Royal Rumble: Which WWE Champion entered the Royal Rumble match 3 times in one night? Reflecting on the rare incident

Royal Rumble 2024 will be the next big premium live event WWE hosts after a successful Survivor Series: WarGames in 2023. In the leadup to the Rumble, the promotion has witnessed the returns of CM Punk and Randy Orton, leading to further excitement about the competition.

For years, the WWE Universe has witnessed 30 different men and women compete in the Royal Rumble match. However, in the 1998 Rumble match, a former WWE Champion entered the contest a remarkable three different times. The champion in question was Mick Foley.

First, Foley entered the Royal Rumble as Cactus Jack. However, after being eliminated, he once again entered match as Mankind. While he seemed to do well initially, he ultimately suffered elimination. Then, for the third and final time, Foley entered as Dude Love.

However, despite entering the Rumble on three different occasions on the same night, Mick Foley wasn't able to win the competition. Instead, Stone Cold Steve Austin won the Rumble in '98 and went on to challenge and defeat Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania 14.

SmackDown star wants AJ Styles to win at Royal Rumble

Since being introduced back on WWE programming, AJ Styles has been making quite the name for himself. At Royal Rumble 2024, The Phenomenal One is set to face Roman Reigns, LA Knight, and Randy Orton in a Fatal 4-Way Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

While many have not given Styles a chance to win, SmackDown star Mia Yim believed the leader of The O.C. would be victorious at Royal Rumble. During an appearance on WWE's The Bump, Yim mentioned she knows that Styles will be a champion soon. She said:

"Well, I'm a ride-or-die AJ so I am rooting for him. Regardless of what the percentage rate is of him winning, to me, he's going to win. I respect the other men... Maybe not The Bloodline. But, at the end of the day, AJ is going to win, and I know he is going to be a champion again soon," affirmed Mia Yim. [From 28:32 to 28:54]

While Styles will have a mountain to climb at the Rumble, given the experience he has, it won't be surprising to see him win. It will be interesting to see which one of these four men prevails and wins the match.

About the author

Varun is a Golf and WWE journalist for Sportskeeda with over 4 years of work experience in his bag. Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he worked for many sites, including EssentiallySports, FanSided, Khel Now, Get Football, and a few others.

Varun is a fan of golfer Scottie Scheffler due to the latter’s mindset, and he admires Roman Reigns’ ability to keep moving forward in life regardless of any obstacles. As a purist golf fan, he would love to compete at the Masters if given the opportunity, but is also happy with LIV Golf driving more eyeballs towards the sport. If he could go back in time and be a manager for someone in the WWE, it would have been Big Show.

Varun’s mantra for writing factually correct feature articles is thorough verification. Another key element in his writing is staying updated with both sports through the official websites of pro wrestling and Golf. He has had the privilege of interviewing MMA legend Greg Jackson in his career so far.

Varun likes to spend his free time reading or writing poetry and fiction. He also plans to learn and play golf in his spare time.

Know More

Edited by Brandon Nell