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The Royal Rumble is the anticipation of the amazing, excitement and unpredictability where 30 Men fight it out with the winner, guaranteed a main event championship match at WrestleMania.Over the years, the WWE Universe have witnessed 27 entrants come out on top out of the 810 participated entrants with the remaining 783 entrants, managing to get themselves eliminated in the process.However, there have been moments when one winner might have outclassed the other winner.Here, in this slideshow, we discuss such top 10 entrants to have won the Rumble. Note: This is in no particular order.
#1 Honourable Mention : Hulk Hogan
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Rumbles Won: 2 (1990 & 1991)
With 27 eliminations in just 4 Rumble appearances at an average of 6.75 eliminations per match, the Hulkster stands in as an honourable mention in the top winners list of Rumble matches.
Having won two Royal Rumbles, it is worth mentioning that the Hulkster haven’t lasted for more than 20 minutes in any of his Rumble match with the highest being 19 minutes and 55 seconds in 1991.
With 10 eliminations in a match, Hogan previously held the record for the most number of eliminations in a Rumble debut which was later broken by Roman Reigns. The former Shield powerhouse made 13 eliminations in his debut Rumble match.
#2 Randy Orton
Rumbles Won: 1 (2009)
Randy Orton is another guy who, is likely to win more Rumbles’ than his present status points before his time with the WWE is done. With an overall 19 eliminations in 7 Rumble matches, Randy averages 2.71 eliminations per match, a stat he would definitely like to correct in the future.
Back in 2009, the 12-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion won his first and only Rumble match till date.
Entering the Rumble at no. 8, Randy presented a determined and courageous performance while his stay in the match for nearly 50 minutes and with a little bit of help from Legacy allies Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, he stormed his way to victory after eliminating Triple H.
#3 The Rock
Rumbles Won: 1 (2000)
The Rock needs no introduction to the WWE Universe. The Brahma-Bull, who is an absolute legend of the company, has entered the Rumble just four times out of the 27 Rumble matches, held. He made 10 eliminations at an average of 2.50 eliminations per match.
Having finished second in the 1998 Rumble, Rock entered the Rumble in 2000 from the #24 spot. He was left with Bigshow, Kane and X-Pac as the final four participants in the match.
He eliminated X-Pac, but the referees, who were preoccupied with Kane after New Age Outlaws had attacked the Big-Red Machine, did not see the elimination as a result of which X-Pac re-entered the match. However, Kane and X-Pac were later eliminated from the match, leaving The Rock and The Bigshow.
The Rock performed a spine buster and a People's Elbow, but The Big show came back with a chokeslam. The Big Show had The Rock on his shoulder and attempted to throw him over the top rope but The Rock hung onto the rope and pulled The Big Show over, taking 14 minutes and 47 seconds to win the match.
#4 Triple H
Rumbles Won: 1 (2002)
Having won the Rumble in 2002, Triple H finished third after starting the match (#1 entrant) in 2006 followed by two consecutive runner-up slots in 2008 and 2009, making him one of the unfortunate superstars having narrowly missed out on that elusive second glory.
Over the years, 28 men have fallen prey to the Game in his 8 Rumble appearances with an average of 3.50 eliminations per match.
Entering the match from the no.22 spot in 2002, Triple H was left with Stone Cold, Mr. Perfect and Kurt Angle as the final four participants. Triple H eliminated Kurt Angle with a clothesline over the top rope to win the match.
Besides this, Triple H also holds the record for the longest cumulative time spent in the Rumble matches, he has appeared over the years.
#5 Batista
Rumbles Won: 2 (2005 & 2014)
Batista is another of the four men to have won the Rumble, twice. The Animal competed in five Rumble matches and won two while eliminating 17 people at an average of 3.40 eliminations per match, thus holding a win ratio of 40%.
Both of Batista’s wins has come from the no.28 spot. His first Rumble victory in 2005 was somewhat controversial.
Cena and Batista, who were the last two remaining superstars went over the top rope and touching the floor at the same time. The referees for the Raw brand believed Batista to be the winner while the SmackDown referees believed John Cena to be the winner.
Following this, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon came to the ring and ordered the match to be restarted with the final two participants, Batista and John Cena. Batista tossed Cena over the top rope following a Spine-Buster to win the match.
In 2014, after eliminating Roman Reigns who, till then had already eliminated 12 other superstars, The Animal tasted his second Rumble victory.
Interestingly, if both Batista’s wins are compared statistically, his win in the 2005 Rumble was more of a Cinderella story with 5 eliminations after spending 10 minutes and 34 seconds in the ring compared to 4 eliminations and spending 12 minutes and 52 seconds in 2014.
#6 The Undertaker
Rumbles Won: 1 (2007)
Considering the amount of time The Undertaker has been serving the WWE, it will always remain as a surprise for the WWE Universe with The Phenom not winning the Rumble match more than once in his illustrious career.
With an overall 10 Rumble appearance, The Deadman eliminated 35 persons at an average of 3.5 persons per Rumble, making him the fourth highest eliminator in history.His only Rumble victory came in 2007.
Entering as the last entrant, The Undertaker eliminated The Great Khali who till then had single-handedly eliminated seven other superstars and MVP.
With Edge and Randy Orton eliminated by heartbreak-kid, the Phenom squared-off with Shawn Michaels with a guaranteed title shot for the winner in hand. Both exchanged blows until the end when Taker eliminated Michaels while he went for the sweet chin music, becoming the first man in the history of the WWE to have won the Rumble from #30 spot after spending 13 minutes and 15 seconds with three eliminations to his name.
#7 Chris Beniot
Rumbles Won: 1 (2004)
Chris Benoit is the second person in the history of the WWE after Shawn Michaels to have started the Rumble match and eventually win it. Entering the Rumble from the #1 spot, Benoit was left with Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam and The Bigshow as the last four contestants.
Benoit was left with The Bigshow as the remaining two superstars. Countering a Chokeslam, he dragged Show over the top rope, flipping and tossing him over the rope to earn himself with a guaranteed main event championship match.
Spending 61 minutes and 30 seconds in the ring while eliminating 6 other superstars for the win, Benoit became the longest surviving superstar in a Rumble match breaking Bob Backlund’s record, of 61 minutes and 10 seconds.
The record, however was short-lived as Rey Mysterio broke the benchmark in 2006, a difference of two Rumble matches.
#8 Rey Mysterio
Rumbles Won: 1 (2006)
Rey Mysterio may not be considered as one of the greatest competitor to have competed in a Rumble match mainly because of his physical stature and the number of eliminations he had made.
Out of the six Rumble appearances, Rey just has 11 eliminations to his name with an average of 1.84 eliminations per match. The 2006 Rumble however was different from the rest. With his energy and durability, Rey produced one of the best ever Rumble matches in WWE history.
Entering the match at no.2, Rey lasted for a record 62 minutes and 12 seconds with six eliminations to his name. With Triple H and Randy Orton being the other two competitors apart from Rey in the end, the biggest little man of the WWE eliminated both while bringing up an unthinkable win.
#9 John Cena
Rumbles Won: 2 (2008 & 2013)
Love him or hate him, the fact cannot be denied that John Cena has won two Rumble matches.
In his seven Rumble appearances, Cena has eliminated 20 superstars at an average of 2.66 eliminations per match, a figure he would definitely like to improve. He tasted his first Rumble victory in 2008.
Coming on as the no. 30 entrant, Cena was left with Batista and Triple H as the final three men. With Batista being eliminated by Triple H, it led to an all epic square-off between The Game and the Cenation leader in the finishing moments of the match. Cena would counter a Triple H pedigree in an FU, throwing him over the top rope and thus, becoming second man in the history of the WWE to win from #30 spot.
The 2008 Rumble win also saw Cena setting up a new record for the shortest time that the eventual winner had spent in the Rumble match. He spent 8 minutes and 28 seconds in the ring, surpassing Brock Lesnar’s 8 minutes and 59 seconds mark.
After coming on as the #19 entrant in 2013 and eliminating Ryback thereby spending 26 minutes and 39 seconds in the ring, he became one of the four men to have won the Rumble, twice.
#10 Stone Cold Steve Austin
Rumbles Won: 3 (1997, 1998 & 2001)
The Texas Rattlesnake is the only person in the history of the WWE to have won the Rumble match, 3 times. Having entered in six Rumble matches, Stone Cold holds an eye-catching win ratio of 50 percent and an average of six eliminations for every Rumble he entered.
The Attitude Era Rumble matches were simply the best and Austin was a perfect model of both the WWE and the Rumble matches that took place between the superstars then. The 1999 Rumble match gives us a perfect example of how skilled, Stone Cold was at times of a mass brawl.
As an injury caused him to miss the Rumble match in 2000, many considered it as the worst pay-per-view in the Attitude Era.
#11 Shawn Michaels
Rumbles Won: 2 (1995, 1996)
Shawn Michaels and The British Bull Dog were the first two entrants as well as the last two wrestlers, remaining in the 1995 Royal Rumble. Smith threw Michaels over the top rope and began to celebrate, unaware of the fact that Michaels wasn’t eliminated from the match as he had touched the floor with only one foot. He attacked Smith from behind and threw him out of the ring to become the first wrestler to win the Royal Rumble after entering from the committed no.1 spot.
The succeeding year (1996), Michaels entered the Rumble match as the no.18 contestant and won thereby, cementing his place in the books of records as the second man to have won the Royal Rumble match more than once with the Hulk Star to have achieved the feat before.
On top of his two victories where he eliminated 16 persons and an overall elimination of 39 in the 12 Rumbles, he appeared for at an average of 3.25 eliminations per match, Shawn was very much near to picking up his third Royal Rumble victory, 11 years since his last victory unless to have got eliminated by the Undertaker.
