Royal Rumble 2018: Ranking all number 1 entrants part 1

There have been 30 Royal Rumbles in the history of the WWE. We are well-aware the Royal Rumble is all about the numbers.

Most superstars love to avoid drawing the first or even second number (which is technically just as bad as number 1), having to compete through the whole field if they're to win.

Drawing the final number (in most cases number 30) is considered a tactical advantage of epic proportions. Of course, the statistical advantage for WWE superstars is to draw the number 27; 4 men (highest of any number) have managed to win from that position.

Yet coming back to number 1, it's quite an interesting position. For a while, up until 2007, the number one entrant had more winners than the final number. Since then that has changed but only marginally.

More importantly, the effort to go from start to finish is a wildly appreciated narrative by fans and contestants alike. Two people have managed to pull off that feat, a few have come oh so close while most have either wasted away or just anchored the initial portions of the match.

Number one thus proves to be a flexible number in the building of any individual Royal Rumble narrative. Let's see how all thirty entrants who drew number one stack up against one another.

(PS: This is the first part of a three-part series; here we will countdown 30-21 of number 1 entrants)