5 Best No. 11 Entries in the Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble has a unique place in trivia history for wrestling fans. The Royal Rumble match itself gives the WWE a great opportunity to introduce new faces from their developmental programs, such as the recent NXT call-ups, a chance for legends to return, or even debuting a newly acquired superstar from another promotion, like AJ Styles.

However, the quirkiest of trivia possibly belongs to the 1997 Royal Rumble. The 1997 Royal Rumble saw the appearance of 4 luchadors from the AAA brand. This was the first and only time the WWF ran the Royal Rumble event with talent directly taken from another promotion.

The 1997 Royal Rumble saw the American WWF debut of legendary Luchador Mil Mascaras with other AAA Luchadors Pierroth, Latin Lover, and Cibernetico. Mil Mascaras, while not having a massive career in America, is one of the most infamous luchadors in Mexico and is considered one of the big three luchadors with El Santo and Blue Demon.

Mil Mascaras came in the 1997 Royal Rumble as the 11th entry and eliminated fellow Luchadors Pierroth and Cibernetico before climbing to the turnbuckle and diving onto the two Luchadors on the outside. Mil Mascaras then rolled back in the ring to continue his time in the Rumble but was stopped by the officials who eliminated him. However, the officials made a mistake as Mil Mascaras climbed through the middle ropes and not over the top ropes and should not have been eliminated.

This was the first and only Rumble in which talent from AAA have appeared.

You can see the other entries in this series below:

Part 1 is here; Part 6 is here

Part 2 is here; Part 7 is here

Part 3 is here; Part 8 is here

Part 4 is here; Part 9 is here

Part 5 is here; Part 10 is here

#5 Maven (2002) - Eliminated 11th - 1 Elimination

One of the most famous number 11 entries in Royal Rumble history. Coming in after the Undertaker had successfully eliminated both of the Hardy boys, Maven slowly made his way down to the ring to face off against the Deadman. Luckily for Maven, the Hardy Boys returned to the ring and tried to jump the Undertaker.

After the Undertaker was able to once again throw out the Hardy Boys, the winner of the inaugural Tough Enough competition then dropkicked the Phenom out of the Royal Rumble. The crowd was shocked and the Undertaker was visibly furious at being eliminated by a rookie especially as he looked dominant, having eliminated 7 of the 9 entries already.

The Undertaker would then go back into the ring and eliminate Maven, the WWE veteran would then throw the Tough Enough rookie through the crowd and around the arena as revenge for the elimination.

#4 Chris Jericho (2009) - Eliminated 23rd - 1 Elimination

Jericho watches Kane and the Undertaker chokeslam Ted DiBiase in the 2009 Royal Rumble

2008 was a banner year for Chris Jericho in which he had a great feud with Shawn Michaels and won the WWE World Heavyweight Title. He was looking to regain his momentum after losing the title to John Cena at Survivor Series, as well as their rematch at the Armageddon Pay-Per-View. However, on the January 12th, 2009 episode of Monday Night Raw, Stephanie McMahon fired Chris Jericho removing him from any future shot at the title and the Royal Rumble as well.

Jericho would then be reinstated after an apology on the following week's Raw and would be permitted to enter the Royal Rumble as well. He would last to the final 7 before being eliminated by the Undertaker and managed to eliminate a returning Rob Van Dam.

Jericho was in the Rumble for 37 minutes and 17 seconds.

#3 Carlito (2006) - Eliminated 26th - 2 Eliminations

Mabel and Shelton Benjamin trying to eliminate Carlito from the 2006 Royal Rumble

Carlito came into the 2006 Royal Rumble on a good stretch of form. Having qualified for the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at New Years Revolution, making it to the final two before being defeated by John Cena. This led into the 2006 Royal Rumble, as Carlito would enter the Rumble as the 11th entry and would last to the final 5.

Carlito would spend a grand total of 38 minutes and 29 seconds, the most after Triple H and winner Rey Mysterio, who started the Royal Rumble in the ring. Carlito would go on to eliminate Viscera, formerly known as Mabel and Big Daddy V, and then future tag team partner Chris Masters.

Carlito and Chris Masters would then form a tag team together after the Royal Rumble and challenge the then Tag Team Champions, Big Show and Kane, for their titles at Wrestlemania.

#2 Dean Ambrose (2014) - Eliminated 26th - 3 Eliminations

Dean Ambrose during his 2014 run with the Shield

While Batista may have won the 2014 Royal Rumble, much to the dismay of the live audience and many at home, there is no doubt that the Shield dominated for the majority of the match. Entering at number 11 was Dean Ambrose, the Shield's lunatic fringe. Joining his Shield stablemate, Seth Rollins, and would be joined later by Roman Reigns. Ambrose lasted 33 minutes and 41 seconds as he made his way to the final four before being accidentally eliminated by Roman Reigns.

While Ambrose may have only eliminated 3 participants in the form of R-Truth, Jimmy Uso, and the Great Khali, the Shield were responsible for 16 eliminations altogether with Roman getting the majority of them in 12. It would also be the first of three consecutive Royal Rumbles, 2014-2016, in which Dean Ambrose would finish in the top 5, ending in 2017 when he was eliminated 16th by Brock Lesnar.

#1 Sheamus (2013) - Eliminated 28th - 5 Eliminations

Sheamus entered into the 2013 Royal Rumble as the 11th entry

After winning the Royal Rumble, Sheamus was attempting to be the fourth man to win back to back Royal Rumbles, after Hulk Hogan (1990-91), Shawn Michaels (1995-96) and Stone Cold Steve Austin (1997-98). However, the obstacle of being entered 11 places earlier than the previous year would prove to be too much for Sheamus to overcome.

However, Sheamus managed to improve on the 3 eliminations he got when he won the Royal Rumble the previous year, managing to eliminate 5 superstars during the 2013 Royal Rumble. Amongst Sheamus' victims, that year, was Titus O'Neil, David Otunga, Brodus Clay, Jinder Mahal and the ironman of the Royal Rumble, Dolph Ziggler.

Sheamus would then be eliminated in third by Ryback, leaving the former Nexus member in the final two with John Cena.