10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2002 Facts
2. Austin Became The First Man To Three Duration Titles
Austin lasted 26 minutes and 46 seconds prior to his elimination at the hands of Kurt Angle. While that seems like a pretty tame amount of time compared to past Rumble iron men, it was enough to make Austin the 2002 match's duration king, as nobody really went wire to wire in the match.
With that, Austin became the first (and so far only) man to win three Royal Rumble duration titles. His first was achieved in 1997, when his 45 minutes and seven seconds were enough to win the match. Two years later, he and Vince McMahon absurdly shared 56 minutes and 38 seconds of time in the match (heh, "in the match") prior to Austin being eliminated.
In other words, in the last five Royal Rumble matches that Austin took part in (1997-99, 2001-02), he either won the match, or lasted longer than everyone else. Or, in the case of 1997, both.