10 Fascinating WWE Royal Rumble 2020 Facts

Brock Lesnar record after Brock Lesnar record after Brock Lesnar record.

by Andrew Pollard
Brock Lesnar Royal Rumble 2020
WWE.com

For wrestling fans, January marks the most exciting time of the year. No, not Wrestle Kingdom - which is admittedly a standout of the wrestling calendar - but it's WWE's Royal Rumble PPV that really gets the juices going.

With the Royal Rumble concept first introduced back in 1988, this January tradition has cemented itself as a must-watch show for even the most casual of wrestling fans. Due to the sheer potential for shocks and surprises, not to the mention the reputation for some outstanding non-Rumble matches on the card, the Royal Rumble PPV usually serves up some of the most entertaining action of the year.

When looking back on the Royal Rumble, there's so many all-time great editions of the PPV - and for many, last year's Rumble show was great in so many ways.

Taking place from Houston, Texas' Minute Maid Park on 26 January, the 2020 Royal Rumble saw Brock Lesnar dominate, Drew McIntyre shoot to superstardom, Charlotte Flair add another accomplishment to her ever-growing list, and it gave us the goosebumps-inducing return from retirement of Edge.

Looking behind the curtain a bit, then, and here are ten fascinating facts that you may not be aware of from WWE's 2020 Royal Rumble PPV.

10. Minute Maid Park's Wrestling Debut

Brock Lesnar Royal Rumble 2020
WWE.com

The venue and setup of the 2020 Royal Rumble PPV worked absolutely brilliantly, with baseball stadium Minute Maid Park standing out as one of the more visually unique Rumble locales.

Away from the sight of 42,715 fans staggered across Minute Maid Park's four levels, it just looked so damn cool to see wrestlers making their way out of the stadium's dugouts as they made their way to the ring.

While so many other venues have housed the Royal Rumble PPV several different times, the case of Minute Maid Park is a tad different. To be precise, The 2020 Royal Rumble was the first ever wrestling show to take place at the home of the Houston Astros since the stadium was formally opened in 2000.

Given how the wrestling world has had to reassess itself due to the ongoing global pandemic that's been raging on for a year now, the 2020 Royal Rumble show currently stands as the one and only wrestling event to take place at Minute Maid Park.

Once the world gets back to some sort of normalcy, you'd have to imagine that WWE would be extremely keen to house another event at this phenomenal venue.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.