5 Best No 2 Entry to the Royal Rumble
On January 27th, 2019 Pheonix Arizona will play host to the 32nd annual Royal Rumble event. Having held the PPV on a previous 31 occasions, the WWE always makes sure that the first major event of the calendar year is spectacular. The main attraction of the PPV is the Royal Rumble itself, which features 30 superstars trying to eliminate each other by throwing each other over the top rope with both feet hitting the floor.
The only exceptions to the 30 man rule were the 1988 Royal Rumble which featured 20 superstars and the 2011 Royal Rumble featured 40 superstars. The Royal Rumble gives the WWE a chance to start afresh as it builds towards the biggest wrestling event of the year, WrestleMania.
As the winner of the Royal Rumble is given a title shot at the WWE's biggest show, the Royal Rumble event is truly the start of the road towards WrestleMania and allows storylines to flow through the event towards the WWE's most important day. Therefore, the Royal Rumble plays an integral part of the WWE's plans heading towards the Wrestlemania event. Poor receptions at the WWE Royal Rumble can usually lead towards unfortunate fall out at Wrestlemania, such as Batista's Royal Rumble victory in 2014. However, even when the crowd is disappointed with the winner, the event itself always contains spectacular moments which fans will watch countless times after the event is long over.
Only two people have won the Royal Rumble from the No. 2 entry. Vince McMahon won the 1999 Royal Rumble but he spent the majority of the Rumble running away from Austin around the arena or at ringside as a commentator. The second was Rey Mysterio, who went the whole distance in the 2006 Royal Rumble and set the record for a Rumble participation at 1 hour, 2 minutes and 12 seconds.