WWEditorials Ep. XVIII: 3.., 2.., 1! The Royal Rumble

Written by Sean Wall

Every year in the WWE, after the four-month dry spell of pay per views that seem to drive viewers away the buzz begins. The initial build to the culminating company’s biggest event starts. The WWE dubs it “The Road to WrestleMania and rightfully so. It gets the WWE fans excited for what can be the best storytelling wrestling fans will enjoy. Can’t forget to mention the surprises that may arise in the months leading to WrestleMania. One can speculate how WrestleMania would be perceived today if it didn’t have the one purpose that springboarded it to the stardom. That one event is simply something all anticipate for January, it’s called ‘Royal Rumble’. Perhaps this event at one point was bigger than WrestleMania…. Maybe!

The Royal Rumble is modified version of an over-the-top-rope battle royal. The Rumble consist of 30 men (at times could be woman seeing as only two have ever entered) all battling for the right to compete in the main event of WrestleMania. However over the years, some Royal Rumble winners have been tricked into putting their golden spot up. The objective of the match is to outlast all 29 other wrestlers to become the ultimate #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On top of trying to outlast 29 other wrestlers, you must also put them over the top rope making sure both feet touch the floor.

Although most eliminations are caused by active participants, eliminations caused by other means have occurred, and have been ruled legitimate, including self-eliminations (such as Andre the Giant jumping out of the ring after seeing a snake in 1989, Kane eliminating himself in 1999 and Drew Carey eliminating himself in 2001; however Randy Savage jumping over the top rope in 1992 was not ruled as self-elimination), elimination from previously-eliminated participates (such as The Undertaker eliminating Maven in 2002, Kurt Angle eliminating Shawn Michaels in 2005 and Kane eliminating CM Punk in 2014) and elimination from non-participants (such as The Miz eliminating John Cena in 2011). Furthermore, if an injured wrestler is taken away by medical staff, he can return to the match as long as the match is still ongoing (such as Steve Austin in 1999), but if the match ends without the injured wrestler returning, he is deemed eliminated (such as Scotty 2 Hotty in 2005).

In this ‘WWEditorial’ edition we explore some moments in Royal Rumble history that makes this event one of WWE’s unpredictable events. From the surprise winners to the surprise entrants. Followed by the longest survivors to the shortest survivors. You may think you know where WWE is going, but you may be wrong in the end.

(Continue to page 2 – #3. “The Longest Run“)