Royal Rumble is easily the most anticipated match of the year for the majority of the WWE Universe. The suspense, the thrill and the drama in this match are unmatched, and that is why it is one of the most-watched pay-per-views of the year.
Hundreds of Superstars have taken part in the Rumble over the years, and not everyone will be remembered. Some of them, however, have set unique records which will keep them in the record books forever and their names will pop up every time there is some talk of the rumble.
Without further ado, here are 5 Royal Rumble records that will be very difficult to break any time soon:
New Champs in WWE! More RIGHT HERE
#5 Least eliminations by the winner
Royal Rumble rules are straightforward. All you have to do it throw your opponent over the top rope, and as soon as his or her feet hit the ground, they are eliminated. Once all other participants are over the top rope, the last one standing wins.
Usually, the winner eliminates a few people in the rumble and is very likely to have had a significant effect on the match. However, in 1999, Vince McMahon picked up the win by eliminating just one entrant.
Vince and Stone Cold Steve Austin started the match, and they were the last two remaining in the ring as well. The WWE chairman survived the whole rumble match by staying outside the ring after getting beaten up by Stone Cold at the very start. It looked as if the Texas Rattlesnake was going to pick up the win when The Rock interfered.
Vince took advantage of Stone Cold and The Rock having a go at each other and put the Rattlesnake over the top rope. He ended up winning the Rumble and he only eliminated Stone Cold!
The only way this record is broken is if someone wins without eliminating another Superstar and that is very difficult. Moreover, Vince hold the record now, will he let anyone break it?
#4 Shortest time in the ring (fastest elimination)
When The Warlord was eliminated by Hulk Hogan in 2 seconds during the 1989 Royal Rumble, nobody expected that record to be broken. However, Santio Marella managed to do exactly that when he was eliminated by Kane in 1.5 seconds.
One point five seconds – it takes more time just to say those words and thus it would be highly impossible for anyone to enter the ring and get thrown over the top of the rope in less time.
Can the record be matched? Nobody knows. There is a chance that Santio might become the joint holder of the record but it will still be milliseconds apart and WWE will find ways to keep the record on the 'Italian' itself.
And why now? Him shouting “I wasn't ready! I wasn't ready” after getting eliminated was one of the best moments in Royal Rumble history and keeping it intact would be the best thing to do for WWE.
Unless things go south between Marella and WWE, expect this record to remain the way it is for a really long time.
#3 Most eliminations in a single Rumble
Braun Strowman holds the record for the most eliminations in a single Rumble. He threw 13 men over the top rope at the 2018 Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia.
This is a record that is not unbreakable, and it may be broken in the next decade or two. WWE have a lot of Superstars on their roster now, and there is a chance of them increasing the rumble entrants to 40 or 50 soon.
They have already tried the two out – 40-man Rumble in 2011 and 50-man rumble in 2018 at the Greatest Royal Rumble. It was way too long, to be honest, and that might be the reason why WWE just experimented with it and did not make it a permanent change.
For any Superstar to break this record, he will have to eliminate just a little less than half the participants in the 30-man rumble. That seems highly impossible right now, and unless WWE increase the numbers once again, Strowman will keep this record to his name for a long time.
#2 Most minutes spent in the Royal Rumble (combined)
Spending as many minutes as possible inside the ring during a Royal Rumble is not what every Superstar would be looking for. Most of them would jump on the chance of entering at #30 and eliminating just 1-2 other SUperstars who are tired inside the ring to win the Royal Rumble.
That is exactly why Chris Jericho's record of 299 minutes inside the ring during a Rumble match will never be broken. Y2J has been involved in 11 matches in Royal Rumble history but has never won it.
With him in All Elite Wrestling now, it seems very unlikely that he would return for another match any time soon. Thus, his record might remain the same and also remain untouchable.
One other reason why it could remain untouchable is that the matches have been shortened now. With the Women's Rumble added and the number of other matches on the pay-per-view, the average time spent by a Superstar inside the ring even if he starts and ends the match will be far less than what it used to be before.
#1 Most Royal Rumble appearances
Kane has appeared in as many as 19 Royal Rumble's so far. He has not retired and the number is likely to increase as years go by. We have seen Hall of Famers enter the ring even if they have not wrestled in ages and that is another reason why Kane's appearances could keep increasing.
From the current roster in WWE, Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler are the closest to Kane's record. Both of them have appeared in 12 Rumbles so far and still, they need to participate in at least 7 more to just match Kane's record.
As mentioned before, Kane's is very likely to make surprise appearances at the Rumbles in the future and thus, Kofi and Dolph will need to keep appearing for another decade to actually have a shot at matching or breaking Kane's record.
Dolph has already been taking breaks and focusing on his stand up comedy career. Meanwhile, Kofi's appearances could keep increasing as everyone loves his spots in the matches and WWE could keep inventing new things to make things interesting.