5 Royal Rumble winners who went the distance to win

The WWE Royal Rumble is scheduled to be held on the 29th of January, 2022. As the event gets closer, the hype for it gets higher. The namesake match, as always, is highly anticipated and makes for an exciting start to the year.

A total of 30 superstars enter the match, but only one will stand tall. The toughest spot one can get to enter the match is either as entrant number one or two. These two superstars have to survive for the longest time to be declared the winner.

As such, there have only been a total of 5 superstars to date who have achieved this feat. Without further ado, let us discuss who these 5 superstars are.

Feel free to voice your thoughts in the comment section as to who you think will win this year.

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#5. Shawn Michaels was the #1 entrant in Royal Rumble 1995

Shawn Michaels is one of the finest performers Vince McMahon's promotion has ever had. The Heartbreak kid managed to win the Rumble, not once, but twice in his career.

He won the match in the 1995 Royal Rumble after entering first, for the first time in WWE history. Michaels started the match squaring off against the British Bulldog. These two superstars survived until the end and were the ultimate contenders to win.

Michaels also introduced the "one leg rule" of surviving. He was nearly eliminated by the British Bulldog as a leg was touching the ground, but he returned and eliminated the Bulldog to become the maiden superstar to triumph in the Rumble match after entering first.

With 38 minutes and 40 seconds in the ring, Michaels managed to eliminate a total of 8 superstars. He didn't stop here and won the following edition of the match in 1996 with 8 eliminations too. He also came out as the runner-up in the 2007 edition of the event.

#4. Mr. McMahon has also won a Royal Rumble match

As shocking as it sounds, Vince McMahon has also won a Royal Rumble match. It was the 1999 edition of the event when this astonishing incident happened.

Mr. McMahon began the match as the number 2 entrant alongside Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Texas Rattlesnake came off the back of two consecutive victories, having conquered the match in 1997 and 1998.

Both men spent most of their time outside the ring. Yet, Austin managed to eliminate 8 superstars. On the contrary, it took only one elimination for Mr McMahon to emerge as the winner. The only superstar he eliminated was Stone Cold Steve Austin.

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#3. Chris Benoit broke various records

Chris Benoit was the first entrant in the 2004 edition, with Randy Orton starting off the match as number two. He spent over an hour in the ring, breaking the record for the longest time in a Rumble match previously held by Bob Backlund.

He eliminated Bradshaw, Mark Henry, Rhyno, Matt Morgan, A-Train and ultimately Big Show to win the whole thing. It was stunning how Benoit survived the hour, yet managed to throw a giant like Big Show over the top rope.

The Rabid Wolverine became the first winner of the match to choose which world champion he wants to face at WrestleMania. This has now become a tradition.

#2. Rey Mysterio did wonders in Royal Rumble 2006

Not only did Rey Mysterio win the Royal Rumble match, but he also did it after entering at number 2.

WWE tends to slightly overuse the David versus Goliath trope. However, Goliath generally comes out on top in Vince McMahon's promotion. Rey Mysterio is one of those 'Davids', who managed to overcome various giants. In the process, he also won the 2006 edition of the Rumble.

He began the match against Triple H and remained in the ring for 62 minutes and 12 seconds. This meant that he broke the record for longest time spent in the match previously held by Chris Benoit.

Mysterio threw superstars such as Rob Van Dam, Triple H and Randy Orton over the top rope in order to triumph. He would go on to headline WrestleMania, alongside Kurt Angle and Randy Orton, even winning the World Heavyweight Championship.

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#1. Edge outlasted everyone else in 2021

Edge entered the 2021 Royal Rumble at number 1, facing off against former tag team partner Randy Orton. Both men would go on to survive as the final two competitors in the match.

Though Edge and Orton survived for 58 minutes and 30 seconds, Edge had only 3 eliminations and Orton had none. Edge eliminated Braun Strowman (with the help of Rollins and Christian), Seth Rollins and finally The Apex Predator himself to challenge Roman Reigns at WrestleMania.

However, this resulted in the Rated-R Superstar creating an unfortunate record. He is the only two-time Royal Rumble winner to fail to capture the title in both of his WrestleMania matches.