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In the entire history of the Royal Rumble match, the final two competitors have fallen out at the same time on three separate occasions. The first instance when the final two competitors touched the ground at the same time was at the 1994 Rumble match, with both Lex Luger and Bret Hart being declared the joint winners.
Both would go on to face the WWE Champion Yokozuna at Royal Rumble PPV. Only Bret Hart would be successful, as Luger lost his challenge against the giant sumo wrestler earlier on in the night.
The second time would be at the 2000 Royal Rumble, in which both The Rock and the Big Show. With both superstars going over the rope, The Rock was declared the winner as it appeared that his feet had never hit the floor.
The result was seemingly reversed after video footage showed that The Rock had hit the floor first Rock and Big Show would go on to face WWF Champion Triple H and Mick Foley in a fatal four-way elimination match for the title at WrestleMania.
The third time occurred between Batista and John Cena at the 2005 Royal Rumble. However, this time the CEO of the WWE came to the ring, infamously tearing both his quadricep muscles and forcing him to sit down in the ring.
In this instance, McMahon ordered the final two to restart the match to declare a single winner. Batista would then defeat Triple H for the World Heavyweight Title at Wrestlemania, while Cena would challenge Bradshaw for the WWE title after winning a number 1 contender's tournament.
You can see the other entries in this series below:
Part 1 is here; Part 6 is here; Part 11 is here; Part 16 is here; Part 21 is here
Part 2 is here; Part 7 is here; Part 12 is here; Part 17 is here; Part 22 is here
Part 3 is here; Part 8 is here; Part 13 is here; Part 18 is here
Part 4 is here; Part 9 is here; Part 14 is here; Part 19 is here
Part 5 is here; Part 10 is here; Part 15 is here; Part 20 is here
#5 Kama (1996) - Eliminated 28th - 1 Elimination
The legendary Charles Wright wrestled for the WWE under several different gimmicks, from the voodoo Papa Shango, to shoot fighter Kama, and later to his most popular gimmick The Godfather. Kama entered the 1996 Royal Rumble match as entrant 23 and made it all the way to the final three with Shawn Michaels and Diesel.
The shoot-fighter lasted 15 minutes and 57 seconds for his third-place finish and, together with Diesel, eliminated the number 30 entry Duke Droese which was Kama's sole elimination for the Royal Rumble.
Wright, as the Kama, would later join the Nation of Domination with Faarooq, Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown, and The Rock. However, his most successful stint in the WWE as incredibly popular Godfather character, who entered the ring with his Ho Train. Wright would enter 8 Royal Rumble matches under a variety of gimmicks, However, his 3rd place finish as Kama was as far as he ever got.
#4 Akeem (1989) - Eliminated 28th - 2 Eliminations
Akeem the African Dream, formerly known as the One Man Gang, participated in the 1989 Royal Rumble and finished 2nd to Big John Studd, a year after he would finish second in the first Royal Rumble to 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan.
Akeem would be the first person have back to back second places finishes in the Royal Rumble match something that only Triple H, in 2008 and 2009, and Roman Reigns, 2017 and 2018, have managed to replicate.
Coming in as entry 23, the newly dubbed Akeem eliminated WWE Champion Hulk Hogan and Rick Martel. After lasting 18 minutes and 36 seconds, he would be dumped out by Big John Studd to finish seconds.
In the 1990 Royal Rumble, Akeem would fail to back up his previous two performances and would be eliminated after only 2 and a half minutes in the ring. This would be his last Royal Rumble with the company. He last wrestled for the WWE in the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X7, once again wrestling under his One Man Gang moniker.
#3 Shawn Michaels (2007) - Eliminated 29th - 4 Eliminations
Shawn Michaels initially retired from in-ring performing after suffering a serious spine injury in 1998. However, Michaels would return to in-ring competition 4 years later in a feud against Triple H.
Michaels' second run lasted 8 years before retiring a second time in 2010. During his second run, Michaels would enter the Royal Rumble coming close to winning his third Royal Rumble on so many occasions.
This includes the 2007 Royal Rumble where Shawn Michaels would enter the match as the 23rd entrant, before being eliminated by eventual winner and wrestler that would later retire him, The Undertaker. During his time in the Rumble, the Heartbreak Kid would eliminate Finley, Shelton Benjamin, Randy Orton, and Edge before the Deadman got the better of him.
Shawn Michaels would still end up competing at WrestleMania for the WWE title as Undertaker faced Batista for the World Heavyweight belt. Michaels would lose his title challenge after losing to John Cena via submission.
#2 Randy Orton (2017) - Winner - 1 Eliminations
After winning his first Royal Rumble match in 2009, it would take Randy Orton a further 8 years before he would reach the summit and win his second Rumble match. Just like in 2009, Orton would rely on his stablemates to help him win.
This time, instead of The Legacy stablemates Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, it would be Bray Wyatt and instead of the three on one against Triple H it was two on one against Roman Reigns.
Coming two entries after his Wyatt family leader Bray, Orton and Wyatt looked to back each other up in the Rumble and double teamed their opponents to gain an edge. This worked as their fellow competitors would be eliminated all around them.
While Orton and Wyatt were both in the Royal Rumble for over 20 minutes, they only eliminated one person between the two, and that was Randy Orton eliminating Roman Reigns for the victory.
It was the lowest elimination count be a winning wrestler since Vince McMahon won the Royal Rumble in 1999 after spending the majority of the Royal Rumble outside of the ring.
While originally going to give up his spot at WrestleMania after Bray won the title at Elimination Chamber, Orton would cash in his opportunity against his former tag team partner to win the WWE title at Wrestlemania.
#1 Lex Luger (1994) - Co-Winner - 6 Eliminations
The 1994 Royal Rumble match saw the first and only time that there have been two winners of the match. While the 2005 Rumble match did see John Cena and Batista hit the ground at the same time, the two were sent back into the ring and the match was restarted.
However, in 1994 Bret Hart and Lex Luger would both tumble out of the ring and be announced as the co-winners of the 1994 Royal Rumble match, making it the first and only draw in WWE history.
Lex Luger entered the 1994 Rumble match as entrant 23, 4 entries before his co-winner Bret Hart. Luger would last 21 minutes and 58 seconds, eliminating a host of other participants including The Great Kabuki, Crush, Adam Bomb, Bam Bam Bigelow, Genichiro Tenryu, and Shawn Michaels before Luger and Hart squared off as the final two.
Luger and Hart would tie up together next to the ropes and tip over the top rope sending both competitors sprawling to the floor.
While both Luger and Hart would face Yokozuna at WrestleMania that year for the WWF title, with Luger facing the champion first by virtue of a coin toss.While Luger would lose his challenge for the title, becoming the first Royal Rumble winner to lose their Wrestlemania title match.
