Royal Rumble

This article is about the professional wrestling pay-per-view event. For the video game named after this event for the SNES and Sega Genesis, see WWF Royal Rumble. For the Dreamcast and arcade game, see WWF Royal Rumble (2000 video game).

File:RoyalRumble08.jpg

Official Royal Rumble logo as of 2008

The Royal Rumble is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced every January by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event's main featured match is a Battle Royal-type match, entitled the Royal Rumble match. The pay-per-view is part of WWE's "Big Four", along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series. The Royal Rumble is also one of WWE's more popular pay-per-views.

The Rumble was originally aired on the USA Network before it was rebranded as a pay-per-view. The rules and format of the Rumble match have changed since the match's debut. Since 1993, the winner of the Rumble match has received a title match at that year's WrestleMania.

Pay-per-view

The Royal Rumble is a pay-per-view consisting of the Royal Rumble match, championship matches, and various other matches. The first Royal Rumble took place on January 24 1988 and was broadcast live on the USA Network. The following year, the event was rebranded as a pay-per-view. It is part of WWE's "classic five" pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series, SummerSlam, and King of the Ring.

The Royal Rumble match is usually situated at the top of the card. This, however, is not always the case, as the 2006 event had the match in the middle of the pay-per-view.

The first Rumble match featured only twenty men, and it was called the Rumble Royale. It lasted approximately thirty-three minutes of the two-hour broadcast. The modern Rumble matches are much longer, with the longest match, at the 2002 event, lasting over one hour and nine minutes of an approximately three-hour pay-per-view.

The 2008 Royal Rumble will be the first WWE pay-per-view to be available in high-definition

Match

Stone Cold Steve Austin has won three Royal Rumble matches, which is also the current record for most wins.

Rules

The idea behind the Royal Rumble match is credited to Pat Patterson. Before the match begins, the contestants draw spots in the Rumble. The match is comprised of thirty men, beginning with the two men who chose entry numbers one and two in the ring. At regular timed intervals, usually ninety seconds, one of the remaining 28 wrestlers enters the ring. Participants must eliminate all other opponents, and the winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.

Similar to a Battle Royal, a wrestler is eliminated when leaving the ring over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. A referee, who is situated at ringside, must witness an elimination in order for it to be valid. It is commonplace for a wrestler who is eliminated without the referee noticing to sneak back into the match. For example, Stone Cold Steve Austin was eliminated during the 1997 event, but he re-entered without the referees' knowledge and eventually won the match. Moreover, a wrestler who exits the ring without going over the top rope is not eliminated from the contest. During the 1999 Rumble match, both Vince McMahon and Steve Austin left the ring, only to return later in the match.

Rewards for winning

The reward for the 1992 Royal Rumble was the WWF Championship. The tradition of granting a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania started in 1993. Beginning in 2004, the winner had their choice of a World Heavyweight Championship or WWE Championship match at WrestleMania. Due to the revival of the ECW World Championship as a brand championship in mid-2006, the 2007 event added this championship as a choice to the winning stipulation. The Rumble winner has gone on to win a Championship title at WrestleMania every year since WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001.

Brand extension

With the brand extension introduced in mid-2002, the 30 entrants from 2003 to 2006 consisted of 15 wrestlers from both the RAW and SmackDown! brands. At first, the winner of the match received a shot at his brand's champion. Starting in 2004, the Rumble winner had the option of challenging either brand's champion. For instance, Chris Benoit switched brands in 2004 and won the World Heavyweight Championship. The 2007 Royal Rumble marked the first year participants from the ECW brand competed along with the RAW and SmackDown! brands. The winner of the Royal Rumble now has the option to challenge for the ECW World Championship, as well.

Dates, venues, and winners

Year	Date	City	Venue	Royal Rumble match winner	Winner's entry #	Notes
Royal Rumble 1988	January 24 1988	Hamilton, Ontario	Copps Coliseum	"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan	13	The first Royal Rumble was called the Rumble Royale. It featured only 20 men.
Royal Rumble 1989	January 15 1989	Houston, Texas	The Summit	Big John Studd	27	From this year on the Royal Rumble match was changed to feature 30 participants.
Royal Rumble 1990	January 21 1990	Orlando, Florida	Orlando Arena	Hulk Hogan	25
Royal Rumble 1991	January 19 1991	Miami, Florida	Miami Arena	Hulk Hogan	24
Royal Rumble 1992	January 19 1992	Albany, New York	Knickerbocker Arena	Ric Flair	3	The winner of the match won the WWF Championship.
Royal Rumble 1993	January 24 1993	Sacramento, California	ARCO Arena	Yokozuna	27	From this year on, the winner was granted a Championship title match at WrestleMania.
Royal Rumble 1994	January 22 1994	Providence, Rhode Island	Providence Civic Center	Bret Hart Lex Luger	27 23	Bret Hart and Lex Luger were declared co-winners when it was decided that both of their feet touched the floor at exactly the same time.
Royal Rumble 1995	January 22 1995	Tampa, Florida	USF Sun Dome	Shawn Michaels	1
Royal Rumble 1996	January 21 1996	Fresno, California	Selland Arena	Shawn Michaels	18
Royal Rumble 1997	January 19 1997	San Antonio, Texas	Alamodome	Stone Cold Steve Austin	5	Steve Austin was eliminated, but was able to re-enter the ring before a referee saw him.
Royal Rumble 1998	January 18 1998	San Jose, California	San Jose Arena	Stone Cold Steve Austin	24
Royal Rumble 1999	January 24 1999	Anaheim, California	Arrowhead Pond	Vince McMahon	2
Royal Rumble 2000	January 23 2000	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	The Rock	24
Royal Rumble 2001	January 21 2001	New Orleans, Louisiana	New Orleans Arena	Stone Cold Steve Austin	27
Royal Rumble 2002	January 20 2002	Atlanta, Georgia	Philips Arena	Triple H	22
Royal Rumble 2003	January 19 2003	Boston, Massachusetts	Fleet Center	Brock Lesnar	29
Royal Rumble 2004	January 25 2004	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wachovia Center	Chris Benoit	1
Royal Rumble 2005	January 30 2005	Fresno, California	Save Mart Center	Batista	28	The match was restarted after Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time.
Royal Rumble 2006	January 29 2006	Miami, Florida	AmericanAirlines Arena	Rey Mysterio	2
Royal Rumble 2007	January 28 2007	San Antonio, Texas	AT&T Center	The Undertaker	30
Royal Rumble 2008	January 27 2008	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden

Video box set

WWE released a complete DVD box set entitled Royal Rumble: The Complete Anthology, which showcases every Royal Rumble event in its entirety, on March 13 2007.

See also

• Gauntlet for the Gold
• WCW World War 3

References

General

• "Royal Rumble results". ProWrestlingHistory.com. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
• Eric Cohen. Royal "Royal Rumble History". About.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)

Specific

• Ian Hamilton (2006). Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition. Lulu.com. ISBN 1411612108.
• Ric Flair (2004). Ric Flair: To Be the Man. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743456912.
• Brian Shields (2006). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 1416532579.

Further reading

• Harley Race and Gerry Tritz (2004). King of the Ring: The Harley Race Story. Sports Publishing. ISBN 1582618186.
• Ross Davies (2002). Kevin Nash. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 0823934926.
• Dave Meltzer (2004). Tributes II: Remembering More of the World's Greatest Professional Wrestlers. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN 1582618178.
• Brian Fritz and Christopher Murray (2006). Between the Ropes: Wrestling's Greatest Triumphs and Failures. ECW Press. ISBN 1550227262.
• Steve Austin and Jim Ross (2003). The Stone Cold Truth. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743477200.
• Scott Keith (2004). Wrestling's One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation. Citadel Press. ISBN 080652619X.

External links

• Official Royal Rumble Website
• WWE.com: Royal Rumble match description
• WWE.com: Royal Rumble Facts & Figures
• Royal Rumble History at About.com