WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Will Have 40 Entrants

Philadelphia holds the event this year as WWE feels that bigger is better.

Last night's WWE Smackdown tapings took place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and it was announced that the 2015 Royal Rumble will take place in that same building on January 25, 2015. Tickets go on sale this Friday, but apparently they were available to fans at Tuesday's tapings. It's the second year in a row where WWE is holding the Rumble in Pennsylvania since last year's show was in Pittsburgh. Like WWE does every year, they book it on the date where there isn't a NFL playoff game either. The week before is the AFC/NFC Championship games and the week after is the Super Bowl. That week is the Pro Bowl, which is just an exhibition all-star game. The Royal Rumble event has taken place on the last Sunday in January for the last 11 years. It's a tradition that WWE fans have gotten used to. In other Rumble news, it was also announced that the Royal Rumble will return to the 40 man Royal Rumble format. This news hasn't been confirmed by WWE yet although fans in attendance said that it was announced during the Smackdown tapings. The decision to go with 40 men again is an interesting one because when they go with that many it feels like the match takes too long and it gets exhausting to sit through it all. The first Royal Rumble in 1988 featured 20 men, then it featured 30 men for every other Rumble match except for the 40 man Rumble in 2011. That year's event was won by Alberto Del Rio, who was an obvious winner since WWE was pushing him hard towards the end of 2010. It wasn't a good Rumble match aside from a few cool moments. There were some surprises that worked. The runner up was Santino, who is probably the weakest runner up there's ever been. They were pushing the idea that a comedy guy could win it. Del Rio ended up working the opener at WrestleMania 27 since they had the WWE and World Title around. That won't happen now that there's only the one major WWE Title. The favorite for the 2015 Royal Rumble is last year's runner up Roman Reigns. He's currently injured after hernia surgery, but he's expected back before the end of 2014. Daniel Bryan is another favorite. He's also injured although he could return either before the end of the year or at the Rumble PPV. Dean Ambrose is another star on the rise that could possibly win it. As long as Brock Lesnar holds onto the WWE Title, it's probably a babyface that will win. Those are the three top contenders. Having 40 men in the Rumble will allow WWE to include some legends, have some surprises and probably put some NXT guys in there too. Most likely, Reigns is going to beat his elimination record set last year when he tossed out 12 guys. We will continue to update you on any Royal Rumble news and rumors as the event draws near.
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John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.