurred in 1994 after Lex Luger and Bret Hart were simultaneously ‘eliminated’. President Jack Tunney awarded the match as such.
1: The amount of times a Rumble was won by someone who was previously eliminated. Steve Austin started #5 and whooped ass until Bret Hart showed up. Bret later eliminated Austin, but because the referees were trying to break up a brawl between Mankind and Terry Funk, never saw Austin’s feet touching the ground. Thus, Austin was able to run back in, eliminate Fake Diesel, Vader & Undertaker, then Bret Hart en route to the controversial decision. Austin would not headline Wrestlemania XIII, but would have a career-defining match with Bret at that event.
1: The amount of Shawn’s Michaels’ feet that touched the floor during the 1995 Rumble. After being chucked over the top rope by British Bulldog, Shawn held on by one foot, and came back in to eliminate Bulldog.
1: The amount of WWE Championship matches that just so happened to be the Royal Rumble match in conjunction. This happened in 1992, and there is an entry devoted to it.
1: The amount of disqualifications in Rumble history. This infamous dishonor goes to Finlay, who in the 2008 Rumble, was taken out of the match after trying to help his “son” Hornswoggle out of trouble.
1: Just for the hell of it, the amount of Rumble this blogger has attended live. It was indeed the 2008 Royal Rumble from MSG.
1: The amount of times a WWE Champion has won the Royal Rumble. That was Hulk Hogan in 1990.
1: The amount of times Randy Savage was eliminated for doing something stupid during a Rumble match. In 1993, he attempted to pin Yokozuna, but Yoko ‘kicked out’ with such force that it hurled Savage over the top rope. Let’s also not forget the 1992 Rumble where in an attempt to catch Jake Roberts, Savage hurled himself over the top rope, but the elimination was never counted.
LOL: The reaction of the crowd when Ernest ‘the Cat’ Miller came down and danced during the 2004 Rumble. After he was done, he was quickly tossed.
2: The amount of times Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels respectively won the Royal Rumble. They both earned their wins in consecutive events.
2: The amount of times in history where the first two men in the Rumble match were also the last two men standing. 1995 had British Bulldog & Shawn Michaels while 1999 had Steve Austin & Vince McMahon. Should be noted that heels won both events.
2: The amount of quadriceps Vince McMahon tore at the 2005 Royal Rumble. In what was one of the funniest albeit painful botches in history, Vince ran down to the ring to restart the match, and tripped into the ring apron thus forcing the double fumble (on the quads that is).
2: The amount of times Triple H started #1 in the Rumble, in 1996 and 2006. In total, that is 108 minutes and 10 seconds!
2: The amount of bloodied winners in Rumble history. 2001 saw Austin have a crimson mask, while Undertaker’s face was mostly cleaned up by the time he eliminated Shawn Michaels in 2007.
3: The amount of times Steve Austin has won the Royal Rumble. Austin won the 1997, 1998, and 2001 events.
3: The amount of alter-egos Mick Foley used in the 1998 Rumble. He started off the event #1 as Cactus Jack. Later on he morphed into Mankind, and then was amongst the final four as Dude Love.
4: The only number in the first five NOT to have had a Rumble winner.
7 minutes and 19 seconds: When Edge returned to the WWE at the 2010 Royal Rumble, he lasted that long to win the match. This is the shortest time a Rumble winner has endured. John Cena from 2008 lasted 8:27, and Alberto Del Rio in 2011 lasted 8:33.
8: The number of tries it took for Undertaker to finally win a Royal Rumble.
8: The amount of men who eliminated Muhammad Hassan from the 2005 Rumble. From RAW, there was Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin, and Edge. From SMACKDOWN, there was Rey Mysterio, Booker T, Eddie Guerrero, and Luther Reigns.
13: The number in which Undertaker’s gong went off during the 2004 Rumble.
14: If he is entered into the Rumble this Sunday, in which he should because EVERYONE who has a match is eligible, Kane would add onto an already impressive record of consecutive Rumbles entered.
14: - Ric Flair holds a record for the longest period time in between starting the Rumble from #1. He did it in 1993, then in 2007. Combined, that’s 24 minutes and 18 seconds of in-ring time.
17: The amount of time in-between appearances for Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Rumble. Duggan, who won the inaugural, appeared in 1992, then wouldn’t appear again until 2009. Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper went 16 years, from 1992 to 2008, then Kevin Nash went from 1996 to 2011.
33 Minutes: The amount of time the whole 1988 Rumble lasted, the shortest Rumble ever. It is also the only edition to have featured 20 contestants.
38 Minutes, and 41 seconds: The amount of time the whole 1995 Rumble lasted, the shortest 30-man edition. Only 60 seconds separated contestants that year.
1 hour, 2 minutes, and 12 seconds: The amount of time Rey Mysterio was in the 2006 Rumble, a record. He started #2 and won. Chris Benoit in 2004 (61:30) and Bob Backlund in 1993 (61:10) are the two closest challengers.
1 hour, 10 minutes, and 2 seconds: The amount of time the whole 2011 Rumble lasted, the longest Rumble in history. It is also the only Rumble in history to have featured 40 men instead of the customary 30.
1 hour, 48 minutes, and 56 seconds: The amount of time Chris Benoit was in the Rumble between 2004-2005. This is by far the record for consecutive running time in back-to-back Rumbles.
117 days: The amount of time John Cena was out due to his torn pec. The injury occurred on the 10/1/07 episode of RAW before No Mercy. This is important because in one of the biggest surprises in Rumble history, on January 27th, 2008, Cena came out unannounced (even to the internet) at #30 and won the whole thing.
$24,000: The amount of Wellness fines accrued if you counted the amount of times Mankind got his head blasted in with a chair by The Rock. Keep in mind every Wellness violation in relation to head shots is $2,000.
$72,000: The amount of Wellness fines accrued if you counted the shots to the head during the 2001 Rumble aka ‘The Hardcore Rumble’.
Here are other notables:
- Shawn Michaels was eliminated from the Rumble from 2005-2007 in three different fashions. 2005 saw him eliminated by a previously ousted competitor (Kurt Angle). 2006 saw him eliminated by someone who wasn’t even entered (Shane McMahon). 2007 saw him eliminated by someone who was not only in the match, but won (Undertaker).
-Speaking of Undertaker, he was eliminated by Maven in the 2002 edition. He was so pissed that he beat the bloody shit out of the young rookie all over the arena. The funny thing here is that Maven was never officially eliminated from the match.
- Mick Foley has won absolutely ZERO matches at the Royal Rumble PPV. This includes four Rumble appearances (1997, 1998 (x3), 2004, and 2008), and two WWE Championship matches.
- Giant Gonzales (1993) and Shane McMahon (2006) are the only two men in the history of the Rumble to ever eliminate someone... and never compete in the Rumble.
- The Miz in 2011 and The Rock (partially) in 1999 are the only two WWE Champions in the history of the Rumble to eliminate competitors while not being in the actual match.
- Sabu remains the only man to be eliminated via a chokeslam through a table at the Rumble. This was by Big Show in 2007. Keep in mind it was over the top rope and onto the table on the outside.
- Raven in 2001 remains the only man in Rumble history to have a 7-10 split to his testicles by a bowling ball.
- Ax and Smash of Demolition are the only tag team combination in history to start the Rumble (1989). Jeff and Matt Hardy started #’s 1 and 3 in 2001.
- Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho are the only two men to start #’s 1 and 2 in the Rumble, and have a match together at Wrestlemania in the same year. This was 2003.
- CM Punk is the only man in the history of the Rumble to eliminate men, then “preach” to the crowd (2010).
- Before 2008, every winner from 2001-2007 won a World Championship at Wrestlemania. Including the 2008 Rumble, all of the winners since that Rumble have failed to win the big one on the grandest stage.
- In 2011, Alberto Del Rio received the dubious honor of being the only Royal Rumble winner in history to receive his title shot in the opening match of Wrestlemania.
- When Shawn Michaels returned, he had appeared in every Rumble PPV from 2003-2010 while he was still active, However, there are a couple of weird stats. Firstly, Shawn wrestled in both a match (with Edge) and in the Rumble match in 2005. Secondly In 2009, Shawn neither wrestled in a match or competed in the Rumble, but was in the corner of JBL in the World Heavyweight Championship match.
- Big John Studd, Yokozuna, and Chris Benoit are the only Rumble winners to be deceased.
- Vince McMahon is the oldest Rumble winner. When he won the 1999 Rumble, McMahon was 53 years, and 5 months (exactly) old.
- Brock Lesnar is the youngest man to have ever won the Rumble match. After starting 29th, Lesnar won the 2003 edition at 25 years, 5 months, and 7 days old.
- Ric Flair is the oldest man to have ever competed in the Rumble match. In 2007, Flair was 57 years, 11 months, and 3 days old when he started first.
- Rene Dupree is the youngest man to have ever competed in the Rumble. In 2004, Depree was 20 years, 1 month, and 10 days old when he was 15th.
-The Great Khali, Chris Jericho, and Mark Henry are the only men to be eliminated by women in the history of the Rumble. No, Mark was not eliminated by Mae Young, but rather by Chyna in 1999, Jericho in 2000 by Chyna, while Khali nine years later got the shaft by Beth Phoenix.
- In 2008, the men who drew numbers 1 and 30 (Undertaker and John Cena received title matches.
- In 2006, the men who drew numbers 1 and 2 received title matches. Rey Mysterio and Triple H also set a Rumble record by lasting the longest combined for a 1 and 2, which is 122 minutes and 21 seconds.
- Although he will be involved in 14 consecutive Rumbles as Kane, Glen Jacobs has also been in the 1996 Rumble as Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS, and the 1997 Rumble as ‘Fake Diesel’. Ultimately, this will be Jacobs’ 16th Rumble match, and his 17th appearance.
- The only time Glen Jacobs was at the Rumble albeit not in the Rumble match was in 1998 when as Kane he threw Undertaker in a casket and set the son of a bitch on fire.
- Undertaker hasn’t lost many casket matches in his WWE career, but he lost both of his title casket matches at the Rumble (1994 to Yokozuna and 1998 to Shawn Michaels).
- Santino Marella in 2009 may have had the shortest in-ring time of anyone in Rumble history, but he was amongst the final two in 2011.
- Bastion Booger in 1994 missed the Rumble event. He is one of the only men (Randy Savage in 1991 being another one) in history to have a spot, yet not show up for it. At least the reason is an anomaly, he had ‘distress’.
- Batista (2005), and Rey Mysterio (2006) are the only men to win a Rumble, then consequently miss the Rumble the following year due to injury. Alberto Del Rio may be in jeopardy to do the same in 2012 after winning the 2011 edition due to groin surgery.
- Hacksaw Jim Duggan won the inaugural Rumble and was in a six-man tag the year later in 1989. This is the only time this has ever happened.
- Heading into the Royal Rumble PPV for 2012, the men who started #’s 1 and 2, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, are the WWE and World Heavyweight Champions.
- Ric Flair (1992 then 1993), Steve Austin (1998 then 1999), Chris Benoit (2004 then 2005), and Undertaker (2007 then 2008) are the only Rumble winners in history to win one year then start amongst the first two the year afterwards.
- Bob Backlund in 1993 not only set the Iron Man record that year (it would be broken in later years), but is also the only man who wasn’t on the full-time roster to go over an hour in the spectacle.
- John Cena may have been in the WWE ten years, but in the 2012 edition, he is about to do something he has never done at the Rumble: compete in a singles match with NO TITLE ON THE LINE.
- Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler made an interesting note in history for the 2011 Rumble: they both lost their title matches, then entered the Rumble match. Kurt Angle also did this in 2005.
- Steve Austin has appeared in only six Rumbles and yet he has eliminated 36 men. Shawn Michaels on the other hand has appeared in 13 Rumbles and has eliminated 39 men.
Now stop reading this and RUMBLE!
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