20 WWE Royal Rumble Facts You Didn't Know

WrestleMania might be the biggest show of the wrestling calendar, but for trivia buffs and stats nerds, Royal Rumble is by far the best.

Across the past three decades, the late, great Pat Patterson's most cherished brainchild has produced a veritable Rothmans almanac of riveting records, and each year affords us another opportunity to not only engage with them, but most excitingly, add to them.

By this point, WWE's own trumpeting of the Rumble's historical facts and figures means just about anybody with a passing interest knows of Kane's dominant, albeit winless, streak, Santino's one second stint, and Steve Austin's unmatched hattrick. We're also acutely aware that 27 is the magic ticket if you're wanting a trip to WrestleMania, and - until his name was redacted from their programming - that Chris Jericho was the battle royale's ultimate Ironman, owing to his surely insurmountable cumulative five hours spent in the contest.

How about we tickle you with some of the legendary PPV's less touted facts, then? Do you know what the most amount of superstars in the ring at one time is? Or that four people won the event one year?

And just what was Vince McMahon's initial opinion of the idea? Surprisingly - or perhaps unsurprisingly - if he'd had his way, we wouldn't be writing articles like this today.

The Royal Rumble is regularly billed as '30 men, one ring', but rarely do those two figures align. The closest its came was back in 2009's edition, when The Big Show entered the match last, adding to the flesh mound as its 15th active participant. He soon cleared house in customary giant fashion.