5 Best No. 9 Entries in the Royal Rumble Match

The number nine entry to the Royal Rumble match is one of the worst performing entries into the Royal Rumble in history. Not a single person who entered number 9 into the Royal Rumble has won the Royal Rumble, let alone made it to the final phase of the match. The best performance by a number 9 entry to the Royal Rumble was Hornswoggle, who entered number 9 in the 2008 Royal Rumble and was technically eliminated from the Rumble.

After Hornswoggle, Drew McIntyre was eliminated 16th in the 2010 Royal Rumble but was unable to eliminate anyone during his time in the match despite going into the match as the Intercontinental Champion and on a winning streak from the previous year. Further, then this, only two wrestlers who have entered the Royal Rumble have managed to eliminate more than one other competitor, being the Big Boss Man in the 2000 Royal Rumble and Bray Wyatt under his Husky Harris gimmick at the 2011 Royal Rumble as a part of CM Punk's new Nexus.

Including Big Boss Man and Husky Harris' eliminations, the number 9 entry has eliminated a total of 18 competitors over the course of 31 Male Royal Rumbles and 1 Female Royal Rumble. This makes it the least successful spot in the Rumble. However, over the course of the history of the Royal Rumble, entries 1-10 are the second most successful in the 30 people Royal Rumbles, with 21-30 obviously being the best, while number 11-20 are the least successful. Entries 1-10 have produced 7 winners putting it in front of entries 11-20 with 5, but behind entries, 21-30 resulting in 19 victories, the sole victory outside of these numbers was the 40 man Royal Rumble which was won by Alberto Del Rio, who came out as entry number 38.

You can see the other entries in this series below:

Part 1 is here; Part 5 is here

Part 2 is here; Part 6 is here

Part 3 is here; Part 7 is here

Part 4 is here; Part 8 is here

#5The Texas Tornado (1992) - Eliminated 8th - 0 Eliminations

The Texas Tornado, better known as Kerry Von Erich, cutting a promo before the 1992 Royal Rumble

The 'Texas Tornado' Kerry Von Erich was the only member of the legendary Von Erich family that made it to the WWF of his generation. The Von Erich family are one of the most well-known families in wrestling, along with the Anoa'i's, the Harts and the McMahons. Most of the family wrestled for Fritz's promotion World Class Championship Wrestling, or WCCW in Texas and was incredibly popular with the local crowds.

Kerry was the only one of the Von Erich boys that had any sort of career in the WWF, and although his tenure was short, Kerry participated in both the 1991 and 1992 Royal Rumble. In the 1992 Royal Rumble for the vacant WWF Championship, Kerry would enter the fray in the 9th entry, only to be eliminated by longtime nemesis and eventual Rumble winner Ric Flair.

#4 Torrie Wilson (2018) - Eliminated 6th - 1 Elimination

Torrie Wilson came out at number 9 in the first ever all-female Royal Rumble

The 2018 Royal Rumble was the first ever Royal Rumble to feature an all-female version of the match. With 30 female superstars from both the past and present represented, names like Trish Stratus, Lita and Torrie Wilson faced off against the current generation of female wrestlers like Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch.

Wilson was one of the many women that WWE acquired from WCW when they purchased the company in 2001, and Wilson spent 7 years during her first run in the company acting as both a manager to some wrestlers as well as an in-ring competitor during her time. Her most high profile feud came against Sable after Torrie was involved in a Playboy shoot.

Wilson had effectively been out of wrestling for just short of 10 years when she made her return during the Royal Rumble and was cheered warmly on her return. In the Rumble, she managed to eliminate Dana Brooke before she was eliminated by Sonya Deville.

#3 Big Boss Man (2000) - Eliminated 15th - 3 Eliminations

The Big Bossman during the 2000 Royal Rumble

At the time of the 2000 Royal Rumble, Big Bossman had just finished a feud against the Big Show for the WWF title. The feud was intensely personal and involved members of Big Shows family. Having defeated the Rock for the spot as the number one contender to the title, Bossman lost the title match against the Big Show at the Armageddon PPV in December.

In a bid to get another chance at the WWF title, the Big Bossman entered into the 2000 Royal Rumble and was entered in as the number 9 entry. During the Royal Rumble, the Big Bossman would go on to eliminate Rikishi, Chyna, and Farooq before he was eliminated himself by the eventual winner, the Rock. During his time in the Rumble, the Big Bossman lasted 22 minutes and 47 seconds and would be the Big Bossman's best recorded time in the Rumble.

#2 Husky Harris (2011) - Eliminated 15th - 3 Eliminations

Husky Harris with the New Nexus at the 2011 Royal Rumble

Husky Harris, now better known as Bray Wyatt, was a member of CM Punk's New Nexus heading into the 2011 Royal Rumble. While the leader of the New Nexus, CM Punk, was entered first. Harris was the first member after Punk to enter the Royal Rumble, immediately rushing to Punk's defence. As a result, Harris was able to eliminate Ted DiBiase, John Morrison, and Mark Henry with the help of his New Nexus stablemates.

After lasting over 15 minutes in the Rumble, Harris' best Royal Rumble performance before adopting his better-known cult leader gimmick in Bray Wyatt. However, despite having 4 members of the New Nexus in the Rumble at the time, Harris was eliminated first by the Great Khali, while all the other members were eliminated by John Cena. One of the more memorable parts of Harris' Royal Rumble was while trying to protect CM Punk in the corner, Harris inadvertently got to close and appeared to have his rear end shoved in Punk's face.

#1 Hornswoggle (2008) - Never Eliminated - 1 Elimination

Hornswoggle and Finley leaving the Royal Rumble in 2008

The number 9 entry to the Royal Rumble was the meddlesome Hornswoggle. The diminutive wrestler, and Fit Finley's friend, qualified for the Royal Rumble following a tag team victory with Mick Foley against the Highlanders on the January 7th episode of Monday Night Raw. Hornswoggle would eliminate the Miz from the Rumble but would spend most of the match hiding under the ring.

The dream would come to an end after Hornswoggle re-emerged from below the ring to try and eliminate a teetering Cody Rhodes only to be grabbed by Mark Henry and pulled into the ring. Hornswoggle then found himself pinned between Mark Henry and Big Daddy V. Luckily for 'Swoggle, Fit Finley came to the ring and helped him escape with the use of his shillelagh.

While Finley was disqualified from the Royal Rumble for coming out before his number, Hornswoggle never went over the top rope and was therefore never technically eliminated from the 2008 Royal Rumble.