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The Royal Rumble match is an match held at the annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event, Royal Rumble. The Royal rumble match is a Battle Royal-type match. Before the match begins, the contestants draw spots in the Rumble. The match consists of thirty men, beginning with the two men who chose entry numbers one and two in the ring. At regular timed intervals, usually ninety seconds, one of the remaining 28 wrestlers enters the ring. Participants must eliminate all other opponents, and the winner of the event is the last wrestler remaining after all others have been eliminated.

Similar to a Battle Royal, a wrestler is eliminated when leaving the ring over the top rope, with both feet touching the floor. A referee, who is situated at ringside, must witness an elimination in order for it to be valid. A wrestler who is eliminated without a referee noticing may sometimes sneak back into the match. For example, Stone Cold Steve Austin was eliminated during the 1997 event, but he re-entered without the referees' knowledge and eventually won the match. Moreover, a wrestler who exits the ring without going over the top rope is not eliminated from the contest. During the 1999 Rumble match, both Vince McMahon and Steve Austin left the ring, only to return later in the match.

History

The idea behind the Royal Rumble match is credited to Pat Patterson. The 1994 match, was the first and currently only time that two wrestlers were declared co-winners when it was decided that the last two participants, Bret Hart and Lex Luger's feet both touched the floor at the exact same time. A similar situation occurred in the 2005 match, however the match was restarted after Batista and John Cena eliminated each other at the same time. Batista eliminated Cena after the match was restarted to win the match. The reward for the 1992 match was the WWF Championship. It wasn't until 1993 that the tradition of granting a WWE Championship match at WrestleMania began. Despite the World Heavyweight Championship being introduced in late 2002, it was not until the 2004 match that a winner had the choice of the title they'd like to compete for at WrestleMania. Due to the revival of the ECW Championship in mid-2006, the 2007 event added this championship as a choice to the winning stipulation. From 2001 to 2007 the Royal Rumble match winner has gone on to win a the title they competed for at WrestleMania, however, after winning the 2008 match, John Cena became the first to use his championship opportunity at an event other than WrestleMania. Cena also became the first man since 2000 to win the Royal Rumble match but not win the title in his championship match.

Match winners

References

1. ^ "Specialty Matches: Royal Rumble". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
2. ^ Jon Waldman (2005-02-02). "Statistical survival - breaking down the Royal Rumble". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
3. Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk (2006-01-30). "Mysterio claims Rumble; Cena reigns again". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
4. "Specialty Matches: Battle Royal". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
5. ^ "Royal Rumble 1997: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-03. Stone Cold was actually eliminated during the match, but the referees failed to detect it, so he sneaked back in.
6. "Royal Rumble 1999: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
7. "Hall of Fame: Pat Patterson". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
8. "Royal Rumble 1994: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
9. "Royal Rumble 1995: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
10. "Royal Rumble 1992: Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
11. ^ Eric Cohen (2007-04-25). "The Fate of the Royal Rumble Winner". About.com. Retrieved 2007-12-09.
12. Brett Hoffman (2007-02-05). "Tickets punched for WrestleMania". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
13. "Randy Orton vs. John Cena (WWE Championship match): A battle for redemption with 'Mania implications". WWE. 2008-01-28. Retrieved 2008-01-28.

External links