IT'S TIME TO RUMBLE! A Look Back at Rumbles' Past (Part X)

Hello again.  I haven't blogged in a minute, and I haven't blogged about wrestling since Wrestlemania last year, so I figured it's time to dust this thing off and take care of some business.  You see, I did a series called "It's Time To Rumble!", which is like WWE's Royal Rumble fact videos on steroids, so I hope you like statistics!  For some reason, I didn't update it for 2018, so I'm gonna rectify that right now.  And, y'know, we just had two more Rumble matches, so why not throw those in for good measure?

Well...writing it was simple (I just used Wikipedia and the encyclopedia of wrestling nonsense my brain has been curating for close to 30 years now), but I have complicated feelings about WWE.  These feelings are a little too heavy for a blog about wrestling stats, but because of them I did not watch the 2019 Royal Rumble.  I followed along on Twitter, since it's been super ass cold and I had nothing better to do on a Sunday night, so in a tertiary way I experienced it, I guess.  (To be fair, I have a lot of wrestling in my timeline.  Even if I stopped watching altogether, I wouldn't just shut out all the people I have connections with because they like to talk about WWE.  And because of that, even if I don't watch, I'll know what's happening.)

So let's get down to the ring.  Here's what happened in the last two years of the Royal Rumble (all five of them.  Wait, what?!?):

2018 (Men's)

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura

(Entry: 14th | Lasted: 44:38 | Eliminations: 3)

Bridesmaid: Roman Reigns

(Entry: 28th | Lasted: 21:52 | Eliminations: 4)

Iron Man: Finn Balor

(Entry: 2nd | Lasted: 57:38 | Eliminations: 4 | Dumped: 27th)

Eliminator: Finn Balor (4)

(Roman Reigns technically had four eliminations as well, but one of them was with help from Seth Rollins, to it's more like three & a half, and there's your tiebreaker.)

First To Fall: Rhyno

(Entry: 3rd | Lasted: 2:06 )

Loser: Sheamus

(Entry: 11th | Lasted: 0:02 | Dumped: 3rd)

Notes:

• Match Length: 65:27
• Sheamus is the third wrestler to officially be in the Rumble match for 0:02 or less (The Warlord (1989) and Santino Marella (2009) being the other two).
• Four is the least eliminations by an Eliminator in any Rumble.
• As third match in the card of six, this is the earliest in a Royal Rumble PPV that the signature match has occurred.
• This is the longest 30-Man Rumble match since 2002.
• Shinsuke Nakamura is the first person to win from #14.

Who Walked Out of The Event As Champion?

AJ Styles fended off both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a 2-on-1 handicap match for the WWE Title and Brock Lesnar continued his 500+ day reign with the lollipop around his waist by besting Braun Strowman & Kane in a triple threat.

Did The Winner Go On To Win The Championship?

No, but Shinsuke did his damndest to make sure AJ wouldn't have a fifth kid...

2018 (Women's)

Winner: Asuka

(Entry: 25th | Lasted: 19:41 | Eliminations: 3)

Bridesmaid: Nikki Bella

(Entry: 27th | Lasted: 16:30 | Eliminations: 4)

Iron Woman: Sasha Banks

(Entry: 1st | Lasted: 54:47 | Eliminations: 3 | Dumped: 27th)

Eliminator: Michelle McCool (5)

First To Fall: Mandy Rose

(Entry: 4th | Lasted: 3:52 )

Loser: Vickie Guerrero

(Entry: 16th | Lasted: 0:57 | Dumped: 12th)

Notes:

• Match Length: 58:57
• This is the first Women's Royal Rumble match on PPV (Not sure if there was one at a house show or on some forgotten episode of Raw from 2006 or something, so I'm covering my bases).
• With only 18 main roster competitors, this is the Royal Rumble with the most surprise entrants in history, and given its nature will probably never be topped.  (10 returns, two NXT wrestlers)
• Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch were (up to that point) the only women wrestlers to compete for more than 30 minutes on a main roster PPV.
• Mandy Rose earns the doubly-dubious distinction of being the first elimination in both the first Woman's Royal Rumble and the first Elimination Chamber match a month later.
• By virtue of five eliminations, Michelle McCool had the most of any competitor in either Rumble at the event.

Who Walked Out of The Event As Champion?

Alexa Bliss on Raw and Charlotte Flair on SmackDown.  Neither competed during this event, which is a first in Rumble history.

Did The Winner Go On To Win The Championship?

Shockingly, no.  Asuka, going back to her NXT debut, had amassed an over 900 day-long undefeated streak, and at Wrestlemania 34 (in the match of the night IMHO), tapped clean to Charlotte's Figure-8.  Asuka spent most of 2018 lost in the shuffle until randomly being injected into a TLC match in December, which she won.  She is currently SmackDown Women's Champion.

The One That Doesn't Count

Winner: Braun Strowman

(Entry: 41st | Lasted: 22:14 | Eliminations: 13)

Bridesmaid: Big Cass

(Entry: 49th | Lasted: 7:23 | Eliminations: 1)

Eliminator: Braun Strowman (13)

Iron Man: Daniel Bryan

(Entry: 1st | Lasted: 76:05 | Eliminations: 3 | Dumped: 48th)

First To Fall: Sin Cara

(Entry: 3rd | Lasted: 1:18)

Loser: Mike Kanellis

(Entry: 6th | Lasted: 0:03 | Dumped: 3rd)

Notes:

• Match Length: 77:20
• This was the first (and hopefully only) 50 man Royal Rumble.  It took place in late April, three weeks after Wrestlemania 34.
• Braun breaks Roman Reigns's elimination record with 13 thrown over the top.
• Daniel Bryan, six weeks after being cleared (after being forced into retirement for almost three years), shattered the endurance record with 76:05 of ring time.  Aside from a possible Bruno Sammartino match from the 60's that went to curfew in Madison Square Garden (time keeping was dubious), this is the longest one-match performance of any wrestler in company history.
• Bridesmaid Big Cass, intended to get major heat and a big push from this showing, was out of the company less than two months later.

Who Walked Out of The Event As Champion?

AJ Styles and Shinsuke brawled to a double countout, so Styles retained, and Brock won a cage match with Roman, despite Reigns touching the ground first.  The lack of fucks given for this whole PPV is astonishing.

Did The Winner Go On To Win The Championship?

No, because this is a made-up event for the benefit of a mad, murdering prince that doesn't count for anything.

2019 (Women's)

Winner: Becky Lynch

(Entry: 28th (or 31st?) | Lasted: 13:20 | Eliminations: 2)

Bridesmaid: Charlotte Flair

(Entry: 13th | Lasted: 50:01 | Eliminations: 4)

Eliminator: Charlotte Flair (4)

Iron Woman: Natalya Neidhart

(Entered: 2nd | Lasted: 56:01 | Eliminations: 2)

First To Fall: Liv Morgan

(Entry: 4th | Lasted: 0:08)

Loser: also Liv Morgan

Notes:

• Match Length: 72:00
• Outside of Saudi Arabia, this is the longest Royal Rumble match of all time.  It's definitely the longest 30-Person Rumble, clearing 2002 by almost three minutes.  (It even beats the 40-Man Rumble from 2011 by a full two minutes.)
• Natalya breaks the endurance record (and thus the single-match WWE record) for time in ring by a woman competitor at 56:01.
• Natalya's ring time was 97 seconds shorter than the entire Men's match at the same event.
• Becky Lynch took the place of an injured Lana, who's ankle was so bad she couldn't even walk to the ring.  It was a well executed double bluff, but it does put into question: Did she enter 28th or 31st?
• Charlotte Flair, with four eliminations, ties the record for the least by an Eliminator in a Rumble, a trend continued from last year.

Who Walked Out of The Event As Champion?

Asuka made Becky Lynch tap clean to retain the SmackDown Women's Title, and Ronda Rousey managed to stave off a rabid Sasha Banks to maintain the Raw belt.

Did The Winner Go On To Win The Championship?

Won't know until April.  Becky's already challenged Ronda, so we'll see.

2019 (Men's)

Winner: Seth Rollins

(Entry: 10th | Lasted: 43:26 | Eliminations: 3)

Bridesmaid:  Braun Strowman

(Entry: 27th | Lasted: 14:37 | Eliminations: 5)

Eliminator: Braun Strowman (5)

Iron Man: Seth Rollins (43:26)

First To Fall: Jeff Jarrett

(Entry: 2nd | Lasted: 1:20)

Loser: No Way Jose

(Entry: 15th | Lasted: 0:02 | Dumped: 10th)

Notes:

• Match Length: 57:38
• Jeff Jarrett sets a record with longest time span between Royal Rumble appearances.  It's been 20 years since Double J took lucky number 27 in 1999.
• Five wrestlers failed to last more than 30 seconds, including a former world champ and the reigning IC champ.  (Xavier Woods, Bobby Lashley, Jinder Mahal, Titus O'Neal and No Way Jose, who nets the dubious distinction of being the fourth competitor to last only 0:02).
• Seth Rollins is the first person to win from the 10 spot.
• Continuing the theme from the women's Rumble, the #30 entrant R-Truth was ambushed and had his spot taken.  This time however it was Nia Jax, who not only became the fourth woman to enter the men's Rumble, but became the only wrestler to ever compete in two Royal Rumbles in the same night. 

Who Walked Out of The Event As Champion?

Daniel Bryan (with the help of a returning Eric Rowan) bested AJ Styles, while Brock Lesnar escaped an uncharacteristically close match with Finn Balor still in possession of the lollipop.  Still had to smash him after the match to take away Finn's shine, though.

Did The Winner Go On To Win The Championship?

Won't know until April.

And that's it.  Not sure what the next blog is gonna be about, but it'll certainly be something.  Catch you on down the road!