11 WWE Royal Rumble Statistics You Need To Know
1. That Winning Feeling
It’s a fairly commonly known fact that only “Stone Cold” Steve Austin has won the Royal Rumble three times, outlasting everyone in 1997, 1998 and 2001. He also was runner-up to Mr. McMahon in 1999 in a ridiculous Rumble many would like to forget.
But it’s worth noting that five other men have won the Rumble twice: Hulk Hogan (1990, 1991), Shawn Michaels (1995, 1996), John Cena (2008, 2013), Batista (2005, 2014) and Triple H (2002, 2016). It’s also worth noting that Austin, Hogan and Michaels all won Rumbles in back-to-back years.
There are several other former Rumble winners on the active roster who are competing (or could theoretically compete) in Sunday’s match: Brock Lesnar, Sheamus, Undertaker and Randy Orton. John Cena is wrestling AJ Styles for the WWE World Championship and Roman Reigns is battling Kevin Owens for the WWE Universal Championship, so both former winners are likely out.
Triple H has the longest gap between Rumble wins, with 14 years passing before his victory last year. Lesnar could tie that mark if he wins this year, 14 years after his 2003 victory.