1988

• Winner: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan
• Entry No.: 14
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 14:44
• Runner-Up: The One Man Gang ^note He won the very first Royal Rumble match which was held at a house show.
• Notable Events:
  • The only 20-Man Rumble and the only event to air on cable rather than PPV.^note Or rather, the only one to air live on cable; the 2015 match would be shown on Monday Night Raw the night after the show in its entirety (save for a few minutes cut out for commercial breaks) to fill time after Raw was unable to do their usual show thanks to a massive snowstorm. The three-way world title match from the same show that saw Brock Lesnar retain against Seth Rollins and John Cena was also replayed.
  • Bret Hart was the first ever entrant in a Royal Rumble match (Tito Santana was #2), and held a record for longevity time lasting 25:42.
  • Butch Reed was the first ever elimination in a Royal Rumble match.

• Winner: Big John Studd
• Entry No.: 27
• Attempt No.: 1
• Eliminations: 2
• Time: 12:21
• Runner-Up: Ted DiBiase
• Notable Events:
  • The first 30-Man Rumble (which is now the standard) and the first to be presented on PPV.
  • The beginning of "Lucky Number 27", which would produce more winners (five) than any other number, until both No. 28 and No. 30 caught up in 2022, and then #30 would surpass it with five winners in 2023, until #27 caught up with it in 2025.
  • Mr. Perfect broke Bret Hart's record for longevity time, lasting 27:58.
  • The Warlord set the record for shortest time in Royal Rumble at 2 seconds, when he was eliminated by Hulk Hogan.
  • Studd is the only Rumble winner thus far to not even be booked for the following WrestleMania.

• Winner: Hulk Hogan
• Entry No.: 25
• Attempt No.: 2
• Eliminations: 6
• Time: 12:49
• Runner-Up: Mr. Perfect
• Notable Events:
  • Ted DiBiase set a new longevity record, lasting 44:47.
  • Hogan becomes the first person to win a Rumble match while WWF/E Champion, a feat that's likely never going to be repeated.^note A world champion wouldn't even be entered into a Rumble match again until 2016, see below.

• Winner: Hulk Hogan
• Entry No.: 24
• Attempt No.: 3
• Eliminations: 7
• Time: 21:00
• Runner-Up: Earthquake
• Notable Events:
  • Hulk Hogan became the first man to win the Royal Rumble twice, and the first person to win it back-to-back.
  • Rick Martel set a new longevity record with a time of 52:17.
  • This Rumble only had 29 competitors, as Randy Savage no-showed the match after costing Ultimate Warrior the WWF Championship earlier in the night.

• Winner: Ric Flair
• Entry No.: 3
• Attempt No.: 1
• Eliminations: 5
• Time: 1:00:02
• Runner-Up: Sid Justice
• Notable Events:
  • The match was for the WWF Championship, which had been vacated after two controversial finishes in matches between Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker.
  • Flair set a new longevity record with a time of 1:00:02.
  • Flair is the first person since the Rumble's inception to win in his first attempt (barring the first rumble of course)
  • Widely considered the best Rumble match by wrestling critics and longtime fans thanks to smart booking and the ridiculous amount of star power. It also features one of the greatest performances of heel wrestling announcing ever from Bobby Heenan (where he's unabashedly cheering on Flair - and repeatedly stating that Ric's entry number of 3 wasn't fair to him - so hard that he starts losing his voice two-thirds of the way into the match), to the point that WWE included this match in its entirety on Heenan's DVD.

• Winner: Yokozuna
• Entry No.: 27
• Attempt No.: 1
• Eliminations: 7
• Time: 14:53
• Runner-Up: "Macho Man" Randy Savage^note Hilariously eliminated when he tried to pin Yokozuna, who kicked out with such force that he sent Savage over the top rope and out of the match
• Notable Events:
  • The first Rumble with the stipulation that the winner gets a world title match in the main event of WrestleMania.
  • Yokozuna became the second Rumble winner to win as the 27th entrant.
  • Yokozuna becomes the second person since the rumble's inception to win in his first attempt (again, not counting 1988).
  • Bob Backlund sets a new longevity record at 1:01:10.
  • Previous year's winner Ric Flair drew #1, he would be eliminated 18 minutes in by Mr. Perfect. Flair would lose a Loser Leaves Town match to Perfect the next night on Monday Night Raw and head back to WCW, he wouldn't return to WWE until 2001.
  • Giant González' WWF debut; he wasn't actually entered in the match, but he interfered to eliminate The Undertaker.
• WrestleMania IX Result: Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart to win the WWF Championship, but would lose it minutes later to Hulk Hogan.

• Winners: Lex Luger/Bret Hart
• Entry No.: 23/27
• Attempt No.: 1 (Lex Luger), 4 (Bret Hart)
• Eliminations: 7 (Lex Luger), 5 (Bret Hart)
• Time: 21:58/15:08
• Runner-Up: Shawn Michaels
• Notable Events:
  • Both wrestlers crashed to the floor simultaneously which ended the match, as a result, both men were declared co-winners.
  • Bret Hart became the third person to (co-)win the Rumble as the 27th entrant.
    • Bret Hart became the first (co-)winner not born in the United States.
  • Luger becomes the third person since the Rumble's inception to (co-)win in his first attempt.
  • This was the first time previous year's champion won the Rumble.
  • This would be the first time a WrestleMania rematch was set up between last year's Rumble winner and champion.
  • This Rumble only had 29 Competitors. Bastion Booger was drawn 25th, but no-showed due to suffering food poisoning before the match. In actuality, it was attempt to fake out the audience into believing that the injured Bret Hart had been withdrawn from the match.^note The opening match of the show was Bret and his brother Owen challenging the Quebecers for the WWF Tag Team Championship, Bret hurt his knee and the match was stopped when his leg gave out while trying to apply the Sharpshooter and the referee determined he was too injured to continue. You're probably asking why he didn't just tag in his brother if he was hurt and so was Owen, and Owen completed his long-simmering heel turn by attacking his brother's injured leg after the match.
  • Five days before this match another 30 man Rumble took place at a house show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, which was won by Owen Hart.^note Click here and scroll down to January 17th to see the full list of entrants and eliminations. This was the only known 30 person Rumble match to not be televised and is considered non-canon.
• WrestleMania X Result: The concept of the Triple Threat Match didn't exist yet^note At least in WWE, anyway; subsequent research has discovered that triple threat matches date back to at least the late 1960s, though neither Paul Heyman or Jim Cornette knew that when they booked triple threat matches in ECW and SMW respectively a few months after the 1994 Rumble and (re)introduced the concept to the wider wrestling world. To this day Cornette and Heyman are unsure of which one of them stole the idea from the other, but both of them regret doing it because it's since been mostly used as a booking crutch to get titles off people without them actually losing, as a result, a compromise was reached: Lex Luger would face Yokozuna for the WWF Championship in the middle of WrestleMania and the winner of that match would face Bret Hart in the main event (in the interest of fairness, Bret would also wrestle his brother Owen in the opening match of the night^note This was the result of a coin toss held on Monday Night Raw, had Bret won the toss he would have faced Yokozuna first while Luger would have had a match with Crush..) Luger lost to Yokozuna by disqualification after shoving Special Guest Referee Mr. Perfect, but Bret would defeat Yokozuna in the main event to win the WWF Championship.

• Winner: Shawn Michaels
• Entry No.: 1
• Attempt No.: 5
• Eliminations: 8
• Time: 38:41
• Runner-Up: British Bulldog
• Notable Events:
  • Shawn Michaels became the first wrestler to win the Rumble from the No. 1 spot, in the process cementing the rule that both feet must touch the floor to be eliminated. Michaels also became the first previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match.
  • Shawn Michaels and British Bulldog "went the distance" in the Rumble, being the first two entrants and the last two wrestlers in the match.
  • Shortest Rumble in history at only 38 Minutes and 41 Seconds. This was mostly due to the time between entrances being 60 seconds as opposed to the usual 90.
  • Bret Hart would attack both Owen Hart and Bob Backlund during their respective entrances, as payback for Owen and Backlund interfering in Bret's world title match against Diesel earlier that night.^note The match would be ruled a draw thanks to Owen, Backlund, Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, and The Roadie running in and jumping both competitors, this was after Shawn and Owen had already interfered to attack Diesel and Bret, respectively. As a result they would last roughly 10 seconds combined in the match, Owen was eliminated so quickly that the camera missed it.
  • Shortly before the match started there was a confrontation between former NY Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor (who was sitting at ringside) and Bam Bam Bigelow (who with his partner Tatanka had just lost a WWF tag title match to The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly), setting up the main event of WrestleMania XI.
  • This was the final WWF appearance of Rick Martel.
• WrestleMania XI Result: Michaels lost to WWF World Heavyweight Champion Diesel.

• Winner: Shawn Michaels
• Entry No.: 18
• Attempt No.: 6
• Eliminations: 8
• Time: 26:09
• Runner-Up: Diesel
• Notable Events:
  • Michaels became the second man to win the Royal Rumble twice, as well as the second person to win it back-to-back.
  • Michaels and Diesel became the first time the previous year's title match ended up being the winner and runner-up.
  • This was Michaels' return match from a (Kayfabe) concussion caused by an Owen Hart enziguri two months prior. After winning this match Michaels would put his WrestleMania title shot on the line in a match against Owen at the In Your House 6 PPV, and pin him to end the brief HBK-Owen feud.
  • Big Van Vader's WWF debut and The Ringmaster's debut on WWF PPV. He'd win three of the next five Rumbles. This was also the first Rumble appearance of Triple H, who was the #1 entrant after losing a match on the pre-show to Duke "The Dumpster" Droese (who earned the #30 spot with his victory) and was the 1996 ironman with a time of 48:04.
  • Jake The Snake Roberts' return to the WWF, his last appearance was at WrestleMania VIII.
  • King Mabel's last appearance until 1998,^note And that was a one-off, he wouldn't become a full-time employee again until the 1999 Rumble match as he was fired after the show.
  • Somewhat notorious for having a pretty thin field, with Dory Funk Jr., Doug Gilbert, Takao Omori, and The Headhunters brought in to get the numbers up. If you've never heard of any of those people (except the first one), well, neither had anyone watching the show^note The WWF had originally planned to use talent from Smoky Mountain Wrestling to fill out the match, but SMW unfortunately folded about six weeks before the show. And in case you were wondering, Gilbert is Eddie Gilbert's brother who had a brief run in WCW but mostly worked around Memphis, Omori is pretty well known now but at the time he was a rookie jobber who get sent to the U.S. because no one would notice he was gone, and the Headhunters (called the "Squat Team" here for some reason) are a Dominican identical twin tag team who mostly worked the Japanese Garbage Wrestling promotions.
  • First Rumble to use entrance music for all 30 competitors rather than only the first two.
• WrestleMania XII Result: Michaels went on to defeat Bret Hart in an Iron Man match (the scheduled hour ended in a scoreless tie, leading to sudden-death overtime) to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

• Winner: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
• Entry No.: 5
• Attempt No.: 2
• Eliminations: 10
• Time: 45:07
• Runner-Up: Bret Hart
• Notable Events:
  • Austin was eliminated by Bret Hart, but snuck back in the ring while officials were distracted by a brawl between Terry Funk and Mankind on the other side of the ring. As Hart was celebrating, thinking he had won, Austin came in from behind and tossed him over the top rope. Since Austin was still considered to be in the match and was the only man left in the ring, the officials declared him the winner.
  • Bret Hart became the first previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up.
  • Bret Hart and Stone Cold became the first time the Runner-up and winner ended up facing each other at WrestleMania.
  • Since the introduction of the title shot stipulation in 1993, this is the first and only Rumble where the winner did not receive a title shot (barring 2016, which was for the title itself).
  • Most self eliminations in a Rumble: Ahmed Johnson leaves the ring to attack Faarooq, Mil Mascaras eliminates himself to attack other luchadors, and Faarooq is chased away by Johnson after he reappears with a 2x4.
  • As part of a cross-promotional deal, four luchadors from AAA take part in the Rumble: Mil Mascaras, Pierroth, Latin Lover, and Cibernético. The same cross-promotional deal also gave us a trios match with Canek, Héctor Garza and Perro Aguayo defeating Fuerza Guerrera,^note The father of Juventud Guerrera, who was at the time a featured player in WCW's cruiserweight division Heavy Metal and Jerry Estrada earlier on the card; a minis match with Mascarita Sagrada Jr. and La Parkita beating Mini Mankind and Mini Vader on the pre-show; and two more dark lucha matches before the show went to air. In total, 22 AAA luchadors appeared on the card.
  • Technical problems result in the clock not displaying until a sixth of the way through the match.
  • This was the final WWF appearance of Rick Bognar, aka, the fake Razor Ramon.^note And the only time "Razor Ramon" was in a Rumble, since Scott Hall never appeared in one. He did work the 1993-96 Royal Rumble shows, but always in singles matches earlier on the card. Oddly enough he actually won the Alternate Company Equivalent of the Rumble, winning the World War 3 match in 1997. This was also the last appearance of the Fake Diesel character, though Glenn Jacobs would be back later that year with a much better gimmick.
  • This was the first Rumble in a stadium (specifically the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX) and quite possibly the most heavily papered show in WWE history - around 18,000 freebies were handed out to try and pack the building for the main event, which saw San Antonio native Shawn Michaels regain the WWF Championship from Sycho Sid. The Rumble would return to the Alamodome in 2017.
• WrestleMania 13 Result: 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 a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania 13. Instead, a Fatal Four Way match between Hart, Austin, The Undertaker, and Vader (the final four of that year's Rumble) would be held at February's In Your House event to determine who would receive it, but because champion Shawn Michaels forfeited the title, plans were changed for the match to be for the title itself, Bret Hart won the match to become the new champion but lost the title to Sycho Sid the following night on Raw due to interference from Austin. Due to being the runner-up to the title in the Fatal Four Way, Undertaker was made the number one contender and was booked to challenge Sycho Sid for the title at WrestleMania. However, on the March 17 edition of Raw Is War, Sid defended the title against Hart in a steel cage match, with the winner defending his title at WrestleMania. During the match, both Undertaker and Austin interfered. Undertaker came out to help Sid because he wanted to wrestle Sid for the title while Austin helped Hart because he wanted to make his scheduled submission match with Hart a title match. Sid won the match and retained his title and as a result, Sid vs. Undertaker remained the main event of WrestleMania. At WrestleMania 13, Undertaker on to went to defeat Sid (with some inadvertent help from a newly-Heel Bret Hart) win the title in WrestleMania's main event.

• Winner: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
• Entry No.: 24
• Attempt No.: 3
• Eliminations: 7
• Time: 15:58
• Runner-Up: The Rock
• Notable Events:
  • Austin becomes the third man to win two Royal Rumbles, and the third person to win it back-to-back.
  • This Rumble only had 27 Competitors. Mick Foley entered the match three times under his Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack personas, and Skull no-showed due to being attacked by Los Boricuas after having been mistaken for Austin.
• WrestleMania XIV Result: Austin defeated Shawn Michaels to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

• Winner: Vince McMahon
• Entry No.: 2
• Attempt No.: 1
• Eliminations: 1
• Time: 56:38
• Runner-Up: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
• Notable Events:
  • McMahon became the first person to win the Rumble as the second entrant. He is also the Rumble winner with the fewest career eliminations, with just one.
  • McMahon became the fourth person since the Rumble's inception to win in his first attempt.
  • McMahon became the oldest person to win a Rumble, at 52.
  • McMahon became the second person since the inception of the rule^note of Royal Rumble winner gets an automatic title shot at WrestleMania to not have a WrestleMania title match, and the second (and last) to not have a WrestleMania match at all, though he did show up to interfere in the main event.
  • Austin became the second previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up. And first person to finish as runner-up after winning the previous Rumble.
  • Austin became the first Runner-up to challenge for the title at WrestleMania
  • The second time the final two contestants were the first two entrants.
  • This was the first Rumble to feature a female participant.
  • This was the final Royal Rumble appearance of Owen Hart, who died later that year.
  • While not as strongly enforced as the latter 2004 example, due to Vince McMahon being outed and effectively scrubbed from WWE in the wake of his 2024 sex-trafficking scandal, this Rumble is rarely mentioned by WWE.
• WrestleMania XV Result: The following night on Raw, Mr. McMahon renounced his title opportunity to challenge WWF Champion The Rock at WrestleMania. 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 (thanks in large part to the cage wall breaking open due to the debuting Big Show). Austin went on to defeat The Rock in a No Disqualification match to win the WWF Championship.

• Winner: The Rock
• Entry No.: 24
• Attempt No.: 3
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 14:47
• Runner-Up: Big Show
• Notable Events:
  • The Rock became the third person to win the Rumble as the 24th entrant. He also became the second previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match.
  • At the end of the match, both Rock and Show went over the top rope, but before the Big Show's feet touched the ground, the Rock's feet were already on the floor. This was ignored and the Rock was declared the winner.
  • With this win, The Rock becomes the first Rumble winner to be related to a previous winner. In this case, 1993 winner Yokozuna who was Rock's cousin.
  • The first time the Runner-up and winner ended in the same title match and second time the former and latter competed in the same match.
  • Bob Backlund made an appearance in the Rumble. While not considered to be the first surprise entrant (many consider Mil Mascaras to have that title), he is considered by many to be the first WWE Legend to have a spot in the Rumble (despite the title of "WWE Legend" not existing at the time), a tradition many fans still anticipate to predict each year to this day.
  • Road Dogg was sick with the flu so he spent most of the match clutching the bottom rope. This was also his final Rumble appearance until 2013.
  • The first Rumble for Chris Jericho, who currently holds the record for most time spent in Rumble matches at a few seconds shy of five hours. You wouldn't know it from his first appearance, since he was eliminated in under four minutes by a woman.
• WrestleMania 2000 Result: 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 to make it a four-way match for the WWF Championship. At WrestleMania, Triple H defeated Rock, Foley, and Show in a fatal four-way elimination match to retain the WWF Championship.

• Winner: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
• Entry No.: 27
• Attempt No.: 5
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 09:38
• Runner-Up: Kane
• Notable Events:
  • Austin becomes the first, and to date only, man to win three Royal Rumbles, also setting the record for longest amount of time between Rumble wins at 3 years. He is also the only person to win both of his WrestleMania title matches.
  • Kane set the new elimination record, with 11 eliminations, a record that held for 13 years.
  • Drew Carey becomes the first celebrity entrant in the Royal Rumble.
  • Haku made his WWE return. He was actually WCW Hardcore champion as Meng at the time, and rather than vacate the belt, WCW simply retired the title (not that it mattered much as WCW would close its doors barely 3 months later)
• WrestleMania X-Seven Result: Austin defeated The Rock in a No Disqualification match to win the WWF Championship, with a little help from Vince McMahon and a Face–Heel Turn.

• Winner: Triple H
• Entry No.: 22
• Attempt No.: 4
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 23:14
• Runner-Up: Kurt Angle
• Notable Events:
  • Undertaker assaulted and eliminated Maven following his own elimination by Maven.
  • Mr. Perfect and Goldust made their WWE returns after 6 years and 3 years respectively.
• WrestleMania X8 Result: Triple H lost his WrestleMania 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.

• Winner: Brock Lesnar
• Brand: SmackDown!
• Entry No.: 29
• Attempt No.: 1
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 9:00
• Runner-Up: The Undertaker
• Notable Events:
  • Lesnar became the fifth person since the Rumble's inception to win in his first attempt
  • Lesnsr retroactively became the first Money in the Bank winner to also win the Rumble.
  • The first instance where the last two entrants were also the finalists.
  • First Rumble to take place after the introduction of the brand extension in Mid-2002, featuring 15 Wrestlers from Raw and 15 from SmackDown.
  • First Rumble where the winner was also able to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship.
  • Christopher Nowinski suffered a massive concussion after Edge botched a missile drop kick and landed on his head. Nowinski eventually retired due to this injury and became a concussion specialist.
• WrestleMania XIX Result: As a member of the SmackDown brand, Lesnar earned a match for his brand's WWE Championship. At WrestleMania, Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle to win the championship.

• Winner: Chris Benoit
• Brand: SmackDown!
• Attempt No.: 1
• Entry No.: 1
• Eliminations: 6
• Time: 1:01:35
• Runner-Up: Big Show
• Notable Events:
  • This Rumble had 29 Competitors, Spike Dudley was drawn 13th, but was attacked on the ramp by Kane.
  • Benoit set a new longevity record at 1:01:35. He also became the second Rumble winner to win as the first entrant.
  • Benoit is the sixth person since the Rumble's inception to win in his first attempt.
  • Benoit became the second person not born in the United States to win the Rumble.
  • Big Show becomes the first man to finish as runner-up twice.
  • Due to the Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide, this Rumble is mostly ignored by WWE.
  • John Cena injured his ankle during his elimination.
• WrestleMania XX Result: 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.

• Winner: Batista
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 28
• Attempt No.: 2
• Eliminations: 6
• Time: 10:54
• Runner-Up: John Cena
• Notable Events:
  • This Rumble only had 29 Competitors, Scotty 2 Hotty was drawn 15th, but was attacked on the ramp (for the second year in a row no less) by Muhammad Hassan (who had just been eliminated by everyone in the ring at the time).
  • The first Rumble when both the winner and runner-up went on to compete for WrestleMania title matches.
  • Before the match, Kurt Angle stole Nunzio's entrance number and replaced him in the match.
  • Batista and Cena both went over the top rope and hit the floor at the same time (and unlike 1994, this was a legitimate botch). Vince McMahon came to the ring (in the process legitimately tearing one of his quadriceps muscles when his knees were caught on the apron and tearing the other attempting to return backstage unassisted) and ordered the match to be restarted with the final two participants. Batista eliminated Cena following a spinebuster to win the match.
  • This was the final Royal Rumble appearance of Eddie Guerrero, who died later that year.
• WrestleMania 21 Result: Batista, a Raw wrestler, chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Triple H for the title at WrestleMania. Cena himself also won the WWE Championship at the same event by defeating JBL.

• Winner: Rey Mysterio
• Brand: SmackDown!
• Entry No.: 2
• Attempt No.: 3
• Eliminations: 6
• Time: 1:02:12
• Runner-Up: Randy Orton
• Notable Events:
  • Rey Mysterio broke the longevity record, lasting 1:02:12. He also became the second person to win as the number two entrant.
  • Orton became the second runner-up to get entered in the same title match as the winner.
  • The third time the winner and runner-up ended up facing each other in a WrestleMania.
• WrestleMania 22 Result: Mysterio, a SmackDown! wrestler, 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, making it a triple threat match. at WrestleMania, Mysterio defeated champion Kurt Angle and Orton in a triple threat match to win the championship.

• Winner: The Undertaker
• Brand: SmackDown!
• Entry No.: 30
• Attempt No.: 8
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 13:35
• Runner-Up: Shawn Michaels
• Notable Events:
  • The Undertaker was the first wrestler to win the Royal Rumble match from the number 30 spot. He also became the third previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match.
  • Michaels became the second person in Rumble history to finish as runner-up twice. He also became the third previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up. He also became the first person to win two Rumbles and finish runner-ups twice.
  • With the introduction of the third ECW Brand in 2006, this is the first year the ECW brand was allowed to participate, as a result the ECW Championship was added as an option for the Royal Rumble winner.
  • Glenn Jacobs (Kane) made his eleventh appearance in a Royal Rumble match, breaking his own and Solofa Fatu (Rikishi)'s record for most Royal Rumble appearances. It was also his ninth-consecutive appearance, also billed as a record for Kane.
  • Nelson Frazier, Jr. (Viscera) was eliminated by 9 wrestlers, setting a record for the highest number of wrestlers involved in a single elimination. The record stood until 2023 when Nia Jax was eliminated by 11 wrestlers in the women's Rumble, although it is still the record for the men's Rumble.
  • This was the final Royal Rumble appearance of Chris Benoit, who died later that year.
• WrestleMania 23 Result: The Undertaker, a SmackDown wrestler, chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship and defeated Batista to win the title.

• Winner: John Cena
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 30
• Attempt No.: 4
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 08:28
• Runner-Up: Triple H
• Notable Events:
  • Cena wasn't expected to return until after WrestleMania due to an injury (a torn pectoral muscle) that required surgery. With his win, he became the second Rumble winner in as many years to win as the last entrant and the fourth previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match.
  • Cena retroactively became the second Money in the Bank winner to have won at least one Rumble.
  • Triple H would be the third runner-up entered in to the same title match as the winner.
  • For the first time, the final two of the previous Rumble (Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker) became the starting two of this Rumble. They are also the first rumble winners to become starters.
  • Triple H (who entered at #29) became the fourth previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up.
  • Finlay became the first Royal Rumble entrant to be disqualified, for using a weapon and "jumping the gun" by failing to wait for his entry number to be called. A confrontation between Hornswoggle (#9) against super-heavyweights Mark Henry and Big Daddy V is when Finlay made his move, prioritizing Hornswoggle's well-being over his own Rumble aspirations.
  • Hall of Famers Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper were both surprise entrants during the match. They entered consecutively, Snuka at 18 and Piper at 19. Snuka was 64 at the time, as of 2026 he's the oldest person to enter a Rumble match.
  • Because the Rumble was happening at Madison Square Garden, WWE was able to get Michael Buffer as a special guest ring announcer for the Rumble match itself. Buffer even used his legendary catchphrase "Let's get ready to rumble!"
• WrestleMania XXIV Result: Instead of waiting until WrestleMania, Cena 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, however, Orton defeated Cena and Triple H to retain the title.

• Winner: Randy Orton
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 8
• Attempt No.: 4
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 48:30
• Runner-Up: Triple H
• Notable Events:
  • Orton became the fifth previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match.
  • Orton retroactively became the third Money in the Bank winner to also win the Rumble.
  • Triple H would become the first two-time Runner-up and back to back runner-up to compete in the WrestleMania title match.
  • Santino Marella entered at No. 28 and was eliminated by Kane in one second, breaking the Warlord's record for shortest elimination in the Royal Rumble.
  • Triple H (who entered at #7) becomes the first person to finish as runner-up consecutively (both times to the entry immediately following him) and the third person overall to finish in this position twice.
  • Second time (Fourth in general) the last two in the Rumble went on to face each other one on one at WrestleMania.
  • With this win, all members of Evolution have won the Rumble, becoming the only Power Stable in WWE history to do so.
• WrestleMania 25 Result: Orton won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler, but challenged SmackDown's Triple H for the WWE Championship. At WrestleMania 25, Orton lost to Triple H.

• Winner: Edge
• Brand: SmackDown
• Entry No.: 29
• Attempt No.: 6
• Eliminations: 2
• Time: 7:37
• Runner-Up: John Cena
• Notable Events:
  • Edge becomes the third person not born in America to win the Rumble.
  • Edge became the first person (fourth person overall) to win the money in the bank first and then the rumble.
  • By spending only 7 minutes and 37 seconds in the ring, Edge set a then-record for shortest amount of time a competitor in Royal Rumble spent in the match before winning. He also became the second person to win the titular match as the penultimate entrant. Like John, Edge was a surprise entry returning from injury (an achilles injury).
  • John Cena became the fourth person in Rumble history to finish as runner-up twice, and the fifth previous Rumble winner to finish in this spot.
  • Last Rumble where the ECW Championship was an option for the winner before the title and the brand were retired only two weeks later.
  • Beth Phoenix became the second female wrestler to participate in a Royal Rumble, after Chyna in 1999.
  • Edge was making his return following a six-month hiatus due to injury.
• WrestleMania XXVI Result: Edge, a SmackDown wrestler, chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost to Chris Jericho at WrestleMania.

• Winner: Alberto Del Rio
• Brand: SmackDown
• Entry No.: 38
• Attempt No.: 1
• Eliminations: 2
• Time: 09:33
• Runner-Up: Santino Marella
• Notable Events:
  • Del Rio became the seventh person since the rumble's inception to win in his first attempt.
  • Del Rio became the fourth person not born in America and first person to win in a country outside Canada and the United States.
  • Del Rio retroactively became the first person to win the Rumble and Money in the Bank in the same year, as well as the fifth person to do so in general.
  • The only 40-man Rumble.
  • The last Royal Rumble of the original brand extension era, which ended in August 2011. Following its dissolution, all on-screen personnel were no longer tied to Raw or SmackDown and now could appear on both shows.
  • Booker T was a surprise entrant at #21, returning to WWE after 3 years.
  • Alex Riley was mistakenly eliminated early by Kofi Kingston and John Cena. Riley was supposed to help eliminate Cena later in the match, but The Miz would do it by himself instead, with a distraction from Riley. After Alex Riley was eliminated, WWE Champion The Miz, who joined commentary during Riley's performance, interfered in the match and eliminated Cena.
  • Santino was knocked out early and only got to the final two by default.
• WrestleMania XXVII Result: Del Rio, a SmackDown wrestler, chose to challenge for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship, but lost to Edge at WrestleMania, which would be the latter's final match until his return 9 years later.

• Winner: Sheamus
• Entry No.: 22
• Attempt No.: 2
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 22:22
• Runner-Up: Chris Jericho
• Notable Events:
  • Sheamus became the second person to win the Rumble as the 22nd entrant.
  • Sheamus became the fifth person to win the Rumble not born in America and first European to win the Rumble.
  • Sheamus retroactively became the sixth person to win both the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank and first person to win both subsequent title matches.
  • Sheamus and Jericho became the second winner and runner-up to get separate world title matches.
  • The entire commentary team (Jerry Lawler. Booker T, and Michael Cole) competed in the match; Lawler (number 12) and Booker (number 17), both eliminated by the time of Cole's entry (at number 20), would eliminate Cole as he tried escaping from female wrestler Kharma (number 21).
  • Speaking of Kharma, this was her only official WWE match. She had debuted in May of the previous year before having to go on maternity leave just weeks after her debut. The 2012 Royal Rumble was her return and her only appearance in the company before she was released in June of that year.
• WrestleMania XXVIII Result: Sheamus chose to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship and defeated champion Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania in a negatively-received 18-second Squash Match.

• Winner: John Cena
• Entry No.: 19
• Attempt No.: 7
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 26:39
• Runner-Up: Ryback
• Notable Events:
  • The first year NXT was allowed to compete with inclusion of Bo Dallas. Bo would eliminate Wade Barrett during his time in the match.
  • Cena became the second person to win the Rumble and Money in the Bank within 12 months.
  • Cena became the first person to win their second Rumble after winning Money in the Bank.
  • Cena successfully defended his title shot against CM Punk on the February 25 episode of Raw.
  • Cena became the fourth man to win two Rumbles. He also becomes to the first man to accomplish this without winning two Rumbles back-to-back.
  • Cena sets the record for longest amount of time between Rumble wins at the time at 5 years, breaking "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's record of 3 years in 2001.
  • Last Royal Rumble where the World Heavyweight Championship was an option for the winner before the title was retired later in the year.
• WrestleMania 29 Result: Cena chose to challenge for the WWE Championship, at WrestleMania, and defeated The Rock to win the WWE Championship.

• Winner: Batista
• Entry No.: 28
• Attempt No.: 5
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 14:34
• Runner-Up: Roman Reigns
• Notable Events:
  • Batista became the fifth man to win two Rumbles, and also became the first person to win multiple Rumbles from the same spot. He also set a record for longest amount of time between Rumble wins, at 9 years, breaking John Cena's record of 5 years in the previous year.
  • By eliminating 12 men, Roman Reigns broke the record of 11, set by Kane in 2001.
  • invoked The event is known for the overwhelmingly negative crowd response during the Orton-Cena title match, as well as towards the end of (and after) the Royal Rumble match, when the fans booed the Rumble winner Batista, repeatedly chanted for Daniel Bryan (who had competed earlier in the night and was not involved in the main event), and rooted for the man in second place, Roman Reigns (who was a heel at the time).
  • The event also marked the final WWE appearance of CM Punk, who walked out on the company the next day despite still being under contract, and subsequently retired from professional wrestling later that year, until 2021 when he debuted with rival promotion All Elite Wrestling. Discounting his appearances on WWE Backstage before showing up in AEW, he would eventually return to WWE at the end of Survivor Series in 2023.
• WrestleMania XXX Result: After months of feuding, Triple H agreed to face Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, 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.

• Winner: Roman Reigns
• Entry No.: 16
• Attempt No.: 2
• Eliminations: 6
• Time: 27:29
• Runner-Up: Rusev
• Notable Events:
  • invoked It's that Rumble.
  • Curtis Axel was supposed to enter at #6 but was attacked by Erick Rowan who took his place.
  • Reigns became the sixth previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match.
  • With this win, Reigns became the second Rumble winner to be related to a previous winner, as 1993 winner Yokozuna and 2000 winner The Rock are Reigns' cousins. This would make the Anoa'i Family with the most produced winners to date with three. Retroactively, Reigns would only be the third person to do so as Triple H won the 2002 Rumble before marrying 1999 winner Vince McMahon's daughter Stephanie in September 2003 to become officially part of the McMahon family. Triple H would then win the following year's Rumble as an official McMahon family member.
  • Reigns successfully defended his title shot against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane
  • This match would be replayed on Monday Night Raw (minus commercial breaks) the next night after a blizzard shut down the entire northeastern U.S. and WWE was forced to cancel the scheduled live Raw from Hartford, CT and do a studio show from WWE headquarters in Stamford.
• WrestleMania 31 Result: Reigns went on to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. 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.

• Winner: Triple H
• Entry No.: 30
• Attempt No.: 9
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 09:03
• Runner-Up: Dean Ambrose
• Notable Events:
  • Triple H becomes the sixth man to win 2 Rumbles, and the third person to win it as the final entrant. He also sets the record for longest amount of time between Rumble wins at the time at 14 years, breaking Batista's record of 9 years in 2014.
  • Triple H becomes the oldest person to win multiple Royal Rumbles at 46 years old.
  • The last Royal Rumble event to occur before the reintroduction of the brand extension in July, again splitting the roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands.
  • The event also marked the WWE debut of AJ Styles, who entered at number 3.
  • With this win, Triple H becomes the third Rumble winner to be related to a previous winner, with 1999 winner Vince McMahon being his father-in-law. Retroactively, Triple H would be the second person to do so as he won the 2002 Rumble before marrying Stephanie McMahon in September 2003.
  • A rigged draw forced Roman Reigns to enter the match at number 1. He was able to last until the final three before Triple H eliminated him (getting face cheers for both the elimination itself and his immediate follow-up of D-Generation X crotch chops).
• WrestleMania 32 Result: 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. Reigns regained the championship in a rematch at WrestleMania.

• Winner: Randy Orton
• Brand: SmackDown
• Attempt No.: 8
• Entry No.: 23
• Eliminations: 1
• Time: 20:52
• Runner-Up: Roman Reigns
• Notable Events:
  • Orton became the seventh man to win 2 Rumbles. He also became the second person to win the match as the 23rd entrant.
  • First year where the Universal Championship was an option for the Royal Rumble winner.
  • Reigns became the fifth man to finish as runner-up twice, and the sixth previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up.
  • Final Royal Rumble event to feature just one Rumble match, as the 2018 edition of the PPV introduced the Women's Royal Rumble match, which saw two Rumble matches being held on the same night ever since.
• WrestleMania 33 Result: As a member of the SmackDown brand, Orton earned a match for his own brand's WWE Championship, but after his fellow Wyatt Family member Bray Wyatt won the title at Elimination Chamber, Orton relinquished his opportunity, only to then reverse his decision and turn on Wyatt on the following episode of SmackDown. The following week, Orton defeated AJ Styles, who had become the new number one contender for the title, to re-earn his title shot. At WrestleMania, Orton defeated Wyatt to win the WWE Championship.

• Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
• Brand: SmackDown
• Attempt No.: 1
• Entry No.: 14
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 44:38
• Runner-Up: Roman Reigns
• Notable Events:
  • Nakamura became the second person to win the Rumble as the 14th entrant, the first being inaugural winner "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.
  • Nakamura became the eighth person not born in America and first Asian to win the Rumble.
  • Roman Reigns sets a new record for most times as the runner-up, with his third time being the last eliminated. He also became the second person in Rumble history to finish in this position back-to-back.
  • This would be the third Royal Rumble where the winner and runner-up got separate title matches.
• WrestleMania 34 Result: Nakamura, a SmackDown wrestler, chose to challenge for his own brand's WWE Championship, but lost to AJ Styles at WrestleMania before suddenly turning heel on him shortly afterwards.

• Winner: Braun Strowman
• Entry No.: 41
• Time: 22:14
• Runner-Up: Big Cass
• Notable Events:
  • This was a special 50-man Royal Rumble held at the PPV of the same name in April 2018. The match was not for a title opportunity at WrestleMania (in fact it was the first WWE PPV after WrestleMania that year), but instead for a trophy and the Greatest Royal Rumble Championship^noteA modified replica WWE Championship with a green strap. Despite this, it is recognized as a official Royal Rumble, with Braun Strowman's elimination record and Daniel Bryan's longevity record being recognized as the official records.
  • Strowman becomes the seventh person to win the Rumble and Money in the Bank, as well as the third person to win it in the same 12 months.
  • Thanks to the aforementioned 50 competitors, this is longest Royal Rumble in history at 1:17:20.
  • Braun Strowman sets the record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble, with 13.
  • Daniel Bryan sets a longevity record with 1:16:05.

• Winner: Seth Rollins
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 10
• Attempt No.: 3
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 43:00
• Runner-Up: Braun Strowman
• Notable Events:
  • Rollins became the ninth person to win both Money in the Bank and the Royal Rumble, as well as the second person overall to win Money in the Bank first.
  • Strowman became the seventh previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up.
  • First time NXT UK is represented in the Royal Rumble with the inclusion of Pete Dunne.
  • By competing in his first Royal Rumble since 1999, Jeff Jarrett (entrant number 2) set a record of the longest duration between Royal Rumble appearances, at 20 years.
  • Nia Jax attacked the #30 entrant, R-Truth, and took his spot, becoming the fourth woman to compete in a Men's Rumble and the first person to compete in both the Men's and Women's Rumble in the same year.
  • Retroactively, Rollins would be the fifth Rumble winner to be related to a previous winner, as he and earlier women's Rumble winner Becky Lynch would marry in July 2021 and have a daughter beforehand in December 2020 (making them the first couple to win the Rumble).
    • Also first people to win the same year's rumble.
• WrestleMania 35 Result: Rollins, a Raw wrestler, chose to challenge for his own brand's Universal Championship and defeated champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.

• Winner: Drew McIntyre
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 16
• Attempt No.: 4
• Eliminations: 6
• Time: 34:11
• Runner-Up: Roman Reigns
• Notable Events:
  • McIntyre became the second person to win the Rumble as the 16th entrant, which was ironically done by his runner-up Roman Reigns.
  • McIntyre became the eleventh person not born in America to win the Rumble.
  • Brock Lesnar becomes the second man to enter the Royal Rumble despite already being WWE Champion. Unlike the previous time it occurs in 2016, there were no official changes to the rules of the match, despite Lesnar holding one of the two world championships that the winner could challenge for, but it was heavily implied that if he won, Lesnar would not have to defend his Championship at WrestleMania.
  • Brock Lesnar eliminated 13 men, setting the record for most eliminations in a traditional Rumble and tying the official record with Braun Strowman. Brock entered at 1 (of his own volition, unlike Reigns in 2016 thanks to a rigged draw) and scored his eliminations consecutively before McIntyre eliminated him with an assist from Ricochet (a low blow that Drew followed up with his Claymore finisher).
  • Edge made his in-ring return to wrestling at number 21 since retiring in 2011.
  • Roman Reigns breaks his own record for most times as a runner-up, earning it for the fourth time.
• WrestleMania 36 Result: McIntyre, a Raw wrestler, chose to challenge for his own brand's WWE Championship and defeated champion Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.

• Winner: Edge
• Brand: Free Agent
• Entry No.: 1
• Attempt No.: 8
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 58:30
• Runner-Up: Randy Orton
• Notable Events:
  • Edge set numerous records with his win, becoming:
    • The third man to be victorious after entering at number 1.
    • The eighth man to win 2 Rumbles.
    • The first person to win multiple Rumbles after winning Money in the Bank.
    • The first Rumble winner to win the titular match as part of both the first two and last two entrants (his first win was in 2010 in which he was the 29th entrant)
    • The first person to win the Royal Rumble after being inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame.
    • The first person to win multiple Royal Rumbles and not challenge for the WWE Championship.
    • The first person not born in the United States to win multiple Rumbles.
    • The first person to win multiple Royal Rumble and lose the subsequent WrestleMania title matches.
  • Randy Orton became the eighth previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up, and the sixth person to finish in this position twice.
  • Orton sat out most of the Rumble, faking an injury early on and only returning at the end.
  • Third instance in which the first two entrants were the finalists.
• WrestleMania 37 Result: Edge chose to challenge Roman Reigns for Smackdown's Universal Championship, with the match to be held at WrestleMania 37. Following the controversial end of a Universal title defense against Daniel Bryan at Fastlane, Bryan was added to the title match on the March 27 SmackDown, making it a Triple Threat Match. At WrestleMania, Reigns retained the title over Edge and Bryan. This made for the first time a multi-time winner of the Royal Rumble failed to win their title opportunity and the first time a two-time winner lost both of their championship challenges at WrestleMania.

• Winner: Brock Lesnar
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 30
• Attempt No.: 5
• Eliminations: 5
• Time: 2:32
• Runner-Up: Drew McIntyre
• Notable Events:
  • Lesnar becomes the ninth man to win 2 rumbles. He also sets the record for longest amount of time between Rumble wins at 19 years, breaking Triple H's record of 14 years in 2016.
  • Lesnar becomes the fourth man to win the Royal Rumble from #30, officially tying the record with #27 for the number with the most winners in the men's Royal Rumble match, and also overall number with the most winners with #27 and #28, which was the position Ronda Rousey won the women's Rumble from earlier in the night.
  • By spending only 2 minutes and 32 seconds in the ring, Lesnar breaks Edge's record for shortest amount of time a competitor in Royal Rumble spent in the match before winning by a whole 5 minutes.
  • Drew McIntyre became the tenth previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up.
  • McIntyre and Lesnar became the third runner-up and winner duo who faced off at WrestleMania.
  • Johnny Knoxville and Bad Bunny competed as celebrity guest entrants. Bunny, entering at 27, successfully replicated his Canadian Destroyer from his prior WrestleMania appearance at Matt Riddle's expense. Knoxville would also have a match at WrestleMania, defeating Sami Zayn with help from his jackass co-stars.
• WrestleMania 38 Result: The night after the Royal Rumble, Lesnar selected Universal Champion Roman Reigns as his opponent at WrestleMania. He would then win the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber, turning their upcoming WrestleMania match into a Champion VS Champion match. At WrestleMania, Reigns defeated Lesnar to win both titles.

• Winner: Cody Rhodes
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 30
• Attempt No.: 9
• Eliminations: 5
• Time: 15:08
• Runner-Up: Gunther
• Notable Events:
  • Cody becomes the fifth man to win the Royal Rumble from #30, officially surpassing #27 for the number with the most winners in the Royal Rumble match.
  • This was Cody's return after tearing his pectoral muscle 8 months earlier.
  • Gunther sets a new longevity record in a traditional Royal Rumble match with 1 hour, 11 minutes, and 25 seconds in the Rumble.
  • For the first time; the final two in the Rumble were the first (Gunther) and last (Rhodes) entrants.
  • There were only 29 entrants in this Rumble. Rey Mysterio drew #17 but never arrived to the ring, it was revealed moments later that his son Dominik (who drew #18) attacked him and stole his mask.
  • Edge was eliminated by Finn Balor and Damian Priest (Dominik Mysterio's The Judgment Day teammates, the faction itself originally formed by Edge) who he had eliminated moments earlier.
  • This was the first Rumble since 2015^note not counting 2016 where the title itself was on the line where only one world title option was available due to then-champion Roman Reigns holding both of them simultaneously, but also the last due to the introduction of the (new) World Heavyweight Championship just a few months later.
• WrestleMania 39 Result: Rhodes automatically challenged Roman Reigns as the latter was holding both World Titles. At WrestleMania, Reigns would retain.

• Winner: Cody Rhodes
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 15
• Attempt No.: 10
• Eliminations: 4
• Time: 45:01
• Runner-Up: CM Punk
• Notable Events:
  • Andrade's entrance (at number 4) marked his return to WWE three years after leaving for All Elite Wrestling.
  • Punk (entering at number 27) made his first Royal Rumble appearance (and his first in-ring appearance in WWE) since the 2014 Rumble, which was itself his final WWE appearance before walking out on the company until his return in late 2023. Unfortunately he would tear his triceps during the match and be relegated to the commentary table for WrestleMania XL.
  • Cody's victory made him the tenth wrestler to win multiple Royal Rumbles, the fourth overall to win back-to-back Rumbles, and the first to do so in 26 years (the last instance of this was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the 1997-1998 Rumbles).
• WrestleMania XL Result: Rhodes challenged Roman Reigns to a rematch for the Undisputed WWE Championship. After losing to The Rock and Reigns with Seth "Freakin" Rollins on Night One of WrestleMania, the title match became contested under Bloodline Rules. On Night Two, Rhodes finally gained payback from his loss the previous year with a little help from multiple wrestlers (including Rollins) holding the line against The Bloodline by defeating Reigns to "finish the story" and become the Undisputed WWE Champion.

• Winner: Jey Uso
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 20
• Attempt No.: 4
• Eliminations: 3
• Time: 36:59
• Runner-Up: John Cena
• Notable Events:
  • Jey becomes the first man to ever win from the #20 position.
  • Jey becomes the seventh winner to be related to previous winners, with former winners Yokozuna, The Rock and Roman Reigns being his cousins. With this, the Anoa'i Family produced the most Rumble winners of any Wrestling Family with four.
  • This marks John Cena's final Royal Rumble match before his retirement. Cena also became the second person to finish as runner-up three times after Roman Reigns, who holds the record for most at four.
  • Akira Tozawa was supposed to enter the Rumble (at number 8) but was attacked by Carmelo Hayes before he had a chance to enter. He was replaced by IShowSpeed who was attending the Rumble as a guest. Speed even scored an elimination (on Otis) before being murdered by a hellacious spear from Bron Breakker.
  • Then-TNA World Champion Joe Hendry made an appearance in the Rumble thanks to the partnership WWE has developed with TNA.
  • This was Roman Reigns' first appearance in the Royal Rumble since 2020.
• WrestleMania 41 Result: Jey Uso, a Raw wrestler, chose to challenge Gunther for his own brand's World Heavyweight Championship. At WrestleMania, Jey would defeat Gunther to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Cena, following a Face–Heel Turn after winning the men's Elimination Chamber match to receive his shot, would win the Undisputed WWE Championship at the same event by defeating Cody Rhodes.

• Winner: Roman Reigns
• Brand: SmackDown
• Entry No.: 26
• Attempt No.: 8
• Eliminations: 5
• Time: 15:48
• Runner-Up: Gunther
• Notable Events:
  • Roman Reigns became the twelfth wrestler to win more than one Royal Rumble.
  • Roman Reigns became the first wrestler to win in the #26 position.
  • Gunther became the eighth person to finish as runner-up twice.
  • This was the first Royal Rumble where AAA wrestlers became eligible with the appearance of Mr. Iguana and La Parka.^note Not the same guy from WCW, the La Parka that competed in the Rumble is actually the third iteration of the La Parka character. The first was forced to change his name to L.A. Park because AAA owns the gimmick, the second died from injuries suffered in a match in 2019. Interestingly enough, this was also the first to include AAA wrestlers in general since 1997, although that was part of a cross-promotional deal as AAA wouldn't be fully bought out by WWE for another 28 years.
  • Both the original and second El Grande Americano appeared in the Rumble at the same time.
  • This Rumble marks the WWE debut of Powerhouse Hobbs, wrestling under the name Royce Keys.
  • Drew McIntyre, who was the Undisputed WWE Champion, eliminated Cody Rhodes despite not being in the Rumble.
• WrestleMania 42 Result: Reigns won the Rumble as a SmackDown wrestler, but chose to face CM Punk for Raw's World Heavyweight Championship. At the event, Reigns would defeat Punk to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.

2018

• Winner: Asuka
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 25
• Time: 19:41
• Runner-Up: Nikki Bella
• Notable Events:
  • Asuka became the second person to win the Rumble as the 25th entrant.
  • Asuka became the ninth person and first woman not born in America to win the Rumble.
  • Asuka retroactively became the eigth person and first woman to win both the Rumble and the Money in The Bank.
  • Michelle McCool held the record for most eliminations in a single Women's rumble, and most eliminations overall with five.
  • Sasha Banks was the first ever entrant in the Women's Royal Rumble match, and held a record for longevity time lasting 54:46.
  • Mandy Rose was the first ever elimination in a Women's Royal Rumble match.
  • Ronda Rousey was rumored to be a surprise entrant in the women's match, and although she denied that she would be at the event, she appeared after the match's conclusion, confirming she had signed full-time with WWE.
  • Speaking of surprise entrants, this match is notable for the abundance of them, only 18 of the 30 entrants were assigned to the Raw or SmackDown rosters when the match started. Even if you subtract NXT representatives Ember Moon and Kari Sane^note Who was a last minute replacement for the injured Alicia Fox that's still a full third of the field taken up by people who were no longer full time wrestlers. Justified as WWE didn't have 30 women on the main roster, a problem that would be rectified by the following year's match.
• WrestleMania 34 Result: Asuka won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler, but challenged Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. At WrestleMania, Asuka lost to Flair.

• Winner: Becky Lynch
• Brand: SmackDown
• Entry No.: 28
• Time: 13:20
• Runner-Up: Charlotte Flair
• Notable Events:
  • Lynch became the third 28th entrant in Rumble history to win the titular match. Amusingly, she was only the second person to do it as Batista won with this number twice.
  • Lynch became the tenth person not born in the US and second woman to win the Rumble.
  • Retroactively, Lynch would be the fourth Rumble winner to be related to a previous winner, as she and later men's Rumble winner Seth Rollins would marry in July 2021 and have a daughter beforehand in December 2020 (making them the first couple to win the Rumble).
  • Becky Lynch is the first Bait-and-Switch replacement entrant to win a Royal Rumble match. Lana came out as the #28 entrant, but a storyline ankle injury suffered on the pre-show (where she had been at ringside for Rusev, and likely sustained in part due to wearing high heels during the pre-show match) kept her from competing. Becky (who plead her case to Fit Finlay) was allowed to take her spot.
  • This would be the fourth rumble where the winner and runner-up would challenge for the same title(s) at WrestleMania.
  • Natalya broke Sasha Banks' longevity record, lasting 56:01.
  • Liv Morgan set the record for fastest elimination in the women's Rumble, at 8 seconds (being eliminated by the aforementioned Natalya).
• WrestleMania 35 Result: 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. In response, Stephanie McMahon announced that both titles would be on the line, making the match Winner Takes All. At WrestleMania, Lynch defeated Rousey and Flair to win both titles, becoming a double champion.

• Winner: Charlotte Flair
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 17
• Time: 27:19
• Runner-Up: Shayna Baszler
• Notable Events:
  • Charlotte Flair became the seventh previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match, and the first woman to do so.
  • With this win, Flair became the fourth (retroactively sixth) Rumble winner to be related to a previous winner, with 1992 (men's) winner Ric Flair being her father. She would also be the first person to be the child of a previous Rumble winner.
  • Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler both break the record for most eliminations in a Women's Royal Rumble with 8 each.
  • From this Rumble onwards, the winner is now allowed the select to challenge for the titles in NXT, as well as Raw and SmackDown.
  • This would be the fourth Rumble when the winner and runner-up got separate world title shots at WrestleMania
• WrestleMania 36 Result: 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, Flair defeated Ripley to win the NXT Women's Championship.

• Winner: Bianca Belair
• Brand: SmackDown
• Entry No.: 3
• Time: 56:49
• Runner-Up: Rhea Ripley
• Notable Events:
  • Bianca Belair breaks the longevity record, at 56 minutes and 49 seconds. She also became the second person in Rumble history to win the titular match as the third entrant.
  • Born on 1989, Belair became the first winner who is younger than the event itself.
  • This would be the fifth Rumble where both the winner and runner-up would get separate title shots at WrestleMania
  • Alicia Fox becomes the first person to win a title during a rumble match after 24-7 champion R-Truth enters the ring and gets rolled up by Fox after the pair fend off a pack of challengers that were pursuing R-Truth. Truth would win it back after Fox was eliminated.
• WrestleMania 37 Result: Belair decided on the February 26 episode of SmackDown that she would challenge Sasha Banks for the SmackDown Women's Championship at WrestleMania. At the event, Belair defeated Banks to win the SmackDown Women's Championship. Ripley herself won the Raw Women's Championship at the same event by defeating Asuka.

• Winner: Ronda Rousey
• Brand: Free Agent
• Entry No.: 28
• Time: 10:16
• Runner-Up: Charlotte Flair
• Notable Events:
  • This was Rousey's first WWE appearance since 2019.
  • Rousey becomes the second woman to win at number 28, and overall fourth winner from that number, which ties it with No. 27 and No. 30 (a feat set by Brock Lesnar later in the night) for the most winners produced.
  • Charlotte Flair becomes the first woman to enter the Royal Rumble despite already being Women's Champion. There were no official changes to the rules of the match, despite Flair holding one of the two Women's Championships that the winner could challenge for, though Flair declared she would choose her challenger at WrestleMania had she won the event.
  • Charlotte became the ninth previous Rumble winner to finish as runner-up, and the seventh person to finish in this position twice. She is also the first woman to achieve both.
  • As part of a cross-promotional deal, Impact Wrestling Knockouts World Champion Mickie James took part in the Rumble. Mickie even entered to her Impact theme "Hardcore Country" instead of her old WWE theme.
• WrestleMania 38 Result: Rousey chose to challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. At WrestleMania, Rousey lost to Flair.

• Winner: Rhea Ripley
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 1
• Time: 1:01:03
• Runner-Up: Liv Morgan
• Notable Events:
  • Rhea Ripley becomes the first woman and overall fourth person to win from the #1 position. She also became the eighth previous runner-up to eventually win the titular match, and the second woman to do so.
  • Rhea became the twelfth person and third woman not born in the US.
  • Ripley became the second Rumble winner younger than the event, and the first winner overall who was born in The '90s.
  • Fourth time the last two in the rumble were the first two entrants and the first time in the women's Rumble.
  • Michelle McCool was in the audience with her children. When she was called at #25, she quickly entered the ring and competed.
  • Nia Jax returned to WWE at #30, accidentally entering too early (she entered as the 10 count to her entry began instead of when it ended).
  • Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan set a new longevity record in the Women's rumble at 1 hour, 1 minute, and 3 seconds.
  • Chelsea Green was eliminated in 4 seconds, setting the record for shortest time in the women’s rumble history. Chelsea also set the record for shortest combined time in the women's Rumble with 16 seconds across two Rumble appearances.
  • Nia Jax set the record for most amount of people needed to eliminate someone in Royal Rumble history, with 11 having to eliminate her.
• WrestleMania 39 Result: Ripley won the Rumble as a Raw wrestler but chose to challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. At the event, she defeated Charlotte to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, getting payback for their previous WrestleMania encounter three years previously.

• Winner: Bayley
• Brand: SmackDown
• Entry No.: 3
• Time: 1:03:03
• Runner-Up: Liv Morgan
• Notable Events:
  • Bayley became the tenth person and second woman to win both the Rumble and Money in the Bank.
  • Bayley became the third person to win the Money in the Bank before the Rumble.
  • Naomi entered at the #2 spot, marking her first appearance in the company since her walk-out in 2022.
  • TNA Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace entered the rumble at number 5, marking the second time the reigning Knockouts Champion entered, the first being Mickie James in 2022. Jordynne had actually won the title from Naomi (who had been competing in TNA under her actual first name of Trinity) not long before the Rumble.
    • Jordynne's entry was a legitimate surprise, unlike Mickie who had been announced in advance.
  • Nia Jax had the most eliminations with 8, tying the record of Shayna Baszler and Bianca Belair in 2020.
  • Valhalla had the shortest time with 5 seconds, tying the record set by Chelsea Green a year before. The former Sarah Logan had drawn number 24, leading to a mix-up involving R-Truth (who had drawn that same number for the men's Rumble) which is believed to have had a major role in her very quick elimination.
  • Jade Cargill entered at the #28 spot, making her in-ring debut with WWE. She then proceeded to single-handedly eliminate Nia Jax (who needed eleven wrestlers to eliminate her the previous year).
  • Naomi broke the record for longest time in the match with 1 hour and 2 minutes, this record was then broken by Bayley with 1 hour and 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
  • Liv Morgan became the first female wrestler to finish runner-up in the Women's Rumble twice in a row. Like Edge's two victories, Liv's runner-up finishes are as one of the first two (she entered the previous year's Rumble at number 2) and one of the last two (she was entry number 30 this year).
• WrestleMania XL Result: Bayley, a SmackDown wrestler, challenged Iyo Sky for the WWE Women's Champion. At the event, she defeated Iyo Sky to win the WWE Women's Championship.

• Winner: Charlotte Flair
• Brand: SmackDown
• Entry No.: 27
• Time: 15:04
• Runner-Up: Roxanne Perez
• Notable Events:
  • Charlotte Flair became the first woman to win the Royal Rumble twice and the eleventh wrestler overall.
  • Jordynne Grace made her second Royal Rumble appearance, only this time making her in-ring debut under a WWE contract.
  • Alexa Bliss made her in-ring return since 2023 under maternity leave. Michael Cole even lampshaded the rumors about contractual issues preventing her in-ring return.
  • Nia Jax broke the tie between her, Bianca Belair, and Shayna Baszler by setting the record of most elimination in a Women's Royal Rumble match with 9 eliminations, 7 of them consecutive. This also makes her the current holder of most cumulative women's elimination with 28 in total (29 total overall if you include her eliminating Mustafa Ali in the 2019 Men's Royal Rumble).
  • Iyo Sky and Liv Morgan both beat Bayley's record for longest time in a Women's Royal Rumble match at 1 hour and 6 minutes, 45 seconds and 1 hour and 7 minutes respectively, this was later broken by Roxanne Perez with 1 hour and 7 minutes, 47 seconds (Iyo and Liv were entrants 1 and 2, while Roxanne was number 3).
  • Nikki Bella returned to WWE and entered at number 30, scoring an elimination on defending Rumble winner Bayley before becoming Jax's final elimination.
• WrestleMania 41 Result: Flair, a SmackDown wrestler, challenged Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women's Championship. At the event, Stratton defeated Flair to retain her title.

• Winner: Liv Morgan
• Brand: Raw
• Entry No.: 14
• Time: 43:50
• Runner-Up: Tiffany Stratton
• Notable Events:
  • Liv Morgan became the first women's Rumble winner to win the match outside the United States and if not counting the Greatest Royal Rumble, first overall.
  • Liv Morgan became the fourth person to win Money in the Bank before the Rumble. She is also the ninth previous runner-up to win the Rumble.
  • Brie Bella made her return to WWE at No. 29 in the Rumble, scoring an elimination against Lyra Valkyria.
• WrestleMania 42 Result: Morgan, a Raw wrestler, challenged Stephanie Vaquer for the Women's World Championship. At the event, she defeated Vaquer to win the Women's World Championship.

• 0% Approval Rating: Muhammad Hassan was so hated in 2005 that he served as a Conflict Killer to all the Raw and Smackdown wrestlers in the ring.
• Actor Allusion: In the 1993 Rumble, Yokozuna (sumo wrestler gimmick) confronted Earthquake (actual former sumo wrestler).
• Alliterative Title: The Royal Rumble.
• Always Second Best:
  • Both Big Show and Gunther have yet to win the Rumble and came up short twice (2000 and 2004 for the former, 2023 and 2026 for the latter). This was also the case for Liv Morgan, who finally moved away from this trope by winning the Women's Royal Rumble match in 2026 after coming-up short consecutively in 2023 and 2024.
  • Kane has appeared in more Royal Rumbles than any other wrestler in history (regardless of whether or not you count Glenn Jacobs' previous gimmicks towards his total) and the most combined eliminations from his Royal Rumble appearances (again, regardless of whether or not you count Glenn Jacobs' previous gimmicks towards his total), yet he has never won.
  • Subverted by Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair, and Drew McIntyre. HHH already won the Rumble before he became a two time runner-up (both runner-up finishes happened consecutively, and both to the entry immediately after his), while Orton already won twice when he finished 2nd again. The rest have already won a single Rumble during the second time they finished in the spot (in Reigns' case, he would finish second three more times, which gives him a record which will be detailed below). In fact Cena and HHH won the Rumble again after their second stints as second placers, and Cena would eventually finish second place for a third time in his final Rumble appearance.
  • In 2018, Roman Reigns broke Big Show's record of most times finishing as runner-up after coming short for the third time. He would break his own record two years later. Of course, having already won a Rumble match (2015) prior to the second time he finished second downplays this (and he would eventually win his second in 2026), but a record is a record. In 2025, John Cena would become second (ironically enough) to Reigns' record with three runner-up finishes, but as previously mentioned, was already a two-time Rumble winner prior to this.
  • Chris Jericho has the record of longest time spent overall in Royal Rumble history, yet he has never won.
• Anyone Can Die: The random nature of the Rumble means that the biggest threat or the odds on favorite to win can be eliminated.
• The Bad Guy Wins:
  • Sgt. Slaughter winning the WWF Championship from the Ultimate Warrior at the 1991 event, thanks to interference from Randy Savage and the Sensational Sherri.
  • Yokozuna in 1993, Vince McMahon in 1999, Randy Orton in 2009, Alberto Del Rio in 2011, Rhea Ripley in 2023, Bayley in 2024, and Liv Morgan in 2026 are straight examples though in Vince's case it became a Meaningless Villain Victory after he forfeited his right to face the champion and it was given to Stone Cold due to being the runner up and in Bayley's case she would turn face soon after her victory, unlike the others mentioned here.
  • Ric Flair's win in 1992, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's win in 1997, Batista's win in 2005, Edge's win in 2010, Triple H's win in 2016, Randy Orton's in 2017, Brock Lesnar in 2022, and Charlotte Flair's wins in 2020 and 2025 are possible examples depending on how you viewed their characters at the time. All were officially heels, and while Flair, his daughter, and Triple H stayed heel, the rest (most famously Batista) turned face shortly afterwards (Batista's at the expense of Hunter and Ric).
  • Both Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar, who retained their titles vs. AJ Styles and Finn Balor in the 2019 event. Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rusev (during which Lana, acting as Rusev's valet at the time, suffers the injury that lets Becky Lynch win the women's Rumble as her emergency replacement) and wins the United States Championship for the second time.
  • Bayley, Andrade and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt, who retained their titles vs. Lacey Evans, Humberto Carrillo and Daniel Bryan winning their respective matches in the 2020 event. Likewise, Sheamus defeated Shorty G on the pre-show.
  • Roman Reigns retained his title vs Kevin Owens in the 2021 and 2023 events. In 2024 Reigns retained his title in a Fatal 4 Way against Randy Orton, AJ Styles and LA Knight. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler defeated Charlotte Flair and Asuka and win the Women's Tag Team Championships on the pre-show.
  • Logan Paul defeated Kevin Owens in for the United States Championship by disqualification after Owens accidentally wear a brass knuckles and referee saw it.
  • DIY defeated Motor City Machine Guns in 2025 for the WWE Tag Team Championship retain the title after interference by The Street Profits.
  • In the 2026 event, Drew McIntyre defeated Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Championship, the same year which saw Gunther retire AJ Styles.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • In 2000, it seemed as if Road Dogg was about to be eliminated by The Big Show who was ominously stalking him. He is instead eliminated by his own partner Billy Gunn.
  • In 2002, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho started out the Rumble but Jericho was in fact Christian in disguise. Jericho attacked Michaels from behind and eliminated him quickly.
  • In 2004, it seemed that The Undertaker was making his return thanks to his gong sounding but it was just a psych job to distract Kane and get him eliminated. Later, Test was supposed to compete but he was attacked and replaced with Mick Foley.
  • In 2012, it seemed that Alberto Del Rio was in the Rumble but it was instead his announcer Ricardo Rodriguez.
  • Happened in both rumbles in 2019. In the Women's, Lana was set to compete but she injured her ankle and replaced with Becky Lynch. In the Men's, R-Truth was attacked and replaced with Nia Jax. Lynch went on to win.
• Best for Last: Theoretically, the last entrant has the most advantage in the Rumble match due to still being fresh while the other participants are already worn out. Indeed, the #30 spot produced the most winners with five ^LISTThe Undertaker in 2007, John Cena in 2008, Triple H in 2016, Brock Lesnar in 2022; Lesnar himself has previously won the Rumble as #29 in 2003 further proving this, Cody Rhodes in 2023, while similarly late entries #27^LISTBig John Studd in 1989, Yokozuna in 1993, Bret Hart in 1994; shared his Rumble victory with Lex Luger who entered fairly late himself at 23, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 2001 and #28^LISTBatista in 2005 and 2014, Becky Lynch in 2019 (as an emergency substitution for an injured Lana), Ronda Rousey in 2022 are tied with second by producing four winners. Neither #40 in 2011 nor #50 in the Greatest Rumble won those respective matches, although both were won by a number never before drawn in a Rumble (2011 winner Del Rio drew #38, while Greatest Rumble winner Strowman entered at #41). In the second Rumble from 1989, Ted DiBiase tried to take advantage of this by "buying" the No. 30 position; that, or he learned who drew No. 30 and paid off that wrestler to enter with his number. DiBiase saw his scheme blow up in his face when he was beaten down by a newly-turned-face Big John Studd and was the last elimination.
• Big "WHAT?!":
  • Commentator Vince McMahon lets out one in 1995 when it was revealed that only one foot from Shawn Michaels touched the ground.
  • Jerry Lawler got a couple in when the winner of Tough Enough season 1, Maven, eliminated The Undertaker from behind.
• Bookends: The 1995, 1999, and 2021 events saw the first two entrants being the last two standing. 2023 would join them with the women's side. (In a variant, the 2006 event saw the first two entrants being among the last three standing, alongside the last entrant.) If you want to take things further, the 1995, 2004, 2021 men's, and 2023 women's events had the very first win the whole thing.
  • AJ Styles made his WWE debut at the 2016 event; ten years later in 2026, he would retire at the same event after losing to Gunther.
• Brick Joke: In the 2011 Rumble, Santino Marella, who at that point had averaged about 15 seconds in two previous Rumble matches, would get knocked out by Sheamus within 20 seconds of his appearance and would have the fortune to fall under the bottom rope. Later on, Alberto Del Rio would be celebrating his apparent victory only to turn around and get hit with The Cobra! Unfortunately for Santino, he would take a few seconds too long to celebrate, and would instead go home as the runner up when Del Rio reversed his elimination attempt.
• The Bus Came Back: Almost every rumble sees at least one return of wrestlers that have been inactive for months/years, mostly due to being injured, retired or part-timers.
• Butt-Monkey: Scotty 2 Hotty made a career out of having bad luck in the Rumble.
  • He, Grandmaster Sexay and Rikishi did a dance break in 2000 only for Rikishi to eliminate them both. Scotty did not get to wrestle.
  • He was beaten up and eliminated quickly by the Brothers of Destruction in 2001.
  • He didn't even get to compete during his final Rumble appearance in 2005 after he was attacked again during his entrance by Muhammad Hassan.
• Cain and Abel: As the saying goes, it's every man or woman for themselves. Siblings like the Hardy Boyz and the Bella Twins were more than ready to fight, backstab and eliminate each other if they were in the Rumble at the same time. This is averted at certain times, such as by The New Day in 2020, and The Brothers of Destruction in 2001, in which cases the teammates will refuse to fight one another. Interestingly, the Rumble has never come down to the final two participants being members of the same team or stable (if one member of a team or stable is part of the final two and they were not the only member of said team or stable to enter the Rumble, they're always the last member remaining, often with their runner-up eliminating their last teammate).
• The Cameo: It's almost tradition now for one of the surprise participants in the Rumble to be a legend from a bygone era. Of course, they never actually win the event, but they almost always get a huge pop and often notch an elimination or two before going over the top rope themselves. The only subversions were the 2016 (unless you were to count Sami Zayn's entry into the match), most likely because it was for the World Title itself rather than the usual shot at it) and the 2024 Royal Rumble (unless Andrade's and Naomi's returns are counted).
• Canon Discontinuity: The 2004 Royal Rumble match is barely alluded to. This is due to the Unpersoning of the victor in regards to his controversial death.
• Carnival of Killers: In late 2005, after pillorying and firing Monday Night Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff on live television (and having him thrown into a garbage truck as a final insult) WWE Chairman Vince McMahon assumed full control of Raw (a position he would not relinquish until appointing William Regal the new general manager in 2007) and began to take on some of the characteristics of a Mafia crime kingpin. One of the first things he did was launch a vendetta against Shawn Michaels for refusing to serve as his lackey (just as Michaels had done in Real Life at the 1997 Survivor Series), going so far as to pay off a number of heels to eliminate Michaels from the 2006 Rumble match. But Michaels thwarted all of these efforts by eliminating the eliminators, so Vince was forced to do it himself, having his son Shane launch a sneak attack while Vince provided a distraction at ringside. (This angle then continued for most of the year as Michaels raised the stakes by reforming D-Generation X with Triple H, with the McMahons recruiting even more henchmen, including heels from SmackDown and WWE's ECW.)
• Catchphrase: The Rumble has often been described as "every man for himself", and more than lives up to it. Superstars are capable of being Enemy Mine allies to eliminate tougher opponents even if they hate each other, while siblings and close friends have betrayed each other for a chance to win.
• Continuity Nod:
  • The Three Month Rule often gets put on the backburner during the Rumble match; because of the sheer number of superstars involved (and the fact that the bookers probably do this on purpose), two wrestlers who had feuded some months back are bound to run into each other at some point during the Rumble. This can often result in some Oh, Crap! moments for heels, particularly when the returning wrestler in question hasn't been seen on TV for a while.
  • The first ever women's Royal Rumble in 2018 had a proportionally higher amount of nostalgia entrants than usual to help reinvigorate the crowd, who had been worn out by the men's Royal Rumble an hour prior and had been dead for the following two matches, and because of the much smaller women’s roster size. As a result, there were a number of nods to the previous fifteen years of women's wrestling in WWE, such as a reunion between the Divas of Doom (Beth Phoenix and Natalya), a face-off between old rivals Mickie James and Trish Stratus, and even a reference to the onscreen alliance/friendship between Michelle McCool and Vickie Guerrero.
  • In the 2023 event, Sami Zayn made a Heel–Face Turn when he hits Roman Reigns with a steel chair from behind, reminiscent of Seth Rollins hitting Reigns from behind with a steel chair to solidify his 2014 betrayal of The Shield.
• Crossover: The 2022 edition of the Women's Royal Rumble match had Mickie James entering as Impact Wrestling's Knockouts World Champion. Two years later, with Impact having revived their old TNA name, Jordynne Grace (holding the same title under a new name related to the TNA name's revival) entered the Women's Rumble. Joe Hendry would do so himself in the 2025 Men's Rumble (Grace would enter the Women's Rumble for the second straight year but this time as a WWE wrestler).
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Jobbers tend to get eliminated very quickly. Most humiliating of all was Santino Marella getting eliminated after only one second. Some years earlier, one of The Bushwhackers managed to last a few seconds longer but didn't have time to throw a punch, getting dumped out before he could stop doing his comical "swinging-arms" march (and not even breaking stride when his feet hit the floor, continuing to vogue-march as if nothing had happened).
• Darkhorse Victory:
  • Steve Austin's 1997 victory, in which he caught everyone by surprise and eliminated Vader, Undertaker and Bret Hart despite having gone over the top rope. The refs didn't see him go over, as they were busy trying to break up a brawl between Terry Funk and Mankind. Gorilla Monsoon rectified the situation by later organizing a four-way match between the four wrestlers for the right to challenge the WWF champion at WrestleMania. Due to Shawn Michaels vacating the title in February '97, the four-way became a title challenge, which Bret Hart won. The Undertaker eventually wound up challenging Sycho Sid at WrestleMania for the title that year and won it.
  • Alberto Del Rio in 2011 was one as well, though he had been bragging for weeks that it was his "destiny" to win the Rumble.
  • Sheamus in 2012 is a particularly glaring one, as he was kind of floating in midcard hell when he won. Even more shocking is that he eliminated Chris Jericho to win, seeing as Jericho was a returning superstar who was undoubtedly there for WrestleMania, and amid rumors that he was here to work a program with CM Punk, who was WWE Champion at the time. When that turned out to be true, and considering the match that occurred between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan at 'Mania was the infamous "18 seconds" squash match, many felt Jericho should have won. Especially in hindsight, with Jericho establishing himself as an all-time legend whereas Sheamus' career would largely flounder in the midcard since then, many feel it was wrong that Jericho never won a Rumble in his life.
  • Randy Orton in 2017, as popular rumors/predictions at the time were the likes of The Undertaker, Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Chris Jericho, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, or Bray Wyatt winning it.
  • Shinsuke Nakamura himself was this in 2018, as popular rumors/predictions at the time pointed towards Roman Reigns and, to a lesser degree, John Cena. Ironically, Nakamura had to eliminate both of them at the end to win the match.
  • Though people generally expected him to do well on account of a well-received face turn and a few major victories leading up to the event itself, nobody expected Drew McIntyre to not only win the 2020 Rumble, but to eliminate overwhelming odds-on favorite Roman Reigns and reigning WWE Champion Brock Lesnar (a low blow from Ricochet helped in the latter elimination) and have literally the best match of his entire career in the process.
  • While Edge was included in the 2021 Rumble as the first entrant, nobody actually expected him to keep fighting for just under an hour and actually win the whole thing. Most people expected Daniel Bryan or Seth Rollins to score the last elimination, not the returning veteran who has been out of action for over eight months.
  • Cody Rhodes was the odds on favorite to win the 2023 Royal Rumble, but not so much the following year on account of CM Punk returning to WWE for the first time in a decade making him the frontrunner. Rhodes not only won the match (last eliminating Punk, who legitimately injured his triceps during the bout), but became the first one to win to do so consecutively in twenty-six years since "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
  • Jey Uso was popular with the fans after becoming singles competition but mostly the final 10 are former World Champion John Cena, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest. Many expected John Cena (two-time winner, entered at 23), Roman Reigns (2015 winner, entered at 16), CM Punk (entered at 24), Seth Rollins (2019 winner, entered at 25) or Drew McIntyre (2020 winner, entered at 17) to win the Royal Rumble.
• Dawn of an Era: 2018 marked the first year to include a women's match alongside their male counterparts.
• Determinator:
  • Frequently one wrestler will last from very early on until the final phase of the match (usually over 40 minutes), often referred to as the "Iron Man / Woman" of the match by fans. This happens so often that the absence of one in 2010^note John Cena was the longest-lasting wrestler that year, but with a comparatively meager 27 minutes was noted as being surprising. Anyone who wins from #1 or #2 is automatically this, since 1 and 2 always start the match. #3 is also a popular number for it, since #3 is the first person to enter after the match starts.
  • 2016 had a variation with Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose, who had just wrestled a brutal Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental Championship earlier that night, and entered the Rumble anyway. Owens managed to eliminate AJ Styles before being eliminated himself, while Ambrose made it to the final two before being eliminated by Triple H.
• Diabolus ex Machina: In 1994, The Undertaker is defeated by Yokozuna in a Casket Match when he is attacked by the entire heel roster.^note And even a couple heels not on the roster, Genichiro Tenryu and The Great Kabuki were booked for one-off appearances in the actual Rumble match and joined in on the beatdown, probably so the American heels didn't think they were stuck up or antisocial.
• Distracted by the Sexy: When Beth Phoenix entered a Men's Rumble as the only female participant, she faced off against The Great Khali. Beth gave Khali a long kiss to distract him, and then eliminated him when he lowered his guard.
• Double Knockout:
  • First happened in 1994 when Bret Hart and Lex Luger eliminated each other. The event has only been repeated itself since in 2005, when the match was simply restarted when John Cena and Batista eliminated each other. While the former was done on purpose, the latter was an accident (and a legitimate one at that). It is one of the few times that instant replay can be used to decide a match in WWE. There are three contingencies for this event according to an episode of WWE's YouTube series, 5 Things... - declare both of the last two men the winner, as seen in 1994; order Sudden Death Overtime, and have the last two men fight until one is thrown over the top rope again, as in 2005; or restart the match in its entirety, which hasn't happened (yet).
  • Triple H and Shawn Michaels competed in a Last Man Standing match for the former's World Heavyweight title in 2004. The match ended in a draw, as neither men were unable to stand for the ten count.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • The first Royal Rumble match in 1988 only had 20 entrants.
  • The prize of a WrestleMania world title shot that now signifies the event wasn't added until 1993. Hulk Hogan, who won in 1991, did get a world title shot that year but not through the Rumble itself. Also, when Hogan won the Rumble the previous year, he was already the reigning champion.
  • The first Royal Rumble event didn't take place on PPV like all the others, but was a television special on the USA Network.
  • The early Royal Rumble matches also did not play entrance music for its entrants until 1997. This deprives those first number of Rumbles of the famous pops for major names and surprise entrants.
• End of an Age: 2017 was the last card to only feature a men's rumble, unless you include the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia a year later.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Feuding wrestlers may put aside their differences momentarily to work together and defeat a bigger and more powerful foe. This went up to eleven with the biggest wrestlers like André the Giant and Big Show, who often needed all of the other wrestlers in the ring teaming up to throw them over. Nia Jax in the 2023 Women's Rumble took the eleven part literally, as it took a record eleven other wrestlers to eliminate her.
  • "Stone Cold" Steve Austin invoked this reaction once, as he'd attacked everyone in the match in the weeks leading up to the event. Austin's music hit, and everyone stopped so they could get some payback... At which point Austin came from the crowd and started eliminating people.
  • Muhammad Hassan provoked this, too, though not because he was a major threat, or he'd attacked everyone, but simply because everyone was sick of his "Everyone is prejudiced against me, the Muslim" shtick. He slid into the ring, and everyone, including heels Edge and Luther Reigns, promptly beat the crap out of him before dumping him out of the ring. He then took out his frustration by jumping Scotty 2 Hotty and choking him out with a Camel Clutch before Scotty could even get in the ring.
• Exact Words: The rules state that “both feet” must touch the floor for a participant to be eliminated from the match, leading to many of the more athletic participants (especially Kofi Kingston) taking advantage of this by either keeping one foot off the floor, being held by an ally who was conveniently eliminated immediately before, or is about to enter the match, or jumping to the barrier and back. Naomi made a Running Gag of this, doing everything from walking along the barrier, climbing into a chair and pulling it with her hands to get back to the ring, or using a plank to walk from the barrier to the ring steps without touching the floor. The bigger guys usually can't pull off some of the more athletic guys' stunts due to their physical mass working against them.
• Graceful Loser: Diesel in 1997. The Undertaker in 2003. John Cena in 2005 and 2025. Shawn Michaels in 2007.
• Genre Savvy:
  • In the 2021 Women's Rumble match Rhea Ripley (a known Dragon Ball fan) demonstrated that Transformation Is a Free Action does not apply when Alexa Bliss started transitioning into her Fiend persona by quickly running up behind Alexa and throwing her over the top rope as soon as the screens in the Thunder Dome started to show the image of a purple sky.
  • Seth Rollins in the 2020 Royal Rumble brings fellow faction members AOP and Buddy Murphy to the ring in an attempt to win through their interference, something which faction leaders like Mr. McMahon (leader of the The Corporation, though he would later win the 1999 Rumble) and Faarooq (leader of The Nation of Domination who has had a really hard time in the Rumble) didn't think of. This goes both ways however, as the wrestlers eliminated by Seth's faction members are also Genre Savvy and realize that Seth is defenseless without his boys and drag AOP and Buddy Murphy backstage while Seth is left alone with fighting a bunch of pissed-off wrestlers.
• Grievous Harm with a Body: In the 2024 Women's Rumble, Jade Cargill used Naomi as a weapon to knock Becky Lynch off the apron, then tossed Naomi out too.
• Guest Fighter:
  • As part of a deal WWE made with a Mexican wresting association called Lucha Libre AAA World Wide, four luchadores under their employment entered the 1997 Royal Rumble. Six more luchadores worked a six man tag earlier that night, four of AAA's minis (dwarf wrestlers) had a tag match on the pre-show, and there two other lucha libre matches took place before the show went on the air.^note This cross-promotional deal (and one of the most blatant examples of Follow the Leader you'll ever see in wrestling r.e. the cruiserweights in WCW) ended up being very short lived because Vince hated lucha libre once he saw it in person, not helped by no one in the WWF at the time having any experience working that sort of style.
  • Subverted with Adam Cole's entry in the 2018 Rumble. He wasn't really a guest because he was on the payroll (and had been for quite a while), but despite being employed by WWE for four years and having a record 403 day reign as WWE NXT champion this was one of his only appearances on the main roster.
  • 2022 featured guests in both Rumbles: the Womens' featured Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James, while the Men's featured Johnny Knoxville and Bad Bunny.
  • The 2024 Women's Rumble featured TNA Knockouts World Champion, Jordynne Grace. Her entry into the following year's Women's Rumble was as a WWE wrestler.
  • The 2025 Men's Rumble featured TNA World Champion Joe Hendry and streamer iShowSpeed. The latter was an emergency replacement for Akira Tozawa^note Speed even got an elimination (on Otis), before Bron Breakker (who assisted in the elimination) absolutely planted him with a vicious spear.
  • Thanks to WWE's purchase of AAA, two of their talents, Mr. Iguana and La Parka, appeared in the 2026 Men's Rumble.

• Harmful to Minors: Mick Foley's children were present during his infamous I-Quit match against The Rock in the 1999 event.
• Heel–Face Turn: The 2023 edition has Sami Zayn hitting Roman Reigns from behind with the steel chair, tired of his abuse of him and his brutal beatdown of Kevin Owens, resulting in him being kicked out of the Bloodline.
• He's Back!: The Rumble match has been used as a re-launching pad for various wrestlers for a while now. The 2002 event had a number of returns advertised beforehand, but they have occasionally thrown in some surprises since. Special mention must go to John Cena, whose entry as #30 in the 2008 Royal Rumble match was genuinely surprising as he was injured and was supposed to be out until after WrestleMania, and Edge, who was injured during the summer of 2009 and was supposed to be out for up to a year, only to return as #29 in the 2010 Royal Rumble match. Both would go on to win the match. Edge managed to do this again in 2020 entering #21, coming back from retirement.
• History Repeats:
  • "Stone Cold" Steve Austin has won the event a record three times, while Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, Edge, Batista, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and Cody Rhodes have all won twice. Hogan, Michaels, Austin, and Rhodes won back-to-back.
  • Overlapping with The Notable Numeral, the 27th and 28th entrants have won four times, the 1st and 24th entrants have won thrice, and the 2nd, 19th, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, and 29th entrants have all won twice...on the men's side. For the women, the 3rd and 28th entrants have won twice. The 30th entrant has five wins as of 2024.
  • The WWE Title was on the line twice during the eponymous Rumble match. Coincidentally (or not), both events saw a former (or future) Evolution member crowned as the new champion (HHH and Ric Flair).
  • Speaking of Batista, he was the first 28th entrant to win twice mentioned above.
  • Speaking of Orton, he was part of a Power Trio stable in the two events that he won (Legacy in 2009, The Wyatt Family in 2017). Both times the final few came down to Orton, at least one trio mate, and his runner-up.
  • Big Show, Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair, Drew McIntyre, and Liv Morgan have all been runner-up on two different occasions, while Roman Reigns ended up in second place four times. Only Hunter and Liv had it happen in consecutive Rumbles (Hunter in 2008 and 2009^note both to the entrant immediately following him, #30 John Cena in 2008 (Hunter was #29) and #8 Randy Orton in 2009 (Hunter was #7), Liv in 2023 and 2024^note like Edge's two victories, Liv's two consecutive runner-up finishes were on within the two entries at either end of a Rumble's entry order (Liv was #2 in 2023 when finishing runner-up to her fellow match-starter Rhea Ripley and #30 in 2024 when finishing runner-up to ironwoman #3 entrant Bayley)).
  • Speaking of Reigns, he was eliminated by two former Evolution members in the two events that he placed 2nd. If you count the 2016 event where HHH eliminated him, he was eliminated by a former Evolution member three times. Of course, he has yet to appear in a Rumble with Ric Flair.
  • Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens have faced each other for the Universal Championship in this event three times (2017, 2021, and 2023), with Kevin winning the first bout while Reigns won the latter two (both of Reigns' victories came during the same title reign).
  • The number 30 entrant has won consecutive men's Rumble matches twice. First it was Undertaker in 2007, followed by John Cena in a surprise return as number 30 in 2008 (which 'Taker and his runner-up Shawn Michaels started). Then Brock Lesnar won the 2022 Rumble as number 30, which Cody Rhodes backed up with his own win from the same entry.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Zig-zagged at the 1994 Rumble; Undertaker was set to challenge Yokozuna for the WWF Championship at the event, but Jim Cornette, serving as Yokozuna's "American Spokesperson," weaved a little "Smokey Mountain Magic" and was able to add the stipulation in the match contract that it would be the only opportunity Taker would have to challenge Yokozuna as long as he had the championship (a trick Cornette had pulled on Lex Luger at the previous year's SummerSlam). Paul Bearer, however, took a page out of Cornette's own playbook and weaved a little black magic of his own, and made the match a Casket Match - to win, you had to stuff your opponent in a casket at ringside and shut the lid. Since it was touted as Taker's specialty, and since Yokozuna seemed to have a severe phobia of caskets, it looked like Taker would be win the title - he was even dominating the match. But, Yokozuna's manager Mr. Fuji would have the last laugh; taking full advantage of the no disqualification aspect of the match, Fuji arranged for more than half a dozen heels to come down and gang up on Taker, who eventually ended up getting stuffed in the "double wide, double deep" casket that he had made special for the 500 pound-plus champ.
• I Was Beaten by a Girl:
  • Chyna eliminated Mark Henry and Chris Jericho in 1999 and 2000 respectively.
  • Beth Phoenix managed to get rid of the Great Khali in 2010 by kissing him.
  • Michael Cole and Hunico were on the receiving end of Kharma's wrath in 2012. Only Hunico's elimination is properly credited to Kharma as Cole had climbed out on his own before fellow commentators Jerry Lawler and Booker T (both of whom had also entered the match but were eliminated by the time of Cole's entry) confirmed Cole's elimination.
  • Nia Jax defeated both R-Truth (on the entrance way) and Mustafa Ali (in the actual match) in 2019 before getting ejected from the men's match by the male wrestlers.
• Idiot Ball: As noted by Cageside Seats in its "Dumbest Ass" awards, there's at least one moment or elimination per Royal Rumble match that can be attributed to someone picking up, if not outright juggling, the Ball.
• Insistent Terminology: Parodied in 1992. Bobby Heenan talks up Roddy Piper for helping Ric Flair by saying that Piper wears a kilt, not a skirt. He then takes it back when Piper attacks Flair.
• Invincible Hero: Not that there's never been a heel winner of course, but it's kind of suspicious how the person who wins the Rumble is always a main eventer in the middle of getting a big push. It's pretty rare for an actual underdog to win, and a lower card wrestler never wins, despite the fact that if the winner wasn't predetermined, you'd think almost everyone would have a pretty equal chance of winning.
• Ironic Echo: In the final two of 2008 with John Cena, Triple H pointed to the Wrestlemania sign. After he was eliminated, John Cena points to the sign. Its been a Royal Rumble tradition ever since.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: Giant Gonzales was referred to as a "what" when he appeared in 1993.
• Jobber: A few of them show up to the Royal Rumbles and are quickly eliminated. Usually in a matter of seconds.
  • Gillberg in the 1999 Rumble didn't even seem to realize what was going on and immediately posed on top of the ropes upon his entrance, which leads to him being quickly eliminated by Edge.
  • Kaientai weren't even in the 2000 Rumble, and their repeated interference always resulted in them being swiftly ejected by the much more taller and musclebound wrestlers.
• Jobber Entrance: The very first one on the USA Network had these. The show returned from commercial break to find Bret Hart (#1) and Tito Santana (#2) already in the ring alongside Howard Finkel, not only did Bret and Tito not get an entrance, they had to stand there while Fink went through his routine explaining the rules before they were introduced and the match could begin.
• Joke Character: One of the popular ways of structuring the Rumble is to have one or two of these to show up partway through:
  • Bob Backlund in 2000.
  • Drew Carey and Honky Tonk Man in 2001. Both had encounters with Kane, but only Honky was legitimately eliminated by Kane (a timely distraction by Raven created an opening for Drew to eliminate himself).
  • Tough Enough rookie Maven ended up becoming a Lethal Joke Character in 2002 by eliminating The Undertaker. He would pay for it immediately afterward.
  • Ernest "The Cat" Miller in 2004.
  • Santino Marella in the majority of his appearances. Almost became a Lethal Joke Character in the 2011 Royal Rumble match, when he and Alberto Del Rio ended up being the last two and almost eliminated Del Rio, but Del Rio reversed it and eliminated him to become the winner.
  • Ricardo Rodriguez in 2012 when he imitated Alberto Del Rio. The fact that he was eliminated by Santino shows that he's even more of a joke.
  • Enzo Amore in 2017 at number 27^note everyone knew Goldberg and The Undertaker were still due to enter
  • Curt Hawkins, Titus O'Neil and No Way Jose in 2019. Titus' case is largely due to his mishap at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
  • The Hurricane in 2021.
  • R-Truth steadily transformed into this over the years. His antics included mistaking the Rumble for a Ladder match^note 2016 and entering the Women's Rumble by mistake^note 2024, with the mixup believed to have played a large part in the 5-second elimination of Valhalla.
• Kill Streak:
  • Kane set the record of the most eliminations in a Royal Rumble match during the 2001 with 11. This would last until 2014, when Roman Reigns (then a member of The Shield) picked up 12 in his first appearance in the match. Braun Strowman would go on to break the record in 2018, coming in at 13 eliminations during the Greatest Royal Rumble, and Brock Lesnar would tie the record in 2020. The Lesnar example in 2020 actually took this to its logical extreme, as he entered the Men's Royal Rumble match at number 1, and proceeded to eliminate the first 13 men to come after him (the next two candidates to continue that chain, Ricochet and Drew McIntyre, worked together to eliminate him via Ricochet hitting Brock from behind with a low blow leaving him vulnerable to the Claymore that eliminated him).
  • In the Women's Royal Rumble match, Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler established a record eliminating 8 participants each in 2020. Similar to the Lesnar example, Baszler (the last entrant in the match) made her record in part by quickly eliminating 7 of the remaining 8 participants in a row. Nia Jax would later break that record by eliminating 9 participants, 7 of them consecutively, in 2025.
• Large Ham:
  • Long-time announcer Howard Finkel counts in general anyway, but some of his Royal Rumble match introductions cranked the hamminess up to eleven, and his year-after-year summaries of the rules have sometimes seeped into the territory of Overly Long Gag.
  • If a wrestler (usually a heel) manages to eliminate everyone else in the ring and there's still about a minute left until the next entrant is scheduled to appear, he will often grab a mike (the match is otherwise almost totally nonverbal) and talk to the audience, either bragging about how well he is doing or spewing some political or ideological screed. CM Punk in 2010 and Bray Wyatt in 2015 dragged this out for a ridiculously long period of time, stopping only to eliminate several competitors in succession as they entered the ring before going right back to the mike, with Wyatt even leading the crowd in an impromptu performance of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands."
  • Subverted - hilariously - by Stone Cold Steve Austin in 2002 when he simply waited quietly for each new Superstar to appear, effortlessly threw each out, and then waited some more, occasionally looking bored and miming glancing at a wristwatch. He had attempted something similar in 1997, except that then his attempt at being nonchalant was ruined when Bret Hart entered.
• Last Stand: The final four in 2009 was Triple H and the members of Legacy; Randy Orton, Ted Dibiase Jr, and Cody Rhodes. Triple H eliminates Dibiase and Cody but gets dumped by Orton.
• Lethal Joke Character: Some jobbers have scored major eliminations. Maven eliminated The Undertaker, Hornswoggle eliminated The Miz and Heath Slater eliminated Sheamus.
• Literal Cliffhanger: Expect to see a lot of wrestlers hanging to the ropes for dear life. Especially if they're the more athletic ones. The particularly tall guys (usually also on the heavier side) can't do this as well since the extra height works against them.
• Loophole Abuse:
  • Because you're only eliminated if you go over the top rope, some of the more Genre Savvy wrestlers will use this clause to stay out of the ring (or, like Jerry Lawler, hide under it) until later in the match if knocked out through the middle or bottom rope, only to jump back in when everyone else involved is fatigued - or as seen in 2001, in the the midst of the Hardcore title's 24/7 era, come back armed with weapons. Subverted in 2000 when, after weeks of arguing his case, Big Show proved that the Rock, the official victor of the match, did not deserve the win, as at the end he was thrown over the top rope and - though he held on and came back in to win - his feet still touched the mat and he would have been eliminated if a ref saw it, the loophole being that such decisions can't be reversed so long after a bout. This resulted in a match at No Way Out over who got to challenge Triple H at WrestleMania, and the Rock lost. Double Subverted when Vince McMahon teamed up with Rocky to make it a Triple Threat Match, which later became a Fatal Four Way with Mick Foley, backed by Linda McMahon, joining, so Rock main evented anyway.
  • Since the rules say you're only eliminated if you go over the top rope AND both feet touch the floor, you can land on one foot, hop to the stairs, and get back into the ring and not be considered eliminated.
  • Kofi Kingston practically becomes Houdini when in the Royal Rumble match. In 2012, he did a handstand on the outside to get into the ring. In 2013, he piggy-backed Brodus Clay to the announce tables, then bunny-hopped on JBL's chair to get to the apron. And in 2014, he topped them all by riding Rusev to the guardrail, and jumping from the guardrail to the ring apron. In 2015, he was saved by Adam Rose's rosebud crew. In 2016, he rode on Big E's shoulders to stay in.
  • During the first Women's Royal Rumble in 2018, Naomi combined three of Kofi's saves in one. She landed on the guardrail, walked her way on the guardrail towards guest ring announcer Maria Menounos, convinced her to give up her chair, put her feet on said chair, and walked with her hands to the ring steps with her feet still not touching the floor thanks to still being on the chair. Corey Graves lampshaded the similarities to Kofi, wondering if Naomi had been watching one of Kofi's Rumble highlight reels. Naomi has made a Running Gag of this in seeming to be eliminated, only to somehow keep her feet from hitting the floor and then creatively making her way back into the ring. Sadly, she's usually eliminated for real soon after.
  • Also, the rules only say you're eliminated if you go over the top rope and both feet touch the floor, no matter how it happens. This has led to eliminated wrestlers (and on rare occasions, wrestlers simply holding a grudge) entering the ring and eliminating a wrestler still participating in the Rumble. It's also possible for wrestlers to eliminate themselves by going over the top rope and dropping to the floor on their own.
  • During the early days of the Brand Extension, it was believed that the winner of the Royal Rumble match simply received a shot at their brand's championship. In 2004, Chris Benoit pointed out that it was only stated that the winner received a main event title opportunity at WrestleMania and nothing about being restricted to their current brand's title, and took the opportunity to jump ship from SmackDown to Raw and compete for the World Heavyweight title instead of the WWE title, partly because then-GM Paul Heyman had been making his life hell at the time. All future Royal Rumble match winners were granted the opportunity to choose which championship they wanted to compete for, until the 2014 event, at which point WWE had unified the WWE and World Heavyweight titles, eliminating the need for the choice. This particular loophole led to one of the biggest face turns in recent WWE history in 2005, when Batista was about to sign the contract to go after the WWE Championship on SmackDown (with Evolution stablemate Triple H having the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw)^note Triple H and Ric Flair had spent weeks trying to convince Batista to go for the WWE Championship, arguing that this would make Evolution the greatest stable of all time by holding both world championships. And when that didn't seem to be enough, Triple H arranged for then WWE Champion JBL's limo to run down Batista in the parking lot (actually a duplicate)...but Batista was Genry Savvy to figure out was actually happening., giving a big thumbs up to Trips and Flair...then turning it into a thumbs down (in a mirror of what Trips did to Randy Orton when he won the title), leaving Evolution, and signing the contract for Trips' championship instead. That said, Benoit currently holds the distinction of being the only winner so far to have exploited this, as almost all victors since have challenged for their brand's main belt.
    • This stipulation was formally brought back in 2018 (the second year of the second brand extension) where it was stated that the winners (Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura) could go after any champion of their choice, regardless of show. Although, because this stipulation doesn't specify that you have to go to compete for a world championship (for men's Rumble winner) or a Women's championship (for women's Rumble winner) as the reward for winning the Royal Rumble, this can potentially lead to the Rumble winner (male or female) to declare their intentions to compete for any other championship that WWE currently have.^note Thus technically, a female wrestler can potentially compete for a men's title, and vice versa. It could also theoretically be used to go after one of the secondary titles like the United States Championship instead of world title. Thankfully, no one has fully invoked this loophole just yet (though Charlotte Flair did use her 2020 shot for the NXT title).
  • Early in the Rumble's history, Ted DiBiase tried to sidestep a rule that stated that the number they drew is the number they must enter at, and no switching was allowed. In a pretaped segment featuring the wrestlers drawing their numbers, DiBiase was shown being very unhappy with his draw but, upon learning Slick was very happy with the numbers his men drew, he took him aside and convinced him to trade numbers for a cash payoff. As such, DiBiase entered at No. 30. Although this did not work out for "The Million Dollar Man" in the end (DiBiase was left alone with Big John Studd and ended up a squash victim), future Rumbles were supposedly set up to prevent a situation such as what DiBiase attempted to pull off.
  • You can also be eliminated by a wrestler not participating in the Rumble match, as in the 2021 Men's Rumble, when AJ Styles brought his bodyguard Omos to the ringside, where he eliminated Big E and Rey Mysterio, in addition to saving Styles from being eliminated several times.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Particularly during the brand extension years when it was rare to see wrestlers from Raw and SmackDown in the ring together, though it always brought together wrestlers who would otherwise not be likely to fight one another, being higher or lower on the card. With the introduction of WWE NXT, it also had the added benefit of introducing the audience to potential future stars that were currently still in developmental. Of particular note is the 2018 PPV, which has four such stars across both Rumbles.^note for the men's, then-NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas and Adam Cole, and for the women's, then NXT Women's Champion Ember Moon and Kairi Sane WWE went even further in 2022, with Mickie James entering as Impact Wrestling's Knockouts Champion (followed two years later by Jordynne Grace with the same title under a different name after Impact revived their old TNA name, and then by Joe Hendry in the Men's Rumble the year after that).
• Medium Awareness: In 2002, the match actually stopped dead for several minutes (the ring was temporarily empty) so that the cameras could show the Undertaker chasing Maven all the way up to the convention center's hallway ringing the arena and smashing him into a popcorn vendor's stall. None of the other participants were at all confused by this (especially those who were still competing when the chase started), and conveniently waited for the camera crew to return to the ring before entering the arena.

• New Rules as the Plot Demands:
  • In early years, whether or not an elimination counted if the person doing the elimination has already gone over the top rope himself depended on how convenient it was that year, until it was set that yes, it counts. This was most notable when Randy Savage accidentally eliminated himself in the 1992 Royal Rumble match and then re-entered the ring, at which point the announcers had to ad-lib a reason for him still being there.
  • When Bret Hart and Lex Luger eliminated each other in 1994, they were declared co-winners. When this happened again to John Cena and Batista but not as planned, the match was restarted.
  • In 1996 Big Van Vader threw a tantrum after being eliminated and attacked the wrestlers still in the ring, including throwing Shawn Michaels over the top rope and out. Because Vader was no longer a legal participant in the contest Michaels was allowed to get back in the ring, and he would go on to win the match. In every Rumble since HBK would have been sent to the showers.
  • In 2008, Finlay was eliminated by disqualification for entering the match before his number was called to help Hornswoggle. What caused Finlay to "jump the gun" was a confrontation between Hornswoggle (entry #9) against super-heavyweights Mark Henry (#25) and Big Daddy V (#24), caused by Henry thwarting Hornswoggle's attempt to repeat his earlier elimination of The Miz.
  • In 2023, Rey Mysterio was unable to enter the match before the next number was called out (due to being beaten up by his son Dominick who ironically came out next), so he was disqualified.
• No-Sell: When The Undertaker was attacked by the heels in 1994, he did not budge when Jeff Jarrett hit him with a fist drop.
• Non-Action Guy: The Honky Tonk Man in 2001, Ernest "The Cat Miller" in 2004, Simon Dean in 2005-2006 and "Double J" Jeff Jarrett in 2019 would rather sing, dance and exercise than wrestle which resulted in they getting eliminated fast.
• The Notable Numeral:
  • The numbers with the most Rumble victories are #1, #27, #28, and #30; 4 wrestlers have won as entrants #1 and #27 and 5 #30^note For #1 there were Shawn Michaels (1995), Chris Benoit (2004, although he's not mentioned often for obvious reasons), Edge (2021) and Rhea Ripley (2023); for #27 those were Big John Studd (1989), Yokozuna (1993), Bret Hart (1994 - shared his Rumble victory with Lex Luger, who entered at 23) and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (2001); For #30 those were The Undertaker (2007), John Cena (2008), Triple H (2016), Brock Lesnar (2022), and Cody Rhodes (2023), while the first two instances where #28 won was done by the same person^note Batista in 2005 and 2014, the other two are Becky Lynch in 2019 (as an emergency substitution for an injured Lana) and Ronda Rousey in 2022. This tends to get brought up by commentators whenever the #27 entrant arrives. Played for Laughs in the 2017 Royal Rumble match: Brock Lesnar entered at #26 and laid waste of everyone in the ring, and then waited for the #27, who the commentators wondering who got both the notable number and now the task of having to deal with Lesnar. It turned out to be... Enzo Amore, who cemented his status as the Joke Character of the moment when Lesnar quickly eliminated him.^note everyone knew Goldberg and The Undertaker were still due to enter the Rumble
  • Typically, before the match, they go through all the statistics that have accumulated over the history of the Royal Rumble.
• No Theme Tune: Prior to the 1996 Royal Rumble, only the two first entrants had entrance music as they walked to the ring. Even eventual winners like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Yokozuna lacked their entrance music, which is especially jarring for those used to the loud pops that these main-eventers' theme songs bring.
• Offhand Backhand: In the 2016 Rumble, Roman Reigns and Triple H lock eyes. Triple H squashes Dolph Ziggler then goes back to eyeballing Roman. Roman crushes Bray Wyatt then goes back to eyeballing Triple H.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Whenever a main eventer enters. The effect is often sweetened by delaying the wrestler's entrance music for a few moments after the countdown.
  • André the Giant, when – minutes after eliminating Jake Roberts (by completely squashing him) – he saw the first sign of Damien the snake and eliminated himself. Andre didn't quit running until he was almost all the way to the back. ^note (At the time, Andre and Roberts were in a storyline where Roberts caused Andre to suffer a massive heart attack after having Damien thrown on top of him after a match.)
  • This can also happen whenever a Wrestling Monster (like The Great Khali or the Big Show) enters the Royal Rumble match. They may eliminate a lot of people when they first get in, although as the past has shown, giants have a lesser chance of winning due to being ganged up on by everyone else.
  • In the 2001 Royal Rumble match, there's two Oh Crap! moments during that year. First, Drew Carey realizing he has to face Kane after the Hardy Boyz were eliminated. The second is Scotty 2 Hotty realizing that the only other people in the ring were Kane and The Undertaker, who were working in tandem and just finished eliminating everyone in the ring (except The Rock who was still knocked out outside the ring, thanks to the Big Show). Scotty, who usually danced his way to the ring, somberly walked there instead with a look on his face that clearly said "This Is Gonna Suck".
  • The Great Khali's first Royal Rumble match appearance in 2007, where most of the superstars stop fighting to see him. Not even a huge number of superstars were able to take him down. Ironically, Khali would end up having a moment of his own during the same match when the #30 entrant was revealed to be The Undertaker, with whom he had feuded months before, and would go on to eventually eliminate Khali.
  • Especially noticeable is the 2009 Royal Rumble match, where when the Undertaker entered, every single superstar in the ring immediately stopped fighting and moved towards one side of the ring to await for his arrival.
  • Roman Reigns had two moments in the 2016 Rumble. After entering at #1 and eliminating #2, Rusev, Reigns looks confident as he waits for #3 to come out, only for it to be AJ Styles, in his WWE debut. He then starts pacing the ring, a look that says "Oh, what have I gotten myself into?" He even shakes his head in disbelief. Then again once #30 comes out, and it's Triple H, for the first time since Reigns attacked him at TLC.
• The One Guy: Hornswoggle during his cameo in 2019 and Santino Marella as an entrant the following year. R-Truth also accidentally tried to enter the 2024 women's rumble, until he was sent back to the locker room (the mix-up may have been a major part in the actual #24 entrant Valhalla's elimination).
• Overturned Outhouse: At the 2020 edition, a Falls Count Anywhere match happened between Roman Reigns and Baron Corbin; at one point, Reigns shoved Corbin into a portable toilet and tipped it over.
• Player Elimination: In-universe. It's a variation on the Battle Royale match from WWE that adds staggered entrances, starting with two wrestlers in the ring, and others join at regular intervals. In this case, while elimination can occur at any time, victory cannot be claimed until all 20-50 included wrestlers have made their entry.
• Pyrrhic Victory: For Gunther at the 2026 event; he beat AJ Styles in their singles match, forcing the latter to retire, but lost the men's Royal Rumble match later that night after being eliminated by the winner Roman Reigns.
• Revenge Before Reason: Ahmed Johnson eliminated himself in the 1997 Rumble because he chased his rival Farooq.
• Right Behind Me: Twice in the 2009 Rumble. Dolph Ziggler runs in a house of fire and drops but runs with his back turned to Kane who throws him out. Later, Chris Jericho eliminates Rob Van Dam with a satisfied smirk at the camera, not knowing that The Undertaker is behind him.
• Rule of Three: The Undertaker had already entered the Rumble at #30 twice in 1997 and 2003. He finally won in 2007.
• Rule of Symbolism: The final six of the 2018 Men's Rumble had Roman Reigns, Finn Bálor, and Shinsuke Nakamura on one side of the ring staring down John Cena, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio in a new vs. old moment. Of course, Nakamura started wrestling around the same time as Cena and Orton, with only Mysterio having more experience, but it looked cool.
• Running Gag:
  • Jerry Lawler's predictions turning out badly, which has been repeated with a few other commentators like Tazz.
  • Starting in 2012, Kofi Kingston will always find some crazy or incredibly flukey way of avoiding elimination, whether it's walking on his hands over to the steps without letting his feet touch the floor, or being sent flying out to be caught by Adam Rose's posse of Rosebuds, who aren't quite keeping up with the action and end up putting him back in again. Unfortunately averted in 2020, when Brock Lesnar tosses Kofi out so quickly he doesn't have a chance to do a spot at all.
  • During the 2018 Men's Rumble, Heath Slater was assaulted by Baron Corbin while on his way to the ring and left lying in a heap on the ramp. The following five or so entrants would all abuse him in various ways, wiping him out before he could officially enter the match, culminating in Big E stuffing his face with pancakes. Heath's pain would end when Sheamus took pity on him and finally got him into the ring (only for Heath to immediately clothesline Sheamus out in return as soon as he climbed through the ropes).
  • In every Rumble match from 1998 to 2002, the #30 entrant ^note Vader in 1998, Chyna in 1999, X-Pac in 2000, Rikishi in 2001 and Booker T in 2002 would chuck out precisely one person before being eliminated themselves shortly thereafter. This gag ended in the 2003 Rumble when the Undertaker drew #30 and went on a Foe-Tossing Charge.
  • Naomi has taken a page from Kofi's book and made a running gag of somehow saving herself from elimination and creatively getting back in the ring. Sadly, she's usually eliminated for real soon after.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Drew Carey entered the Rumble in 2001, finding himself alone in the ring after Matt and Jeff Hardy eliminate each other. He celebrates... until Kane is the next entrant. After fruitlessly trying to beg the referees for help, offering the Big Red Monster a handshake and even attempting to bribe him, Kane has him in position for a chokeslam, and only the arrival of Raven, who hits Kane in the back with a pool cue, saves him from certain doom. Carey decides to capitalize while Raven distracts Kane... to climb over the ropes and eliminate himself.
  • The 2020 Women's Royal Rumble saw the return of Santino Marella — or rather, his sister/female alter ego, Santina, who promptly gets caught between Natalya and Beth Phoenix, and at first considers breaking out the Cobra... before just tossing "herself" over the top rope and out of the match.
  • In 2024, Pat McAfee, who was one of the commentators, was surprised to hear his number being called out and entered the ring in a dress shirt and shoes, only to see extremely angry Bron Breakker and Omos in the center. Wisely, he decides to go over the top rope, then to get back into the ring and square up... only to change his mind once more and actually eliminate himself. Omos in particular (standing 7-plus feet tall and weighing 400-plus pounds) would've been very bad news for the former NFL punter had they actually clashed^note punters are among the smallest and lightest members of an NFL roster, while guys like Omos are usually linemen.
• The Smurfette Principle: Before the Women's Rumble was created, a few Rumbles had at least one female participant. She was usually a particularly buff woman like Chyna or Beth Phoenix who could credibly mix it up with the men. The second year of the Women's Rumble had Nia Jax (one of those particularly buff women who could credibly mix it up with the men) replace #30 entrant R-Truth after ambushing him during his entrance.
• Sore Loser: Some wrestlers have responded to getting eliminated very badly:
  • In the second ever Rumble in 1989, when Jake Roberts entered he immediately charged André the Giant (they were feuding at the time) and André proceeded to pummel the life out of Jake until a barely-conscious Jake was tossed. A few minutes later Jake ran back with Damien in tow, causing André to eliminate himself and get the hell away from Damien.
  • One of the earliest examples (and a rare non-heel one) of this is Hulk Hogan of all people; both times he was eliminated in a Royal Rumble match, he immediately screwed the person who eliminated him out of winning too. ^note In 1989, Hogan was eliminated by the Twin Towers (Big Boss Man and The One Man Gang), and he managed to get back to the ring and pull out Boss Man. Then in 1992, when Sid Justice tossed Hogan, Hogan grabbed Sid's arm from the outside, allowing Ric Flair (who had entered at number 3) to toss Sid and win the Rumble.
  • Jerry Lawler was eliminated by Mr. Perfect in 1993. He retaliated by helping two other guys eliminate Mr. Perfect.
  • After getting eliminated in 1997, Big Van Vader came back and threw over everyone left in the ring. It was decided that these do not count as eliminations to prevent dead air.
  • The Undertaker was in an extremely foul mood after Maven took him out from behind in 2002. Cue No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to the point that Maven would be unable to continue, despite not having gone over the top rope.
  • The Big Show made his return from OVW in 2001 but it was spoiled by The Rock. He retaliated by chokeslamming The Rock in an announce table. He also eliminated The Undertaker in 2009 after he himself was already eliminated.
  • Kane was unceremoniously eliminated in 2004 by The Undertaker's mind games. He retaliated by attacking Spike Dudley and stopping him from competing.
  • Kurt Angle was eliminated by Shawn Michaels in 2005. Angle came back in later to eliminate Michaels and continued to attack him afterwards. Muhammad Hassan similarly flipped after he got eliminated by everyone in the ring at the time, ambushing Scotty 2 Hotty on the ramp with a Camel Clutch.
  • Booker T was eliminated by Kane in 2007, and came back in later and eliminated Kane.
  • In 2008, The Undertaker attacked Snitsky (whom 'Taker had just eliminated) for causing him to get eliminated (by Shawn Michaels, who himself was quickly canned by Mr. Kennedy mere seconds later).
  • Wade Barrett was also not too happy he got eliminated by NXT newcomer Bo Dallas, considering Wade's the first winner of NXT. Bo might have lasted a bit longer if Wade hadn't rushed back to eliminate him.
  • Shawn Michaels became almost catatonic on the outside of the ring after Batista eliminated him in 2010. Then, after a Heroic BSoD, he started manhandling and superkicking referees out of frustration despite being a face (Michaels had become obsessed with redeeming his WrestleMania XXV loss to The Undertaker, and winning the Royal Rumble match was his only guaranteed chance as Taker was champion at the time). He would eventually get that rematch with 'Taker... after costing him the title in the Elimination Chamber match at its own titular PPV inbetween the Rumble and Mania.
  • Baron Corbin flipped after he was eliminated during the beginning of the 2018 Men's Rumble, and beat the hell out of the only remaining entrants at the time, Finn Bálor and Rusev, then knocking down incoming entrant Heath Slater as he was being forcibly escorted to the back by officials.
  • In the 2018 Women's Royal Rumble, Vickie Guerrero attacked incoming entrant Carmella with the latter's Money in the Bank briefcase after she was eliminated from the Women's Rumble by every other entrant in the ring at the time (including former accomplice Michelle McCool).
  • In the 2019 Women's Royal Rumble, Mandy Rose, after being eliminated by Naomi, attacked her and eliminated her.
  • In the 2019 Men's Royal Rumble, Bobby Lashley, after been eliminated by Seth Rollins, attacked him with help of his manager Lio Rush and threw him to the announce table. Seth notably did NOT go over the top rope, as Rollins would go on to win the match.
  • In the 2020 Women's Royal Rumble, Lana, after being eliminated by Liv Morgan, attacked her and eliminated her.
  • In the 2022 Women's Royal Rumble, Sonya Deville, after being eliminated by Naomi, interfered and eliminated her.
  • In the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble, Karrion Kross, after being eliminated by Bobby Lashley, attacked Lashley and later eliminated him from the Rumble match. Their subsequent brawl (involving the Authors of Pain on Kross' side and the Street Profits on Lashley's) would reach the entrance just as Ludwig Kaiser, the next entrant, came out.
  • In the 2025 Men's Rumble, Carmelo Hayes would cheap-shot Akira Tozawa as the latter made his entrance into the match at number 8. IShowSpeed would end up taking Tozawa's place.
• Stealth Insult: After Daniel Bryan was eliminated during the 2015 Rumble match, Goldust makes his entrance. The latter's titantron reads "Shattered Dreams", which many fans and even some reviewers read as WWE's way of sticking it to the fans, as while Bryan was the most popular wrestler at the time, this was during WWE's initial mega-push of their pet project, Roman Reigns.
• Still Got It: "YOU STILL GOT IT" chants usually accompany a WWE Legend's performance in the Rumble. Chris Jericho (who had been gone less than six months) angrily shouted back "I never lost it!" when he got this chant during the 2013 match.
• Surprisingly Happy Ending: The 2011 Rumble, the biggest official Rumble match, ends with a comedic final two spot between Santino Marella and Alberto Del Rio.
• "Take That!" Kiss: How Beth Phoenix managed to eliminate the Great Khali in 2010.
• Taking the Bullet: In the 2003 Rumble, Shannon Moore protected Matt Hardy from the Jeff's Swanton Bomb with his own body.
• There Can Only Be One: Averted in 1994, but played straight since. The most notable instance of this is when John Cena and Batista had been eliminated at the same time at the end of the 2005 Rumble. Since this was during the Brand Extension and Batista was on Raw and Cena was on SmackDown at the time, the referees from both brands were arguing their case — eventually, Vince ordered a redo in order to avoid a repeat of '94, and Batista went on to win. ^note Notably, this was due to the 2005 version not being planned - it was a complete accident that both men toppled over at the same time, but the referees improvised beautifully until they could get official word on how to resolve it.
• Throwing Off the Disability: John Cena was not expected to appear at the 2008 Royal Rumble. He in fact entered the Royal Rumble match and won it. He points at his chest to show the speed of his recovery.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Kharma in the 2012 rumble was bigger than Ziggler, Hunico, and Michael Cole, while in the 2019 men's edition, Nia Jax was the same to R-Truth, Mustafa Ali, and Rey Mysterio.
• Tonight in This Very Ring: The Royal Rumble match usually main events the Royal Rumble show, but it has been averted in 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2013 and 2023.
• Too Dumb to Live:
  • In 1993, Randy Savage seemed to forget the rules to the Royal Rumble match, attempting to pin Yokozuna near the ropes, which of course led to the big man simply tossing him right over to win the match.
  • In 2012, Jack Swagger got a K.O. Punch from the Big Show when he wasn't too happy that Big Show eliminated him outside the ring.
  • In 2016, R-Truth got his Gimmick Matches mixed up, thinking he was in a Ladder Match. He was greeted with bewildered looks, and Kane tossed him right out.
    • This happened twice in 2024: at first he entered the Women's Rumble (he thought his number was called up just as Valhalla was heading into the ring), only to be eliminated by Nia Jax a few seconds later (Valhalla would be quickly eliminated herself, setting the match's shortest time of competing at five seconds, also by Jax). He later went to participate in the Men's Rumble, where he put the eliminated JD McDonagh back into the match only for him to be tossed out against, and then Truth, assuming it was a tag team match, waited for Dominik Mysterio to tag him in. Once he got tagged, Truth quickly unleashed a barrage of moves at Gunther, only to be quickly smashed by the Ring General.
• Took a Level in Badass: Wrestlers who get moved up the card often start making eliminations in the Rumble to show that they are someone to be taken seriously.
• Underestimating Badassery: When Beth Phoenix entered the 2010 Rumble, she faced off against the Great Khali. He gestured to the back, clearly saying she shouldn't be in the ring. When she refused to leave, he picked her up and placed her on the apron, telling her to jump down and head to the back so she wouldn't be hurt. Instead, Beth gave him a long kiss...distracting him long enough for her to flip him over the ropes and eliminate him before scrambling back into the ring.
• Unexpected Character: Invoked. The event is increasingly sold on the unpredictability of the Rumble's match format leading itself to unexpected entrants – and consequently some of the biggest pops of the entire wrestling year:
  • Dick Murdoch, from the old territory days, in 1995.
  • Mick Foley in 2004 (at number 21 in place of a knocked-out Test). Subverted by The Undertaker, who made his presence felt but did not actually appear.
  • The early and ultimately victorious returns from injury of both John Cena (2008, from a torn pectoral muscle, at #30) and Edge (2010, from an achilles injury, at #29) often top lists of surprise entrants. Especially Cena, who nobody thought would be back until after WrestleMania.
  • 2009 had the one-night return of Rob Van Dam.
  • 2011 had Booker T and Diesel (at entrants 21 and 32 respectively).
  • 2012 had Road Dogg and Kharma. The latter entered immediately after Michael Cole (the last of the three commentators to enter), who tried to bail... leaving his co-commentators Jerry Lawler and Booker T (both had been eliminated by Cole's entry) wide open to complete the elimination of Cole.
  • Chris Jericho, NXT Wrestler Bo Dallas and The Godfather in 2013. Jericho entered at number 2.
  • An unexpected non-character in the 2014 Rumble. Fans had been waiting the entire match for Daniel Bryan to appear, and after all 30 entrants appeared with no Bryan the fans were pissed, with the fans taking their anger out on poor #30 entrant Rey Mysterio and eventual winner Batista. Kevin Nash enter the Royal Rumble at #14.
  • 2015 had Bubba Ray Dudley and Boogeyman. Bubba Ray, entering at number 3, would subject #1 entry The Miz to two Dudley Boyz signature moves (with #2 entrant R-Truth playing the role of Bubba Ray's usual partner D-Von).
  • The 2016 Rumble had the debut of AJ Styles at number 3. You could tell that he was the last person Roman Reigns expected to see coming down the ramp.
  • Also from the 2016 Rumble, though to a lesser extent, was the recently returned-from-injury Sami Zayn. Kevin Owens, whose night was already going less-than-ideally (having previously lost a Last Man Standing match earlier that night to eventual runner-up Dean Ambrose), had a minor Villainous Breakdown at that one, which reached its apex when Zayn eliminated him from the match.
  • Roman Reigns as the last entrant in 2017 in a meta-example, as most fans were expecting either the debut of either Samoa Joe or Shinsuke Nakamura, or the return of either Finn Balor or Kurt Angle in the famous #30 spot; when Roman's music hit, the fans did not take it well.
  • In 2018, the men's Rumble had Rey Mysterio, who had shown some vague interest in eventually returning to WWE but not anytime soon, and The Hurricane, a massive fan favorite from the days of old. To a lesser extent were the entries of NXT Champion Andrade "Cien" Almas and Adam Cole, both of whom had wrestled in absolutely grueling matches at NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia the previous night. Andrade entered at 7, Hurricane at 21, Cole at 23, and Rey at 27.
  • The first women's Rumble in 2018 had a fair few, which was only compounded by the novelty of the event. Among them include Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly, NXT Women's Champion Ember Moon (who like Cole was still selling the aftermath of her own absolutely grueling match the previous night), Kairi Sane, Lita, Beth Phoenix and Trish Stratus. Lita was an early entry while Trish entered at 30.
  • In the 2019 women's Rumble they were mostly from NXT: Xia Li, Candice LeRae, Kacy Catanzaro, Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley.
  • The 2019 men's Rumble had Jeff Jarrett (at number 2) and NXT wrestlers Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne and Aleister Black. Of course, these were all totally overshadowed by Nia Jax ambushing #30 R-Truth and taking his spot in the men's Rumble.
  • The IWC typically accepted Edge's denials of a return in late 2019-early 2020 at face value, given his abrupt retirement in 2011 because of fears a single bump gone wrong could easily paralyse him. This only made his return at the 2020 Rumble (entering at number 21) even more shocking (and sweeter), with 40,000 fans in attendance blowing the proverbial roof off. NXT cameos included Keith Lee and Matt Riddle, and the event also saw the return of Montel Vontavious Porter. Lee and Porter were among #1 entrant Brock Lesnar's record-tying 13 eliminations (Brock was already gone, courtesy of eventual winner Drew McIntyre (#16) with an assist from Ricochet (#15) by the time Edge and Riddle entered).
  • In the 2020 Women's Rumble, mostly from NXT: Bianca Belair, Mercedes Martinez,^note Her case was particularly surprising as her signing with the company was announced only weeks before the Rumble. Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, Chelsea Green, Toni Storm, Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox, alongside legends Mighty Molly and Beth Phoenix. Perhaps the most surprising entrant in that match, however, was the return of Santino Marella in his long-forgotten "Santina" gimmick, complete with the theme of Billy & Chuck and Rico from the gimmick's first run.
  • In the 2021 Men's Rumble had Carlito, Kane, Hurricane Helms, Christian (entering at number 24 and reuniting with long-time tag partner and real-life BFF Edge, who entered at number 1), Seth Rollins and NXT wrestler Damian Priest.
  • In the 2021 Women's Rumble had Jillian Hall, Victoria, Alicia Fox, Torrie Wilson and Mickie James.
  • In the 2022 Women's Rumble had Melina, Cameron, Ivory (in her Right to Censor gimmick nonetheless!), Summer Rae, Sarah Logan and Ronda Rousey. Rousey, entering at 28, went on to win the match.
  • In the 2022 Men's Rumble had non-combatant and rapper Bad Bunny while Shane McMahon made his brief in-ring return at the 28th spot (the spot immediately after Bunny, who entered at 27).
  • The 2023 Women's Rumble had Michelle McCool, Chelsea Green and Nia Jax, as well as the NXT Women's Champion Roxanne Perez, Zoey Stark and Indi Hartwell from NXT. Michelle entered from the crowd at 25, Jax entered through a slight timing botch at 30, and Green (#20) lasted only four seconds.
  • The only real surprise entrant in the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble was Booker T.
  • The 2024 Women's Rumble had Naomi, Jordynne Grace, Jade Cargill and NXT's Tiffany Stratton (entries 2, 5, 28, and 29 respectively). Jade lasted until the final three (with a single-handed elimination of Jax to her credit) while Naomi (who had previously clashed with Grace while competing under her real name Trinity with TNA) only missed out on the ironwoman title by less than a minute to the victorious number 3 entrant Bayley (both lasting longer than the previous winner Rhea Ripley did).
  • The 2024 Men's Rumble saw the return of Andrade, Bron Breakker, and Omos. Pat McAfee had the double-whammy of making an unannounced appearance as co-commentator along with Michael Cole and Corey Graves, as well as also being announced as the #22 entrant (who swiftly eliminated himself after realizing he'd be getting in a ring with Bron and Omos).
  • The 2025 Women's Rumble saw the NXT Wrestler Roxanne Perez, Lash Legend, Jaida Parker, Stephanie Vaquer, NXT Women's Champion Giulia. Jordynne Grace make a returns under WWE contract. Another return is Alexa Bliss, Trish Stratus, Charlotte Flair and Nikki Bella. (Alexa entered at 21, Trish at 25, Charlotte at 27, and Nikki at 30)
  • The 2025 Men's Rumble saw streamer IShowSpeed and Total Non Stop Action Wrestling World Champion Joe Hendry. Speed was an emergency replacement for Akira Tozawa at number 8.
  • The 2026 Women's Rumble saw the NXT Wrestler Lola Vice, Sol Ruca, Jacy Jayne and Kelani Jordan. (Lola entered at 8, Sol at 10, Jacy at 24 and Kelani 27). Another surprised entrance is Brie Bella. (Brie entered at 29).
  • The 2026 Men's Rumble saw the AAA Wrestler Mr. Iguana and La Parka. (Mr. Iguana entered at 9 and La Parka entered at 18). Oba Femi make his Royal Rumble debut entered at no 1 and Royce Keys make his WWE debut same like AJ Styles in 2016 but Styles entered at no 3 and Keys entered at no 14.
• Ungrateful Bastard: In the 2010 Rumble, Shawn Michaels repaid Triple H saving him from John Cena's attack by superkicking him out of the match.
• Uniqueness Decay: 2018 had three Royal Rumble matches; the first ever Women's Royal Rumble match and the Greatest Royal Rumble match, along with the usual Men's Royal Rumble match.
• Unnecessary Roughness:
  • At the 1999 event, Mick Foley took ten unprotected chair shots to the head during his "I Quit" Match with The Rock. The Rock wasn't supposed to keep on hitting him, and Mick himself classified the match as "having gotten away" from both of them; i.e. they both got caught up in the drama and neither was willing to end it before the scheduled finish. This was made worse by the fact that Foley's family was at ringside, and were clearly traumatized. The Rock didn't apologize to Foley for his actions, and this later became a bitter sticking point on Foley's part, though he said that when he eventually confronted The Rock about it, The Rock thought that he had checked on Foley after the match, and became very upset upon realizing he hadn't. In his second book, Foley admits both did wrong in the scenario but he was more in the wrong. Once the Rock was made aware of the situation, he apologized immediately. Foley was aware of the slight for several months but let it simmer unknown and lead him into bitterness (mostly as fuel for a Face–Heel Turn during the Rock 'n' Sock Connection days against the Rock that never materialized.)
  • Rather invoked in the 2019 Men's Rumble Match towards Nia Jax of all people: After ambushing R-Truth at the entrance walkway, then later eliminating Mustafa Ali, she immediately gets a Superkick, a 619, and an RKO (in that order) for her troubles.
• Villain Decay: The status of a heel wrestler can be gauged by the way they get treated in the Rumble.
  • The Great Khali was a monster in 2007. The next year, the crowd chants "You can't wrestle" at him. In 2010, he was eliminated by Beth Phoenix.
  • Jack Swagger was a blue chipper and former world champion in his rookie years. By 2012, he's getting KO'd by The Big Show.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The championship belt which was awarded to the winner of the first Greatest Royal Rumble (Braun Strowman), disappeared afterwards and is never mentioned again.
• Would Hit a Girl: A rare justified example as whenever a diva/female wrestler enters the men's match, they are breaking the rules and know the guys will be more reluctant to attack them. This didn't stop Dolph Ziggler from eliminating Kharma or CM Punk from attacking Beth Phoenix. What makes Punk attacking Beth more notable is that Beth had actually scored an elimination on Khali who had been attempting the opposite of this trope with her.