The only exceptions to the 30 man rule were the 1988 Royal Rumble which featured 20 superstars and the 2011 Royal Rumble featured 40 superstars. The Royal Rumble gives the WWE a chance to start afresh as it builds towards the biggest wrestling event of the year, WrestleMania.

As the winner of the Royal Rumble is given a title shot at the WWE’s biggest show, the Royal Rumble event is truly the start of the road towards WrestleMania and allows storylines to flow through the event towards the WWE’s most important day. Therefore, the Royal Rumble plays an integral part of the WWE’s plans heading towards the Wrestlemania event. Poor receptions at the WWE Royal Rumble can usually lead towards unfortunate fall out at Wrestlemania, such as Batista’s Royal Rumble victory in 2014. However, even when the crowd is disappointed with the winner, the event itself always contains spectacular moments which fans will watch countless times after the event is long over.

Only two people have won the Royal Rumble from the No. 2 entry. Vince McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble but he spent the majority of the Rumble running away from Austin around the arena or at ringside as a commentator. The second was Rey Mysterio, who went the whole distance in the 2006 Royal Rumble and set the record for a Rumble participation at 1 hour, 2 minutes and 12 seconds.

5 Finn Balor (2018) - Eliminated 27th - 4 Eliminations

In the 2018 Royal Rumble, Finn Balor was given the role of the iron man in the match, with his final time in the Rumble just under an hour, clocking in at 57 minutes and 38 seconds. Balor made it until the final 4, which is a great achievement in and of itself. During the Rumble, Balor shared the ring with modern day WWE Legends like John Cena, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio, but was also in the ring with fellow current stars like Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura.

Finn also managed to eliminate 4 superstars including Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Aiden English, and Rey Mysterio before he was dumped out himself by John Cena. His efforts were helped somewhat by Baron Corbin, who after he was eliminated, took out Balor. This gave the Irishman time to rest on the side while Heath Slater, Elias, Andre Cien Almas, Bray Wyatt, entered the Rumble.

4 Bob Backlund (1993) - Eliminated 28th - 2 eliminations

Former WWF Champion, Bob Backlund, predominantly wrestled in an era before the Royal Rumble existed, having wrestled for the WWF during the 70s and 80s. However, at the start of the 90s, Backlund had returned to the company and made his Royal Rumble debut at the 1993 Royal Rumble. Backlund started in the ring with the previous years Royal Rumble winner, Ric Flair.

Backlund would last all the way to the final three before being eliminated by the eventual winner, Yokozuna. Along the way, Backlund managed to eliminate Fatu and Rick Martel. Backlund’s time in the ring, a whopping 1 hour, 1 minute and 10 seconds, eclipsed the record set by Ric Flair the previous year. In the process of doing so, Backlund became only the second man in history to break the 1-hour mark in the Royal Rumble, a feat that has only been done 6 times in the history of the Rumble. Backlund’s run in the Rumble remained the record for 11 years until it was beaten by Chris Benoit in 2004.

3 The British Bulldog (1995) - Eliminated 29th - 4 Eliminations

Entering in at number 2 in the 1995 Rumble, the British Bulldog came agonizingly close to winning the Royal Rumble. While Bulldog and Michaels made it from the starting 2 to the final to, Bulldog believed that he had won after throwing Michaels over the top rope. However, as Michaels clung desperately onto the ropes, only one

Coming into the Royal Rumble second after eventual winner, Shawn Michaels, and finishing second. The British Bulldog and Michaels would wrestle through the entire rumble together, with the Bulldog eliminating 4 superstars including Jimmy Del Rey, Owen Hart, Timothy Well, and 30th entrant in the Rumble, Crush. The Bulldog would clock in at 38 minutes and 41 seconds, despite wrestling essentially from the starting bell to the finishing bell.

The ending was incredibly dramatic as the British Bulldog looked like he had just won the Rumble after throwing Michaels over the top rope. However, as Bulldog celebrated, Michaels clung on to the rope with only one his feet touching the floor. As Bulldog climbed the turnbuckle, Michaels climbed back into the ring and pushed him off the turnbuckle.

2 Vince McMahon (1999) - Winner - 1 Elimination

During the 1999 Royal Rumble, the CEO of the WWF Vince McMahon was in a heated rivalry against the winner of the past two Royal Rumbles, Stone Cold Steve Austin. In order to screw Austin’s chances of winning a 3rd straight Royal Rumble, Vince fixed the draw so that Austin would be the first entry, put a $100,000 bounty on Austin’s head for the superstar that eliminated the Texas Rattlesnake. However, due to Vince’s meddling Smackdown commissioner Shawn Michaels put Vince in the Rumble as the second entry.

Vince would quickly escape the ring while Austin was distracted, and tried to escape Austin’s clutches by running through the arena. Unfortunately for Austin, McMahon was able to run Austin into a trap and he was ambushed by members of the Corporation stable. McMahon returned to ringside to commentate the match while the main screen showed the vision of Austin being loaded into an ambulance.

Austin would return later in the rumble and clean house, taking out many of the other superstars in the ring. However, when it was just Austin and McMahon left, The WWF champion, The Rock would come down to the ring and distracted Austin, allowing McMahon to make his sole Royal Rumble elimination to win the entire event.

1 Rey Mysterio (2006) - Winner - 6 Eliminations

The first Royal Rumble after the sudden passing of Eddie Guerrero was won by his close personal friend, Rey Mysterio after a gruelling battle. Mysterio entered the Royal Rumble with Triple H as the first entry. Both of them wrestled through the match and both ended in the final 3 along with Randy Orton, who came in at the number 30 spot. Rey entered the Rumble in Guerrero’s signature low-rider, which bought out an emotional reaction from the crowd who would chant “Eddie” as the match started.

Mysterio would finish with a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes and 12 seconds a record time that still stands to this day. During the Rumble, Rey Mysterio would eliminate Simon Dean, Psicosis, Rob Van Dam, Super Crazy, Triple H, and Randy Orton for the victory. Mysterio would dedicate his victory to Guerrero after the Rumble as well, dropping to his knees and pointing to the sky as a tribute to his fallen friend

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