5 Royal Rumble Winners Who Spent Least Time In The Match (& 5 Who Spent The Most)
During the illustrious history of the Royal Rumble, 20 wrestlers have had the ignominy of spending less than 10 seconds in a Rumble match. While that list contains the likes of Santino Marella and The Warlord, it might surprise fans that former WWE Champions Sheamus and the Miz are also part of this group.
On the other side of the spectrum, seven wrestlers have spent more than an hour in a Rumble match, with Daniel Bryan holding the record of being the Rumble Iron man. While he set it during the Greatest Royal Rumble Match in 2018, he did not end up winning the match.
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But when we consider the winners of the traditional Rumble match alone, five Superstars have stood out for spending an incredible amount of time in the match while five other stars spent an extremely short amount of time in the ring for their victorious Rumble campaign.
10 Least: Alberto Del Rio - 2011 (0:09:33)
In 2011, WWE added 40 superstars to the Rumble match, and Alberto Del Rio was booked to be the winner after spending getting just nine and a half minute of in-ring action. 13 wrestlers spent less than two minutes in the match, and only John Cena and CM Punk had spent more than 30 minutes of ring time in the Rumble.
Entering at #38 and eliminating just two competitors, Del Rio's victory wasn't a total surprise, considering that the last remaining babyface Randy Orton had already competed earlier in the night. But at a time when the Miz and Michael Cole were annoying WWE fans as the WWE Champion and the voice of RAW respectively, WWE would have been better suited to having a new babyface go over.
9 Most: Randy Orton - 2009 (0:48:30)
Randy Orton won the 2017 Rumble after making exactly one elimination, but in 2009 he spent nearly 50 minutes in the Rumble match to gain a hard-fought victory. Orton had just gotten into his 'Viper mode', having delivered a Punt Kick to Vince McMahon the previous week on RAW, and winning the Rumble was supposed to be the only thing that would keep him from getting kayfabe fired from the company.
Orton and his Legacy disciples Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase eliminated the likes of Kane, The Big Show, and Triple H as The Legend Killer captured his first Rumble victory. Orton proceeded to terrorize the McMahons at a time when the wrestlers were truly allowed to get the better of authority figures on TV. He would destroy Shane McMahon, RKO Stephanie, and beat down Triple H in the upcoming weeks, rolling on to a well-earned main-event at WrestleMania 25.
8 Least: Triple H - 2016 (0:09:03)
The 2016 Royal Rumble match gave the fans a nice surprise when AJ Styles made his unexpected WWE debut. Styles lasted nearly 30 minutes in the Rumble that had the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on the line rather than a title shot. The match was won by Triple H who entered as the final entrant and spent less than 10 minutes in the ring.
WWE Creative had aimed this as a means to get sympathy on Roman Reigns but placing the title on a part-time wrestler seemed like an insult to the entire roster. The Triple H vs Roman Reigns feud did not need the WWE World Title and it would take years for the WWE fans to recognize Reigns as a true main eventer.
7 Most: Vince McMahon - 1999 (0:56:38)
Vince McMahon's 1999 Royal Rumble triumph came with an asterisk as he had spent the majority of the match down on the floor. Entering at #2 in order to counter Stone Cold Steve Austin, who entered at #1, Vince got beat up by The Texas Rattlesnake during the initial portion of the match.
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The match had Mable getting kidnapped by the Undertaker's Ministry, Kane eliminating himself to escape from asylum workers, and Chyna eliminating Mark Henry. But in the end, it came down to Austin and McMahon, with the latter having spent a portion of the match at the announcer's desk. A distraction from The Rock eventually led to McMahon pushing Austin over the top rope to win the match.
6 Least: Brock Lesnar - 2003 (0:09:00)
In 2003, Brock Lesnar was pushed as the favorite for the Royal Rumble match, having been engaged in a rivalry with WWE Champion Kurt Angle in the weeks leading up to the event. Lesnar went on to win the Rumble after eliminating four men, but he spent just nine minutes in the match, having entered as the 29th entrant.
Lesnar eliminated Team Angle and Matt Hardy before the returning Undertaker took care of Batista and Kane to set up the final showdown with The Next Big Thing. It was a bit of a letdown as Batista distracted The Deadman, which allowed Lesnar to throw him over the top rope to earn a title shot at WrestleMania 19.
5 Most: Ric Flair - 1992 (1:00:02)
It is a mystery as to why Ric Flair's 1992 Royal Rumble win isn't talked about more. The event was the first Rumble match which had the WWF Championship on the line and Flair entered the event as the third participant.
The final five would rival the list for any Rumble, with Flair, Hulk Hogan, Sid Justice, Randy Savage, and Rick Martel fighting it out in the latter stages of the match. Sid would eliminate Hogan before the babyface Hulkster grabbed onto Sid's arm, allowing Flair to eliminate Sid and pick up the victory.
The live crowd had cheered Sid's elimination of Hogan, even though the reaction was edited out in future replays. The event was supposed to lead to a Hogan vs Flair dream match at WrestleMania 8, but it was later changed to Hogan vs Sid, and Flair vs Savage.
4 Least: John Cena - 2008 (0:08:28)
A torn pectoral muscle was supposed to keep John Cena out deep into 2008, but the Cenation leader made his surprise return as the #30 entrant in the 2008 Royal Rumble. WWE Creative booked Cena to spend just over eight minutes in the match in an attempt to protect him.
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Cena would eliminate old foe Carlito, Mark Henry, and Chavo Guerrero before the last remaining opponent Triple H tried a Pedigree on him. Cena would counter into an Attitude Adjustment, tossing The Game out of the ring to win his first Rumble match. Cena would go on to become the first man in 8 years not to successfully cash in his title opportunity as Randy Orton remained the WWE Champion after that year's WrestleMania.
3 Most: Chris Benoit - 2004 (1:01:35)
Back in 2004, The Big Show was still considered a legitimate threat and the 500-pounder went on a tear at the Royal Rumble, eliminating Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, John Cena, and Rob Van Dam to narrow the field down to himself and Chris Benoit. Benoit had started at #1 but wasn't considered to be the outright favorite to win.
In the end, however, Benoit dragged Show over the top rope and tossed him to the ground to win the match at just over an hour. It would be Benoit's 6th elimination in the match, having previously taken care of Bradshaw, Rhyno, Matt Morgan, Mark Henry, and A-Train.
2 Least: Edge - 2010 (0:07:37)
It is surprising to note that one of the greatest ring generals of all time - Edge - won the Royal Rumble after spending just over seven minutes in the match. Edge was a surprise entrant at the 2010 Rumble and the field had dwindled by the time The Rated R Superstar entered at #29.
It was a short Rumble by usual standards, with Edge eliminating John Cena just before 50 minutes of the start to book his ticket to WrestleMania. None of the entrants spent more than 30 minutes in the match with Cena's 27 minute and 11-second warpath being the longest stretch.
1 Most: Rey Mysterio - 2006 (1:02:12)
Rey Mysterio wrote his name into the record books with an incredible performance at the 2006 Royal Rumble. Mysterio was in the match from the start, having entered at #2. Both Mysterio and Triple H, who entered at #1, lasted till the final three before Mysterio emerged the winner.
Rey would eliminate six Superstars, finally getting rid of Triple H and the #30 entrant Randy Orton to win the match. Simon Dean, Psicosis, Super Crazy, and Rob Van Dam were the other wrestlers eliminated by Mysterio. With a build strongly focussed on the premature death of Rey's good friend Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio would go on to WrestleMania 22 and win the World Heavyweight Championship.
NEXT: The 10 Longest Lasting Superstars In A Royal Rumble Match During The 2000s
