Royal Rumble

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Pp-protected Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox wrestling PPV series Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle royal in which the participants enter at timed intervals instead of all beginning in the ring at the same time. After the inaugural 1988 event aired as a television special on the USA Network, the Royal Rumble has been broadcast via pay-per-view since the 1989 event and livestreaming since the 2015 event. The event is traditionally held in late January, but in 2025, it was held in early February. It is one of WWE's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".

The Royal Rumble match is generally held as the main event of the annual event. There are some exceptions, such as the 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, and 2023 events. In 1988, the main event was a tag team match, while for all the others, it was a men's world championship match. While originally only for men, a women's version of the Royal Rumble match was held as the main event at the 2018 event, which was also the first event to have two Rumble matches on one card. It subsequently became standard to have both a men's and women's Royal Rumble match at the annual event. The 2025 event was the first to be held in a National Football League stadium, while the 2026 event will be the first to take place outside of North America as it will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which will be the first of WWE's "Big Five" held in the country.

History

Event

The Royal Rumble match was created by wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson and the event was established by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). After the match was first tested at a house show in October 1987,<ref name="RRhistory">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the first Royal Rumble event took place on January 24, 1988, and was broadcast live as a television special on the USA Network.<ref name=RF161>Ric Flair. Ric Flair: To Be the Man (p.161)</ref> The following year, the event started to be broadcast on pay-per-view (PPV),<ref name=pwh>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and thus became one of the "Big Four" annual PPVs, along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series, and SummerSlam, the promotion's then-four biggest shows of the year.<ref name=Main166>Brian Shields. Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s (p.166)</ref><ref>Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)</ref> From 1993 to 2002, it was considered one of the "Big Five", including King of the Ring, but that PPV event was discontinued after 2002 (although it returned to PPV in 2024).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In August 2021, Money in the Bank became recognized as one of the "Big Five".<ref name="MITB-Big5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) following a lawsuit with the World Wildlife Fund over the "WWF" initialism.<ref name=GetFOut>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 2011, the promotion ceased using its full name with the "WWE" abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Also in March 2002, the promotion introduced the brand extension, in which the roster was divided between the Raw and SmackDown brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform on their respective weekly television shows<ref name="BrandExtensionPressRelease">Template:Cite press release</ref>—ECW became a third brand in 2006.<ref name=SciFi>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The first brand extension was dissolved in August 2011,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but it was reintroduced in July 2016 (other brands, including NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live, would also be active during this second brand split).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Royal Rumble, along with the other original "Big Four" events, were the only PPVs to never be held exclusively for one brand during either brand split periods. The 2008 Royal Rumble was the first WWE pay-per-view to be available in high-definition.<ref name=rrhd>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2015, the Royal Rumble began to air on WWE's online streaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February 2014,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in 2022, the event became available on Peacock as the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began affecting the industry in March 2020, WWE had to hold its events behind closed doors. The 2021 event was in turn held in WWE's bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome, which at the time was hosted at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> WWE resumed live touring in July 2021 and the 2022 event was held at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri.<ref name="2022event">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

From its inception in 1988 up through the 2024 event, the Royal Rumble was held annually in late January. On June 24, 2024, WWE announced a partnership with the Indiana Sports Corp which would see the 2025 Royal Rumble, as well as a future WrestleMania and a future SummerSlam, held at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, marking the first Royal Rumble held in a National Football League stadium. The date for the 2025 Royal Rumble was announced for February 1, thus marking the first Royal Rumble held outside of January. This was also the first Royal Rumble, and WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event, to air on Netflix following the international WWE Network's merger under the platform in January 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In early 2018, WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. The first event in this partnership was the one-off Greatest Royal Rumble, which featured a 50-man Royal Rumble match.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In May 2024, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, announced that the country was in talks with WWE to bring either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania to the country in 2026 or 2027.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ahead of [[WWE Raw premiere on Netflix|RawTemplate:'s premiere on Netflix]] on January 6, 2025, WWE officially confirmed that the 39th Royal Rumble would be happening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as part of Riyadh Season in January 2026, marking the first Royal Rumble to be held outside of North America, and the first of the "Big Five" held in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Due to the Royal Rumble matches taking up a large amount of time (most Rumble matches last roughly one hour), the Royal Rumble event tends to have a smaller card than most other pay-per-view events. The men's Royal Rumble match is usually the main event, though there have been exceptions, namely the 1988, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2018, and 2023 events.<ref name=guard>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In these cases, 1988's main event was a tag team match, while the others were men's world championship matches, except in 2018. The 2018 Royal Rumble was the first to include a women's Royal Rumble match, which was the main event for that year. It was subsequently the first in which two Rumble matches were contested on one card and it is now standard for the event to include both a men's and women's Rumble match.<ref name="WomenRumble">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Match

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Royal Rumble match is based on the classic battle royal, in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. The difference between a Royal Rumble and a standard battle royal is that in a standard battle royal, all participants start the match in the ring at the same time, where in a Royal Rumble match, two participants start and then the rest enter at timed intervals.<ref name=wwematch>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=stats>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The winner of the match is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated. Since the 1993 event, the prize for winning is a world championship match at WrestleMania, with the exception of the 2016 event, where the prize was the WWE Championship (at the time known as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship) as reigning champion Roman Reigns defended the title in the match.<ref name=wwematch/><ref name=mysterio>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> According to Hornswoggle, who worked for WWE from 2006 until 2016 and participated in two Rumbles, participants may learn their eliminations by knowing the two wrestlers who are eliminated before them and which wrestlers are entering the Royal Rumble before and after their elimination.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Events and winners

#	Event	Date	City	Venue	Main event	Royal Rumble Winner				Ref.
						Men's	No.	Women's	No.
1	Royal Rumble (1988)	January 24, 1988	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada	Copps Coliseum	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	colspan="2" rowspan="31" Template:N/a	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2	Royal Rumble (1989)	January 15, 1989	Houston, Texas	The Summit	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
3	Royal Rumble (1990)	January 21, 1990	Orlando, Florida	Orlando Arena	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4	Royal Rumble (1991)	January 19, 1991	Miami, Florida	Miami Arena	Template:Small	Template:Sortname (2)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
5	Royal Rumble (1992)	January 19, 1992	Albany, New York	Knickerbocker Arena	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6	Royal Rumble (1993)	January 24, 1993	Sacramento, California	ARCO Arena	Template:Small	Yokozuna	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
7	Royal Rumble (1994)	January 22, 1994	Providence, Rhode Island	Providence Civic Center	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
						Template:Sortname	Template:Sort
8	Royal Rumble (1995)	January 22, 1995	Tampa, Florida	USF Sun Dome	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
9	Royal Rumble (1996)	January 21, 1996	Fresno, California	Selland Arena	Template:Small	Template:Sortname (2)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
10	Royal Rumble (1997)	January 19, 1997	San Antonio, Texas	Alamodome	Template:Small	Stone Cold Steve Austin	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
11	Royal Rumble (1998)	January 18, 1998	San Jose, California	San Jose Arena	Template:Small	Stone Cold Steve Austin (2)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Austin wins predictable Rumble">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
12	Royal Rumble (1999)	January 24, 1999	Anaheim, California	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="MainEvent1999">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="McMahon wins Rumble, Rock champ again">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
13	Royal Rumble (2000)	January 23, 2000	New York City, New York	Madison Square Garden	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="MainEvent2000">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Rocky wins the Rumble, A bloody Triple H defeats Cactus Jack">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
14	Royal Rumble (2001)	January 21, 2001	New Orleans, Louisiana	New Orleans Arena	Template:Small	Stone Cold Steve Austin (3)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Surprises dominate Rumble 2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
15	Royal Rumble (2002)	January 20, 2002	Atlanta, Georgia	Philips Arena	Template:Small	Triple H	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Rumble 2002 stumbles, Triple H wins WrestleMania spot">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
16	Royal Rumble (2003)	January 19, 2003	Boston, Massachusetts	FleetCenter	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
17	Royal Rumble (2004)	January 25, 2004	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wachovia Center	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Tortoriello wins the 'Rumble'">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
18	Royal Rumble (2005)	January 30, 2005	Fresno, California	Save Mart Center	Template:Small	Batista	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Batista claims the Rumble">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
19	Royal Rumble (2006)	January 29, 2006	Miami, Florida	American Airlines Arena	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Mysterio claims Rumble; Cena reigns again">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
20	Royal Rumble (2007)	January 28, 2007	San Antonio, Texas	AT&T Center	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Old guard dominates Rumble">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
21	Royal Rumble (2008)	January 27, 2008	New York City, New York	Madison Square Garden	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Cena wins Rumble in surprise return">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
22	Royal Rumble (2009)	January 25, 2009	Detroit, Michigan	Joe Louis Arena	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
23	Royal Rumble (2010)	January 31, 2010	Atlanta, Georgia	Philips Arena	Template:Small	Edge	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="MainEvent2010">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
24	Royal Rumble (2011)	January 30, 2011	Boston, Massachusetts	TD Garden	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
25	Royal Rumble (2012)	January 29, 2012	St. Louis, Missouri	Scottrade Center	Template:Small	Sheamus	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
26	Royal Rumble (2013)	January 27, 2013	Phoenix, Arizona	US Airways Center	Template:Small	Template:Sortname (2)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
27	Royal Rumble (2014)	January 26, 2014	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Consol Energy Center	Template:Small	Batista (2)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
28	Royal Rumble (2015)	January 25, 2015	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wells Fargo Center	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	<ref>Royal Rumble (2015)#Results</ref>
29	Royal Rumble (2016)	January 24, 2016	Orlando, Florida	Amway Center	Template:Small	Triple H (2)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
30	Royal Rumble (2017)	January 29, 2017	San Antonio, Texas	Alamodome	Template:Small	Template:Sortname (2)	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
31	Royal Rumble (2018)	January 28, 2018	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wells Fargo Center	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Asuka	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
32	Royal Rumble (2019)	January 27, 2019	Phoenix, Arizona	Chase Field	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
33	Royal Rumble (2020)	January 26, 2020	Houston, Texas	Minute Maid Park	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
34	Royal Rumble (2021)	January 31, 2021	St. Petersburg, Florida	WWE ThunderDome at Tropicana Field	Template:Small	Edge (2)	Template:Sort	Bianca Belair	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
35	Royal Rumble (2022)	January 29, 2022	St. Louis, Missouri	The Dome at America's Center	Template:Small	Template:Sortname (2)	Template:Sort	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
36	Royal Rumble (2023)	January 28, 2023	San Antonio, Texas	Alamodome	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Template:Sortname	Template:Sort	Template:Cn
37	Royal Rumble (2024)	January 27, 2024	St. Petersburg, Florida	Tropicana Field	Template:Small	Template:Sortname (2)	Template:Sort	Bayley	Template:Sort	<ref name="2024confirmed">Template:Cite news</ref>
38	Royal Rumble (2025)	February 1, 2025	Indianapolis, Indiana	Lucas Oil Stadium	Template:Small	Template:Sortname	20	Template:Sortname (2)	27	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
39	Royal Rumble (2026)	January 31, 2026	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	TBA						citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match {{safesubst:#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=|preview=Page using Template:Center with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | style }}

Video box set

In March 2007, WWE released a complete DVD box set titled Royal Rumble: The Complete Anthology, which showcases every Royal Rumble event in its entirety, up to the 2007 Royal Rumble.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

General

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Specific

Further reading

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External links

• Template:Official website
• WWE.com: Royal Rumble match description
• WWE.com: Royal Rumble Facts & Figures
• Royal Rumble History at About.com Template:Webarchive
• WWE Royal Rumble Template:Webarchive