30 Amazing Stats and Facts From 30 Years of the WWE Royal Rumble

9: Wrestlers who accidentally eliminated themselves

In the history of the Royal Rumble, 9 wrestlers have actually eliminated themselves.

The first instance came in 1989 when Andre The Giant tossed himself over the top rope. This was followed by the 1992 Royal Rumble when the Macho Man dived over the top rope. However, this elimination was covered up.

In 1996, Stone Cold Steve Austin while he was still known as ‘The Ringmaster’ accidentally lost grip and eliminated himself from the Rumble match. Farooq, Ahmed Johnson and Mil Mascaras eliminated themselves at the 1997 Rumble. Kane, Mick Foley and MVP also ended up eliminating themselves from the 1999, 2004 and 2010 Royal Rumble’s respectively. Also, lest we forget, Drew Carey sent himself over the top rope in 2001 after Kane made his way down to the ring.

Alex Riley also accidentally eliminated himself from the Rumble match. This was especially sad for Riley because he was supposed to be involved in the spot that eliminated John Cena later on in the match.

The most famous case of accidental elimination came at the 2005 Rumble when Batista went over the top rope and accidentally eliminated himself along with John Cena. This led to Vince McMahon coming out and the last part of the Rumble match getting restarted.

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8: The music

The 1996 Rumble was the first time entrance music was played for every entrant

We now take it for granted that every entrant at the Royal Rumble will have their entrance music played but this wasn’t always the case. Until the 1996 Royal Rumble, only the #1 and #2 entrant of the Rumble had their entrance music played when they came out.

Thereby, when Bob Backlund came out at #3 during the 1996 Royal Rumble, he was the first person who was not a #1 or #2 entrant for the Rumble to have their music played when they came out.