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Everybody knows that Kane holds the record for the most number of eliminations (44) in cumulative Royal Rumble matches, and everybody knows that Steve Austin has won the match more times (3) than anybody else in history.
Well, assuming the women’s Royal Rumble will now be an annual match just like the men’s, it’s time for the female Superstars to start writing their names into the history books like Kane and Austin have over the years.
In this article, we take a look at five notable men’s Rumble records from the event’s 30-year history and predict who will set those records in the women’s match on 28 January.
#5 Longest time spent in the match
Looking back at the men’s records over the last 30 years, only six people have lasted longer than one hour in a single Royal Rumble, and three of those (Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Ric Flair) went on to win.
Will WWE want Sunday’s winner to be an early entrant? Or, like Chris Jericho (aka “The Sixty-One Minute Man”) last year, will they want somebody to last almost the entire Rumble, only to get thrown out near the end?
Either way, somebody has to set the record, and we’re going to stick our necks on the line and predict that Becky Lynch will be an early underdog entrant who gets eliminated shortly before the finish.
Longest time spent in the match: Becky Lynch
#4 Fastest to be eliminated
Ever since Santino Marella was eliminated after just 1.9 seconds by Kane in 2009, we’ve seen more and more quickfire eliminations in Royal Rumble matches.
MVP (2010), The Godfather (2013), Adam Rose and Titus O’Neil (both 2015) have all lasted less than 10 seconds, while James Ellsworth was thrown out by Braun Strowman after 15 seconds last year.
Unless it leads to a storyline in the coming weeks, the fastest elimination isn’t a record that any of the women will want, but somebody has to have it!
Fastest to be eliminated: Dana Brooke
#3 Most people needed to eliminate one Superstar
In the 2007 Royal Rumble, eight men (Chris Benoit, CM Punk, Edge, Hardcore Holly, Johnny Nitro, Kevin Thorn, Rob Van Dam and Shelton Benjamin) set a record for the most number of people needed to eliminate one Superstar when they worked together to push Viscera over the top rope.
This record isn’t guaranteed to be set in the women’s Rumble – some years every elimination is one-on-one – but with at least two factions and numerous friends set to be involved, we reckon there’s a high chance that some of the women will work together.
Of course, the favourite for this record is Nia Jax, and we’d be foolish to predict anybody else.
Most people needed to eliminate one Superstar: 5 people (Nia Jax)
#2 First man to enter the women’s Royal Rumble
Just to be clear, we don’t advocate a man entering the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble, but this is WWE – the same company that had a man effectively win the first-ever women’s Money In The Bank – so anything is possible.
Three women have previously made history by entering the men’s Royal Rumble (Chyna in 1999 and 2000, Beth Phoenix in 2010 and Kharma in 2012).
If a man enters the women’s Rumble, there are only really two contenders: Tyler Breeze (aka Tenay Young), who occasionally dresses in women’s clothing on SmackDown Live; and James Ellsworth, who was at the centre of the MITB controversy in 2017 and was recently released by WWE.
Although he was released, Ellsworth is still on good terms with WWE and it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if he made a one-off comeback before his independent bookings begin in February.
First man to enter a women’s Royal Rumble: James Ellsworth
#1 Most eliminations
Kane holds the record for the most number of eliminations (44) in cumulative Royal Rumble matches, while Roman Reigns has eliminated the most people in a single Rumble (12). However, the stats show that size doesn’t always matter when it comes to the 30-person match.
Shawn Michaels is a so-called ‘smaller guy’ in WWE and he features second on the all-time list, with 39 eliminations from 12 matches, while Chris Jericho is less than 6ft and he has spent more time in Rumble matches than anyone.
The obvious prediction for most eliminations in the women’s match is Nia Jax, but we reckon Asuka will be the first to hold this record. She is one of the favourites to win, along with Ronda Rousey, and is bound to be in the match for a long time.
Most eliminations: Asuka
