5 curious facts and stats you probably never knew about the Royal Rumble
WWE Royal Rumble comes at us on Sunday night, January 26 from Houston, Texas, and kicks off The Road to WrestleMania.
The January spectacular starts one of the biggest periods in the WWE year, and it's also typically the time of year fans, commentators, and pundits alike combine to throw out all kinds of impressive stats about the Rumble.
You know the kind; Who has eliminated the most Superstars? Who holds the record for the shortest time in the match? Is it still Bushwhacker Luke? Maybe it was Butch? Wait, Maybe it's Santino? You know the score.
But that's not the extent of the Royal Rumble 'stat pack' - generally lasting an hour or so, the match is typically the longest in any given year, so its statistical stories are aplenty.
With that in mind, and with the 2020 installment of the Rumble now just hours away, I've delved into some of the lesser-known & more obscure facts relating to Royal Rumble history.
You guessed it - here's your Royal Rumble Useless Trivia!
#1 Easy work?
The Rumble match, so big, so fast and so jam-packed full of WWE talent, is often known as the ultimate endurance test for a Superstar.
Often, the winner has had to go through some almighty pain and punishment to taste victory at the end of the night - but that hasn't always been the case. In fact, on two occasions, wrestlers have won the Royal Rumble match by eliminating just one competitor!
In 1999, Vince McMahon famously won the Rumble match by eliminating only his arch-rival, Stone Cold Steve Austin. In 2017, Randy Orton's victory in the match was by similar circumstances after he ousted only Roman Reigns to secure victory.
Interestingly, both men spent considerable time as active in each bout. McMahon spent nearly 57 minutes in his winning Rumble (but spent most of it outside the ring), while Orton clocked up 20-plus minutes on his way to earning a WWE Title match at WrestleMania.