10 WWE Royal Rumble Records That Will Never Be Broken
Eliminations, time spent in the Rumble; these records weren't made to be broken.
The Royal Rumble is one of the few events where WWE actually embraces its history. Of course, they celebrate the history they want, but this is also a company that regularly ignores what happened last week.
As the Rumble approaches, fans often talk about some of the records and memorable moments from the annual extravaganza, while WWE plays up certain aspects. When Brock Lesnar volunteered to be #1 in 2020, the announcers talked about how only two people had ever won the Rumble from that spot. When someone enters at #27, the announcers will talk about how more people have won from that spot than any other. They will inevitably talk about how “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has won more Rumbles than any other wrestler.
The old cliché that records were made to be broken definitely holds true with the Rumble, but with 30-plus years of history and more than 20 records documented online, there also are several records that are so well-established that there’s an extremely good chance that they’ll never be broken.
With these records, some could be considered stone-cold locks to never be broken, while others – while very unlikely – could one day fall. This is, after all, a scripted competition. We’ve ranked them records that could possibly one day be broken to those that will stand forever.
Let’s get to it…
10. Co-Winners
Recordholder: Bret and Lex Luger, 1994
The Royal Rumble is predicated on the idea that one person wins and then has the opportunity to challenge the champion of their choice at WrestleMania. It can be a star-making moment.
But in 1994, WWF booked a finish never seen before and not seen since: Bret Hart and Lex Luger were the last two wrestlers, tumbled out together and “tied.” This led to a convoluted situation involving a coin flip to determine which wrestler challenged first, and which had to fight in a preliminary match.
This resulted in a classic WrestleMania match between Bret and brother Owen Hart, but the decision to book two winners was derided. WWE almost had a repeat in 2005 when John Cena and Batista fell out of the ring simultaneously, though that was accidental. That Rumble was restarted, allowing Batista to win.
While it very well could happen again, this is pretty unlikely to be repeated. Given the proliferation of cell phone cameras at ringside, you could just imagine the videos showing someone's feet touching first and undercutting WWE's angle (something that didn't exist in 1994). Though with Vince McMahon’s applesauce brain, there’s always the chance he could go back to this dry well.