5 Times WWE changed the official Royal Rumble rules and hoped fans wouldn't notice
WWE's first Royal Rumble pay-per-view took place back in 1988, a response to pressure to create a number of shows a year in order to build around WrestleMania, which had only debuted earlier in the decade.
Of course, 23 years ago the rules for the match were not as well known as they are now; WWE presented a Rumble match with no WrestleMania main event as the reward for winning.
The first-ever Royal Rumble event was also the smallest, which consisted of just 20 men and saw Jim Duggan come out on top. Interestingly Duggan didn't go on to main event WrestleMania and instead was part of one of the opening matches.
This is the only thing that has changed about WWE's annual match over the past three decades.
Over the years, the rules to the Royal Rumble match have become much more well-known but that doesn't mean that WWE hasn't decided to change them several times just to keep the fans on their feet.
#5. Wrestlers can't eliminate themselves from the Royal Rumble match
Several WWE stars have eliminated themselves from the annual Royal Rumble match in recent years, but the first man to ever jump over the top rope himself was Andre The Giant back in 1989.
The WWE Hall of Famer was so afraid of Jake Roberts and his snake that he decided to take himself out of the match and head for an early shower. A few years later in 1992, Macho Man Randy Savage was able to eliminate Jake Roberts from the match and then jumped over the top rope to continue the assault on his opponent after he had been taken out of the match.
Savage was allowed to get back into the match despite stepping over the top rope and onto the floor because the commentators stated that self eliminations were not allowed.
Macho Man didn't go on to win the match or even add much more to the bout after he was allowed a reintroduction, which is strange since WWE went through a lot of trouble to ensure that he was allowed back in.
Despite this bend in the rules, several WWE stars have since been able to eliminate themselves from the annual Royal Rumble match and it's still been deemed to be within the rules.