6 Best Traditional WWE Royal Rumble Alternatives

1. World War 3 (WCW)

aztec warfare
WWE.com

One of the most infamous (not to mention overblown) matches of all time, WCW's World War 3 event ran between 1995 and 1998. Replaced in the November pay-per-view slot by Mayhem in 1999, World War 3 was an annual cluster that now takes pride of place on the WWE Network.

The main hook of the show was a 60-man Battle Royal, spread out across no fewer than three rings. As insane as it sounds, this is the kind of thing a child might come up with when playing with action figures.

20 wrestlers fought in each ring, whittling the field down until 40 men had been eliminated. Tough to keep track of, World War 3 was hardly memorable for match quality. Instead, it is essential viewing due to the chaos, as even WCW's announcers barely knew what to make of what they were seeing.

Over the years, the rules were tweaked and amended several times. The core idea was that one man had outlasted 59 others and was now either World Champion (in 1995 only) or the top challenger for the gold.

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What other alternatives to WWE's traditional Royal Rumble format do you know? Let us know down in the comments section below!

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.