Following on from my project to watch and rate 50 cage matches, I decided that in the lead up to this year's Royal Rumble, I would watch all previous Rumbles. This includes all 29 official Royal Rumbles plus 5 others held on either Raw or Smackdown.
After 8 controversial exits, 1 ridiculous disqualification, 4 spinaroonies, 3 female entrants, 8 Kofi Kingston moments (only 5 from the man himself, 2 from John Morrison and 1 from Rey Mysterio) and many other moments of fun, I present to you my thoughts on the Royal Rumble.
Note: If you want to read my thoughts as I was watching through them, there is an appendix to this article, although it won't be as coherent as this.
I spent several hours spent trying to work out what the rules actually are. This was partly due to the 1992 Rumble when Randy Savage eliminated himself when he wasn't supposed to and the commentators hastily trying to cover his mistake by saying you couldn't eliminate yourself which is why the Macho King was allowed back in the match.Savage also forgot the rules and tried to pin Yokozuna in 1993 and no-showed in 1991 due to being scared of the Ultimate Warrior. Whilst he is undeniably a legend, it seems that Rumbles are not his forte.
However, the basic rules are simple enough, and announced before each Rumble. Every x number of seconds (varying depending on the year) an entrant will enter the ring. You are eliminated when you go over the top rope and both feet hit the floor. The winner is the last person in the ring after everyone has entered.
There are some exceptions. For some reason, when Vader got back into the ring in 1996 to eliminate Shawn Michaels, this didn't count. Presumably because Michaels had to win the event. Every other time that a superstar has got back in after being eliminated to knock someone else out, that elimination has stood.
There is also confusion in the early years about how long you have to get to the ring. Rowdy Roddy Piper on commentary in 1991 states that a competitor is still legal until the next guy is due to come out. This seems to be a case of Piper improvising as there are several instances of one competitor not entering until he feels he can - either through being attacked first (eg Backlund in 1995) or through not wanting to get involved in the match at that moment (eg The Miz in 2011).
There has also been a time when referees started to count Ric Flair out when he left the ring to escape from Jerry the King Lawler in 1993. I'm not sure why they were doing so as they have never done it since, with Rusev and Santino both coming back into the ring in later years when the guy in the ring thinks he has won after being out for a large portion of the match, as well as both Hornswoggle and Jerry Lawler hiding under the ring until they felt ready to compete.
So the rules are basically in place, subject to the WWE deciding that they don't need to be amended for storyline purposes. And the rules are great. They provide a lot of excitement as fans wait to see who the next entrant will be. There are lots of opportunities for great spots with near eliminations. There is a lot of opportunity to put guys head to head who you might otherwise not see facing off against each other (Hogan v Warrior in 1990 was a well worked example of this) and it's a great opportunity to start feuds.
Pat Patterson came up with the idea as an adaptation of Battle Royal match and whilst the initial untelevised Rumble was met with confusion by fans (there is a great CamelClutch article about it) and may have died out, fortunately the WWF persisted with the concept as it is one of the highlights of the wrestling calendar each year.
What makes a good Rumble?
I have some thoughts on what makes a good Royal Rumble. They are not all needed, but a large number of them should be present to make a good event.
1. High Stakes
The match needs to mean something. The early Rumbles suffered as there was nothing as stake other than the prestige - and the prestige wasn't too high initially as the Rumble match was fairly new. From 1993 onwards, the winner got a title shot at Wrestlemania and in 1992 and 2016 the title itself was on the line. All of this is important. The non-PPV Rumbles generally suffer because the prize isn't enough to raise the interest in the match.
2. Star Power
You need a reasonable number of competitors with a genuine chance of winning the match. The Rumbles where they are lacking star power then the whole event is weaker. Mick Foley had to enter three times in 1998 to fill out the event, for example. You want at least five guys who you think "yeah, he might win this" otherwise the story doesn't capture the imagination. To go along with this, ideally you don't want wrestlers doing double duty and performing in a match earlier in the night as well as the Rumble as it seems unlikely that they would go on to win after having previously competed.
3. Time for some moments of fun
We are watching the match to be entertained, so we want to see entertaining things. Rikishi and Too Cool dancing in 2000, Hornswoggle doing Cena and Kofi's moves with them in 2011, Foley and Santino wrestling with their sock puppets in 2012, Booker T doing the spinaroonie in a ring full of men. These things really help me to get into the Rumble.
4. Minimal interference
Sometimes it's fun and makes sense for an eliminated wrestler to take out the guy who eliminated him. Especially if it's going to start a rivalry. Most often I find myself getting annoyed that the integrity of the match has been ruined. This is none more so than in 2000 when Kaientai run into the match four times and the Mean Street Posse once. If it makes sense in a storyline, I am more willing to let it be but sometimes it is meaningless and annoying.
5. No weapons
Come on guys, it's not a hardcore match. And if one person brings in a weapons, it doesn't make sense for everyone else to not do so. The weirdest occurrence was Finlay getting disqualified in 2008 for running in to save Hornswoggle with a weapon. No-one has ever been disqualified previously or since for running in or for using a weapon. However, I do sort of like the precedent it set based on the fact I don't like weapons and run-ins in the Rumble.
6. One guy who is on fire
Someone coming in mid way into the match and clearing the ring and then waiting for the next competitor is always cool. Especially if they then eliminate another one or two before the ring starts to fill up again. It really sells them as someone not to be messed with. Unfortunately this hasn't been used as much recently, and when it has, it has been done poorly. However, Undertaker in 1993 really fits his character and Diesel in 1994 looks like a proper beast.
7. The commentators not being idiots
I've already mentioned Rowdy Roddy Piper making up the rules, as well as the time they had to be fudged by the commentators to stop Randy Savage being eliminated. As well as this, they always ask something like "how do you get a man like X over the top rope?" as if they've not seen that same competitor, or someone of a similar size, be eliminated from the Rumble 3 or 4 times before. And Michael Cole in general. Especially in the Rumble when all three of the commentary team entered, although that one was just rubbish all around.
8. Unexpected entrants
This has now almost become a given. It's something the fans love. Often it's a legend who they haven't seen in a while. Recently, they've also used it to debut new performers, perhaps from NXT or a new signing. AJ Styles entrance at number 3 in 2016 was executed perfectly.
Best 4 Rumbles:
1992 - The first time that there was something at stake. In the later stages of the match, there are 5 or 6 guys you think have a genuine chance of winning the match. Aside from the Macho Man being an idiot and eliminating himself but then having to get back into the match, and Flair's victory being overshadowed by Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice going at it (the Hulkster always had to have centre stage), it is a pretty solid effort and where the WWF started to understand what they had on their hands.
2003 - The opening montage shows lots of viable winners and this increases the excitement. This is the first Rumble after the brand split and it gave some lower guys the room to shine. As well as this, there are also a large number of jobbers but the match works really well.
2009 - Rey Mysterio is the first guy to have a Kofi Kingston moment, this is the first time a legend comes back in (Hacksaw Jim Duggan), Santino is eliminated in 1 second, Legacy team up to get Randy Orton to victory, when Big Show comes in at number 30, there are 9 guys in the ring with a realistic chance of winning. This match is just booked really well.
2011 - This is the 40-man Rumble. I was worried that it would feel like it is being dragged out but it didn't seem that way. Even though the Corre v New Nexus is ignored after the start of the match, CM Punk's crew work well together and look so formidable. It really helps get him over. Hornswoggle joins in John Cena's and Kofi Kingston's moves. Booker T does a spinaroonie. Diesel gets a great reception. Good all round.
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