Royal Rumble-An Overview
The World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) holds Royal Rumble in January every year, an exclusive pay-per-view event that started on January 24, 1988.
The first Royal Rumble was held at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. The event is one of WWE’s four major events – Wrestle Mania, Summer Slam, Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble. The Rumble is said to be the most popular of these events.
The event is a no-rules fight in which the wrestlers have to throw their competitors out of the ring. As soon as a wrestler’s feet touch the ground, he is eliminated from the competition. The match continues until all the competitors are eliminated and there is only one man standing in the ring.
For proper elimination, the wrestlers have to be thrown over the top rope and anyone slipping from underneath would not be eliminated. In 1999, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vince McMahon used this regulation to their benefit, slipping out of the ring and returning in later.
Some wrestlers also use tactics like distraction to help their friends catch other wrestlers off-guard and eliminating them. In 2006, Shawn Michaels was eliminated when Shane McMahon, the CEO of WWE, interfered and distracted him.
The first Royal Rumble consisted of 20 men competing to be the last man standing. However, the number of contenders soon increased as the show became more popular and as the WWE grew. The Royal Rumble 2011 consisted to 40 wrestlers. The event was held at Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden on Sunday, 30th January 2011.
The event was initially named Rumble Royale. Jim Duggan went on to become the first winner of the event.
Stone Cold Steve Austin holds the record for most Royal Rumble wins with three victories. The record for longest time in the ring during the Rumble is held by Rey Mysterio. He was in the ring for an hour, two minutes and 12 seconds in 2006. The record for shortest time in the ring during the Rumble is of Santino Marella, who came in the ring for only a second in the 2009 event.
Kane is the only wrestler to have thrown out 11 competitors out of the ring in 2001. Shawn Michaels holds the record for eliminating the most number of wrestlers in his career, with 39 eliminations to his credit. He has appeared in the Royal Rumble 12 times. Kane also has the record for the most appearances in the Royal Rumble, with 13 out of his 15 being consecutive appearances.
1994 was the only year when there were two winners, when Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart and Lex Luger were declared combined winners of the competition.
Following is the list of Royal Rumble winners since its inception:
1988 – Jim Duggan
1989 – Big John Studd
1990 – Hulk Hogan
1991 – Hulk Hogan
1992 – Ric Flair
1993 – Yokozuna
1994 – Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart and Lex Luger
1995 – Shawn Michaels ‘The Heartbreak Kid’
1996 – Shawn Michaels ‘The Heartbreak Kid’
1997 – Stone Cold Steve Austin
1998 – Stone Cold Steve Austin
1999 – Vince McMahon
2000 – The Rock
2001 – Stone Cold Steve Austin
2002 – Triple H
2003 – Brock Lesnar
2004 – Chris Benoit
2005 – Batista ‘The Animal’
2006 – Rey Mysterio
2007 – Undertaker
2008 – John Cena
2009 – Randy Orton
2010 – Edge
2011 – Alberto Del Rio
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